http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list? ... n+and+hell

As you'll see there's quite a substantial difference

Forgive my ignorance, but could you explain what that all means? It seems that the 1987 release is far better than the 2008 release, but to what extent and how drastic is it? What does that scale mean? I've seen you post about it before in here but I don't have the know-how to put it all into perspective.

Watchtower - Concepts of Math: Book One

It's no Control and Resistance, but I wasn't expecting it to be. Overall a very solid release for a band that hasn't really put anything out in 27 years.

Iron fist from motorhead. One of my favorites

Iron Maiden - Killers
Sadistik Exekution - Fukk
Karajan/Berlin - Schubert 5 & 8
Furtwängler - Maestro Classico box set
Napalm Death - Death by Manipulation
Alien Sex Fiend - Too much Acid?
Arkhon Infaustus - Perdition Insanabilis and Orthodoxyn

It basically means the 2008 version has been made a lot louder and loses a lot of the contrast between loud and quiet parts... also it gives the sound a more "heated" feel which can generally make it sound more in-your-face and "punchy" but at the expense of clarity and dynamic range. Basically anything with the numbers on the red/orange end of the scale is likely to have some clipping (audible digital distortion) and will sound louder but not necessarily better.

If you want a really good example of the difference between brickwalled and dynamic mastering, check out the original 1990 version of Pantera's Cowboys From Hell vs the 2010 remaster. The original sounds nicely balanced, with plenty of contrast between quiet and loud parts, and still nice and heavy. The remaster sounds muddy, distorted and flat as hell, the parts that are supposed to be quiet are just as loud as the rest and it destroys all sense of contrast, and the whole thing will literally give you a headache if played at high volume.

That said, brickwalling is rampant in metal. There's plenty of exceptions but a huge amount of albums released from the mid 90s onwards are done that way, and a lot of the time the mix was already stripped of any sense of dynamics so it hardly even matters. Ted Jensen claimed that Death Magnetic was already clipped and brickwalled before he mastered it, which is quite believable since Rick Rubin does that with everything (he did the same shit with the last ZZ Top album) but it's definitely a good idea to track down older pressings (or the deluxe editions, in the case of Black Sabbath) of stuff from the 80s, as brickwalling stuff which was originally recorded with a high DR makes it much more obvious and irritating.

Went to Frost and Fire II this last weekend, and stopped at a couple record shops in San Francisco for a pretty decent haul.

CDs:
Axxion - Back in Time
Cirith Ungol - Paradise Lost
Hell Fire - Metal Masses

LPs:
3 Inches of Blood - Live at Mushroom: Vol. 1
Dio - A Decade of Dio
Dokken - Breaking the Chains
Foreigner - Head Games
Gygax - Critical Hits
Rainbow - Straight Between the Eyes
Triumph - Allied Forces
Triumph - Stages

And while not an album, I alsopicked up Terminator 2 on Laserdisc for 2 dollars.

Allied Forces is a great album. It's one of the few LP's I have.

That is indeed good stuff.

The latest:


Orlok - Black Funeral Holocaust
Sigrblot - Blodsband (Blood Religion Manifest)
Xasthur - Telepathic With the Deceased
Xasthur - To Violate the Oblivious


Drudkh - Songs of Grief and Solitude
Drudkh - Blood In Our Wells
Arghoslent - Galloping Through the Battle Ruins
Campo de Mayo - Campo de Mayo
Sarath - Siste Indre


Hate Forest - Schytia
Hate Forest - The Most Ancient Ones
Hate Forest - Purity
Hate Forest - Battlefields
Hate Forest - Sorrow


Candelabrum - Necrotelepathy
Candelabrum - The Gathering
Mons Veneris - Awakening My Dark Soul
Mons Veneris - Vicit Sathanas Pater... Eum Sequamur


White Medal - Yorkshire Heathen Black Metal
Wotan Sølv - Сны Бальдра (Shame if it's a bootleg. Don't know yet.)


Dødsengel - Visionary
The Nulll Collective - De Monstris
Bagatur - Сказание за древнобългарското величие
Vèrmyapre Kommando - Vèrmyapre Kommando
Vèrmyapre Kommando - Crache­-la-­Mört


Armatus - Satanist
Barad Dûr / Graven - Split
Countess - The Revenge of the Horned One Part II
Wodulf - Wargus Esto


Bekëth Nexëhmü - Dauþuz
Bekëth Nexëhmü - De Glömdas Ursjälar
Bekëth Nexëhmü - De Dunklas Återkomst
Bekëth Nexëhmü - De Forna Sederna


Forbidden Citadel Of Spirits - Collection I


Preeminência - Modernidade que Jaz Num Poço de Sangue
Preeminência - Triunfo de uma Vontade Antiga
Wolfnacht - Blut und Ehre
Wolfnacht - Morgendammerung der Heiden
Wolfnacht - Kirchenbrand

are these all like super underground and obscure foreign BM bands? I'm from the US and I've heard of like 3 of these lol. Then again I'm not really into BM and I just started collecting. Where do you guys find this type of stuff?

Well yeah, most of this stuff would surely be categorized as underground. Some more than others of course. While there's a lot of stuff just 'existing' without anyone ever talking about it, others are of course more well-known. You have stuff like Bekëth Nexëhmü which is hardly a well-known band (You will never find it in most record stores in Norway for example, even though they are from Sweden), but still their 500-copies LP's sell out in the blink of an eye.

If you're into checking out and/or buying more underground music, I'd recommend just keeping an eye out on relevant forums and check out underground distros. There are lots of 'em! Search around!

Really awesome score there Ranur!

I wanted that Wotan Sølv myself, but I don't like supportin bootlegs.
Seems like it's unclear at the moment.

Nice to see Preeminência aswell, really cool stuff.

Yes, I ordered the Wotan Sølv the moment I saw it and didn't think any further, so really a shame if it's a boot. I think it most likely is unfortunately. And, I look forward to listen to Preeminencia. Haven't spun them yet though but great to hear you think it's good. You seem to have great taste!

Heavenly - Carpe Diem
Secret Sphere - Scent of Human Desire

I've been listening to various Secret Sphere songs on YouTube lately and I'm obsessed with them! Really stoked to finally have one of their albums.

The Heavenly one doesn't seem too well reviewed, but I figured I'd take a chance. Hopefully it pans out.

"Fullmoon" off of Carpe Diem is a pretty cool song. If you're into Secret Sphere, they have a new album coming out early next year.

Made an impulse purchase and snagged Axxion's new album "Back In Time" along with a baseball tee featuring their demo artwork. Ordered directly from the band, which is always a nice feeling.

I'm obsessed with their debut, Wild Racer. Seems like this one is right in line.

The new Axxion is really good, man. You'll enjoy it!

The second one is great too. Especially the last three tracks (which I only recently learned that "Criminal" is a cover).

My last haul for a little while.



Autopsy - Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves
Lord Belial - Enter the Moonlight Gate
Benediction - Transcend the Rubicon
Soilwork - Steelbath Suicide
Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

Sonata Arctica - The Ninth Hour
Deceased - As The Weird Travel On
Deceased - Surreal Overdose
Fireleaf - Behind The Mask
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

Pretty good haul today, looking forward to listening to all of these for some time.

That is awesome thank you guys! I didn't even bother with a sample because I have so much faith in these guys. I love that they're genuinely kind of ugly, as a band. I don't trust all these prettyboys on the scene lately. Ugly faces and slick riffs!

It's cool that they did another cover! Any idea who it's by? The Thor cover on the debut is fucking rad.

The new Axxion is cool, yep. Got a promo of it and I guess I should write something. The vocals are so fucking high pitched haha!

For those that know/remember me, my old metal CD collection website http://www.source-of-steel.com is once again active after a good while of inactivity. It used to be just for rarities and out of print stuff, but now I've opened it up to more mainstream stuff I've added to my collection recently. It may be of interest for some of you guys here. Anyhow, here's some newish bits.

The Dead Youth - Intense Brutality Avanzada Metalica, still haven't had the balls to take it out of the cellophane





Entombed A.D. - Dead Dawn Box Set







Cradle of Filth - Dusk & Her Embrace Coffin Box

Their drummer is not ugly


Tyran' Pace. I've heard the name in passing, but never listened to the band. If that song is any indication of how good they are, definitely get on top of that band.



It's actually ridiculous on the title track. He almost goes too high.

Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep of Reason (ooohhh yeah! More Meshuggah)
Hannes Grossman - The Crypts of Sleep (where the fuck did this come from?! AOTY contender!)
Eldamar - The Force of the Ancient Land (very similar to Caladan Brood. Great Stuff)
Chemicaust - As Empires Fall (Awesome Deathrash!!)
Death - Leprosy (no need for description)
Heaven Shall Burn - Wanderer (struggling to get into it)
Inter Arma - Paradise Gallows (some gems on there)
Insomnium - Winter's Gate (Some brilliant moments. Need to listen to it more)
Depravity - Reign of the Depraved (3 song EP. Saw them open as the first support for Immolation. Besides Immolation they were clearly the best on the night. Their album should be a gem)
Human Enslavement - Apocalypse of Hate (Brutal DM done right)
Inquisition - Bloodshed Across the ................ (yep. Awesome)
Herratik - Compromise Gone (Good quality Deathrash from Sydney, Australia)
Opeth - Sorceress (Fuck the haters. This rocks)
Autopsy - Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves (not getting into this. Needs more spins)
Katalepsy - Gravenous Hour (Much like Human Enslavement. Needs more spins though)
Volturyon - Cleansed by Carnage (A ripper!!)
King - Reclaim the Darkness (Aussie BM. Good but nothing new)
Gevurah - Hallelujah! (Struggling to get into this)

Also have Weave the Apocalypse by Invocator on it's way. Can't wait to hear that!!

Steel Attack - Where Mankind Fails/Fall Into Madness

Cost me just over $4 for this 2 in 1 album. I ordered it, so I can't actually see what the deal is with it, but I have no idea why it was so cheap. I can't even find anything online about this particular version of these two albums. Either way, this is a major score! I've been sampling tracks from both albums on YouTube and it sounds amazing so far!

One tape this week:


Blood Tyrant - Night of Blood Moon (The Shadow Kingdom version)

Took a small excursion to Japan for Loud Park Fest, where I saw Candlemass, Armored Saint, Exodus, Blind Guardian, Scorpions (Day 1), Savage Messiah, Kuni, Terrorizer, Riot, Uli Jon Roth, Symphony X, Dark Funeral, Nightwish, and Whitesnake (Day 2). Needless to say, Japan has a better selection of metal shops than Korea where I live, so I took advantage. My 2 day pass also enabled me to get a discount on all of my purchases. These include, and all in LP format:

Mortal Sin "Mayhemic Destruction"
Hallow's Eve "Monument"
Candlemass "Nightfall"
Lizzy Borden "Love You to Pieces"
Vampyr "Cry Out For Metal"
Tankard "Zombie Attack"
Morgoth "Resurrection Absurd"

This weekend, I went to some local LP shops here in Korea and found out that it's not ENTIRELY deprived of metal. My finds include (and again, all LPs):

Deathrow "Raging Steel"
Mercyful Fate "Don't Break The Oath"
Dio "The Last in Line"
Judas Priest "Hell Bent For Leather"

The Abyss and Satanic Warmaster


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Purchases from the last weeks/months :

Rush - Archives (LP) (Finally I have music from Rush,this includes the first three Albums)
Rush - Hemispheres (LP)
Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East (LP) (First Pressing,sadly the 3-Track Ep is missing)
Judas Priest - Evening Star (3-Track Maxi Single on Clear Vinyl,includes a live version of Beyond the Realms of Death!!!)
Ghost - Popestar (LP)
Kadavar - Abra Kadavar (LP)
Cirith Ungol - Servants of Chaos (CD)
Black Sabbath - Reunion (CD)

Bought the Judas Priest and Rush LPs in a Record Store ,in Canterbury England ,for just 35 Pounds.

Talk about late to the party:

Enforcer - Into the Night (CD)
Enforcer - Diamonds (CD)

Just hearing these guys for the first time. I was never in any rush to check them out, but something in the back of my skull always suggested I'd enjoy them. Well god damn if that nagging whisper wasn't dead on. The debut kills! Hoping Diamonds will be cool too, possibly even better. They were 9.99 with free shipping through Earache so I figured fuck it. I'm glad to see these guys became scene darlings for a reason.

I haven't heard the other one, but Diamonds is a NWOTHM classic. Great stuff.

Ordered some CDs:

Cattle Decapitation - To Serve Man
Cirith Gorgor - Visions of Exalted Lucifer (2-disc edition)
Dragonlord - Black Wings of Destiny
Enslaved - Frost
Mercyful Fate - Return of the Vampire
My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans
Pestilence - Testimony of the Ancients

And some vinyl pickups:

Anathema - Alternative 4
Thin Lizzy - Fighting
Monty Python's Previous Record

and Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep Of Reason in a rare case of JB HiFi actually having something worth buying...

Just ordered from Sentinel Steel:

Domine - Dragonlord
Manticora - 8 Deadly Sins
Masterplan - Aeronautics
Nostradameus - Words of Nostradameus
Primal Fear - Seven Seals
Thunderstone - The Burning
White Skull - Tales From The North

Can't stop fuelling my power metal addiction!

not much recently:

mayhem - live in zeitz LP
rage against the machine - s/t LP
aaskereia - dort wo das alte böse ruht DLP
cradle of filth - dusk and her embrace (the original sin) CD

Avantasia - The Metal Opera Pt. II
Bloodbound - Nosferatu
Edguy - Mandrake
Opeth - Sorceress [2 Disc]

My obsession with Bloodbound continues.

I pre-ordered that Summoning tribute set because Summoning

Bad Brains - Build a Nation
The Crystal Method - Vegas
Immolation - Unholy Cult
Love Spirals Downwards - Flux
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
Skeletonwitch - Beyond the Permafrost
Babymetal - Metal Resistance
Brujeria - Poncho Aztlan
Hatchet - Dawn of the End
Immortal - At the Heart of Winter
Nader Sadek - In the Flesh

Ordered online:
Pitch Shifter - Industrial
The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride

All the albums listed are from my large haul from this month, including some that I've posted on here earlier. I'm too lazy to post pictures.

Arsis - A Celebration Of Guilt
Atheist - Piece Of Time
Atheist - Unquestionable Presence
Atheist - Elements
Atheist - Jupiter
Deathspell Omega - Paracletus
Demolition Hammer - Tortured Existence
Demolition Hammer - Epidemic Of Violence
Hypocrisy - The Arrival
Hypocrisy - Virus
Immolation - Failures For Gods
Immolation - Close To A World Below
Immolation - Majesty And Decay
Morbid Angel - Blessed Are The Sick
Morbid Angel - Formulas Fatal To The Flesh
Morbid Angel - Gateways To Annihilation
Quo Vadis - Day Into Night
Quo Vadis - Defiant Imagination
Sacramentum - Far Away From The Sun
Sodom - Agent Orange
Symphony X - The Odyssey

All Atheist (excluding Jupiter), Demolition Hammer, Hypocrisy, Majesty And Decay by Immolation, Morbid Angel, and Sodom albums turned out to be from Icarus Music or Del Imaginario Discos. FUCK! Now, I don't know how they sound yet but let's hope they're good, but some of them have really cheap packaging that you can see from a mile away. A few of the CD's can't even hold on to the holder and a couple of the jewelcases can't even stay closed. And that god-awful logo on the back can suck my left nut. Pretty disappointed from that perspective that I feel a bit ripped off. I saw the thread about Icarus Music and how hit-and-miss they are right after I received everything, and I instantly second guessed myself. Like everyone said, try to be careful with those 3rd party sellers on Amazon. These guys (MUSICSHOP780) ship from Argentina, and so are those labels (what a surprise!). They're nice people, but it really isn't their fault. It's the labels' fault.