W.E.T - Re-Transmission

This is Jeff Scott Soto's best project. All four albums are excellent across the board. The first two albums were more serious and mature. The last two including this one are cathier and more fun. I hope they do another album soon! Great melodic rock.

Gojira - World To Come

gosh, I really do like their massive sound...sounds like nature is punishing mankind

This warms my heart after the disappointing review of Evil Star (man, you called American Storm forgettable? With that riff? )
The Black Flame is probably their best album, I find it flawless and the guitar sound is one of the heaviest they ever had, certainly the heaviest up to that point. Evil Star isn't really lighter than Black Wings, same producer, same vibe really, BW is a taaaad heavier and faster I guess. But I find the songwriting better on Evil Star. And I will say, Evil Star was the biggest grower in their discography (it was first two songs, Wolf's Blood for me at the beginning, boy was I wrong!).

From side B of The Black Flame, right up there with the best (in fact, THE best along with The Bite!): The Dead and Children of the Black Flame! 11/10 songs.

NP: Solitude Aeturnus - Phantoms
A perfect song. Perfect.

Rush Roll the Bones

My fav album of nineties by them

Skid Row - Monkey Business

Spinning Slave. Just a kick ass metal album.

The new Demon single. I don't expect an album as good a "Hold on to the Dream" or "Breakout" or "The Unexpected Guest" but, man, this is solid.

Indeed. A killer album.
"Wasted Time" is a masterpiece.

NP: Judas Priest - "Devil's Work", live in Houston, 1983
Radio broadcast recording from the 'Screaming' tour. They really killed it during live performances during this era.

Antestor - The Forsaken

I like this, I am not a big black metal guy but every once in a while I'll listen to something extreme. The little bit of clean vocals and at times melodic soloing are a port in a storm. Hellhammer plays drums on this.

Bruce Dickinson – The Mandrake Project

Again and again Dickinson is "in front of the beat" as if he wanted to speed the tracks up. In general, there seems to be a rift between the vocals and the rhythm section (and sometimes even between the guitars and the rhythm section) as if both parties had different ideas as to where the tracks are supposed to go, in other words: the rhythm section and Dickinson's vocal style and rhythmic choices don't gel. Maybe everything works better on stage where everyone can immediately react to everyone else, the songwriting is certainly not bad (7/10), but this particular product is a bit of a trainwreck to my ears. The anorganic production doesn't really help either. I wonder how they recorded the album. Guitars and vocals first? And then drums and bass played to a click track? I don't know but there's a little bird that says "cheapcheap".

Sodom - Better Off Dead

First four Sodom albums are thrash classics, this is violent and moshy, great album. The two covers, the Tank one and the Thin Lizzy one are fucking amazing, thrash 'n' roll in all its glory.

Are there any bands that plays this style but in full length albums? Is kind of like combining traditional heavy metal with thrash metal but more on the rock n roll side than the thrash one.

It's definitely one of his better projects (of many strong projects)! But, yes, W.E.T. just deliver incredibly catchy and compelling songs.

Last night I was listening to Power Quest's Blood Alliance and man is this a damn fine album. I haven't given up on power metal yet, but I do wish that there were more Power Quests and fewer Gloryhammers in the scene today. Listening to a song like "Better Days" is such a nice tonic compared to some of the more forced optimism found in a lot of power metal bands since. That song and basically the whole album just sounds so organic, well-crafted and classy. Another highlight is the title track where its chorus has been in my head all of last night and into today ("Forever we will be guardians of the flame/creating history, we don't reveal our name"). Neverworld is probably their finest hour, but to my ears, Blood Alliance is a very close second.

One of most mature hard rock bands….

I think that Slave is near to Heavy Metal than glam

Listening to the new High on Fire album via Bandcamp listening party. The band is in the chat, fun stuff: https://highonfire.bandcamp.com/live/co ... ning-party

Slave and Subhuman are metal albums to me.

Hour of Penance - Devotion

Great album from these Italians.

Sabbath - The Eternal Idol

Sabbath - Born Again

The reissue of the Tony Martin era inpired me to check out some different Sabbath ive never listened to. Maybe its because I had zero expectations but these are both really enjoyable. Very pleasantly surprised

Yeah, and that album is probably that as well.

Vomit the Soul - Annihilate the Infernal Army

Fantastic. I hope the new album is great.

this is pleasing to hear. IMO, there are no bad Sabbath albums, only those that are 'less great' than others.
Since you like these two, you should check out the rest of the Martin era, specifically 'Tyr', 'Headless Cross', and 'Cross Purposes'.

The 1986 album, 'Seventh Star', which was supposed to be an Iommi solo album, also features some killer tracks. It may be the 'least Sabbathy' Sabbath album, but it's good for what it is. "In For the Kill" is a killer.

Born Again is a great piece of riotous, rock and rolling metal.

Solstice - Lamentations
Solstice - New Dark Age

Really felt like digging into them. I don't know if I've been too familiar with the debut before. This is really good stuff - careful, textured riffs, a genuine feeling. It's soulful and heavy both in the sound as well as the feeling behind it all - every note meaningful... the singer's a bit plain but in the really good way of some of the old bands, where the whole sound just coalesces. Reading some Rich Walker interviews. This guy has been a fucking character forever. It illuminates why the lineup is never the same. Sometimes genius does come from complete fucking psychopathy and standoffishness.

https://www.mirgilus.com/solstice

Like this guy seems like a fucking asshole in some aspects, but also, I really 100% respect the commitment, and the artistic integrity on display here. He doesn't just puff himself up and it's never good just to tout your own ego.

Venom- At War With Satan

This song is so incoherent, and the only reason Venom gets away with it is because it's over the top in the same way Venom was up to this point. It is a very clear jumping of the shark though.

If ever there was a band unqualified to write a 20+ minute prog-metal song, it’s Venom. And particularly the original lineup. But they made it work.

It’s a true adventurous track, with peaks and valleys, but you can’t predict where it’s going next. And that’s precisely because they are/were not Rush or Dream Theater.

It’s as if they pulled it off through sheer will itself.
With each passing year, the legend that is Venom gains more capital…grows more legendary.

Therion - “The Siren Of the Woods”
Undeniably the “Stairway To Heaven” of the 90s. I cant believe how “otherworldly” this epic is.

My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans (Very good! I like this a lot more than I thought I would).
Turtles - 20 Greatest Hits (Good old 1960's rock n' roll!)

Metal Church – Blessing in Disguise

When it was released, I thought it was a big one the only weaknesses of which were the fact that "It's a Secret" seemed to have a different production than the other tracks and that Mike Howe just wasn't David Wayne. The highlights are… forget that, it's chock-full of highlights, including, of course, one of the mightiest riffs in all of metal ("Fake Healer"). Between 9.25 and 9.483 out of 10.

Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water

Obviously not on the archives and I won’t petition for them to be, but this is a fine record. I only started listening to them halfway through my thirties and really like this album. Some heavy and catchy tracks in there.

LVME - Strix rêverie

Fantastic black metal, probably the best of the 2024 bunch (and it's a sizeable bunch!). Hits all the sweet spots for me, being a very balanced take on mixing a more dissonant approach and pretty traditional black metal. That's probably why, in a very general sense, it kinda reminds me of Sinmara's debut.

Weedeater - God Luck and Good Speed

Such a hazy, smoke-filled listen. The whole album is great but the title track is something else, one of the greatest mission statements in sludge metal. Slow, heavy and intense.

Matthias Steele – Haunting Tales of a Warrior's Past (1991)

Proggy, thrashy and colourful US metal. Some parts evoke early Overkill and Flotsam, other parts are similar to Rush. Singer Anthony Lionetti's mid-range voice is like a cross between the great Michael Sadler (Saga) and Genki Hitomi (Vow Wow) while his falsettos sound like something small from the Muppet theatre's backstage area. Despite the bad production: 8/10.

Some light listening to start off the day

Cannibal Corpse - High Velocity Impact Spatter

Spinning one of the CC albums I've spun the least, A Skeletal Domain. Nothing wrong with it, just never dug that deep into it other than Kill Or Become. Nice start.

My Dying Bride - "Evinta"
I know this is not a fan favorite but I love it. These renditions are as dark & dreary as one would expect with MDB.

Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction
Agalloch - Pale Folklore

The Jag Panzer album is the first time I've listened to it, I liked it, but I have to admit that I didn't appreciate what supposedly makes it so good and special, it seemed to me a work of its time and honestly I liked The Hallowed way more, the hooks and choruses stayed with me more. Perhaps I'm missing something?

It's been a long time since I've listened to Agalloch, but years ago I would have said this is my favourite of theirs and I really understand why I thought that. Even without all the stuff, the atmosphere, the mix of genres and tones this album is just spectacular because of the songwriting, how perfectly everything fits together, the emotions it delivers, nothing is missing in any of the songs, it's just spectacular.

While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose

This was actually a little ahead of its time for 2009 - this kind of genre blending, mixing in some prog, doom and some other sounds, would seem to become more prevalent in the mid 2010s... a more expansive, eclectic mix rather than strict genre adherence. A lot of really moving stuff. A bit of John Arch stylings in the ornate vocal lines and way they mesh with the music. Some nicely catchy stuff and some pummeling, aggressive riffs that are pretty unusual for the more weepy, wistful style they play. All in all really well put-together, very cohesive as an album.

Solstice - Lamentations

Second full listen - this is really well-written, just tight, and the riffs have that above-and-beyond sort of quality, a lethal heaviness and aggression leavened with dark melody... this whole scene of 90s and '00s metal, between them, WHW, Slough Feg, Twisted Tower Dire and others, was so good.

Embodiment Elimination - Metamorphosis Incarnate Through Genetic Devastation

Great slam from Russia.

Both are favorites of mine, but the WHW is especially awesome. Indeed, the mix of prog, doom, melancholy, and grandeur made them a unique band.

Immolation- A Spectacle of Lies

KOC is so good, not as atmospheric as the other albums but it's just crushing shit. Also, does Immolation have some of the best song titles or what? "A Token of Malice, A Glorious Epoch, When The Jackals Come, A Thunderous Consequence." Shit's great.

Magic Circle - Magic Circle

Revisiting this one since it's been so long. Badass heavy/doom metal.

Those Left Behind

Reverorum ib Malacht - Kyrie Eleison

Not a black metal guy but wow. The vocals are Atilla Csihar style. The music is a powerful wall of sound influenced by techno, industrial, ambient with some interesting solos here and there. A lot of groove also. At times it even reminds me of Mekong Delta's Dances of Death. I like this.

Skid Row - Slave to the Grind

When this came out I was more into Megadeth and Slayer. I saw this mentioned, so I tried it again. Solid, my favorite songs on this are Wasted Time and In a Darkened Room. I wish there was more material like those two songs.