I want to try something new to spark some metal related discussion on this forum, that's sorely missed under the weight of help threads and survey threads. The idea is simple: Each week-end you'll talk about what you've listened to that week, an analysis on the material and an opinion. We can discuss our views on each other's picks. Although this is a very simple idea, given the nature of our forum I find it most efficient to preclude any misunderstandings of this thread. You may pick one, two or at the most three albums from your weekly listenings (must be metal, of course; if you didn't listen to any metal for the whole week you shouldn't try to contribute) and write up a short one or two paragraph summarization (very important! Don't post just a couple of words of even a sentence. You should be brief but not too brief! Write something worthwhile) of your experience. Try to be as insightful as possible, saying very much with very little. Feel encouraged to talk about and question other users on their current listens; ask someone why they think the way they do about their picks.

Since I'm starting this thread as of Tuesday, we'll use last week, Nov 30 - Dec. 6. Every weekend feel free to post your contributions.

Nightbringer - [2008] - Death and the Black Work

What an amazing album! I've been into these occult black metallers from the Colorado mountains ever since i heard their 2005 split with Temple of Not. They play a very drone-ish, heavily layered style of black metal with songs ranging from 6 minutes to 14 minutes. Their music is truly what the "black-ambient" caste should strive for. Instead of pandering about with ineffective minimalism, they use their talents efficiently to achieve continually but subtly evolving ominous soundscapes. The rhythmic variation is minimal here, but the drummer provides enough technical tricks to keep things interesting.

Key attributes of Death and the Black Work: Very intelligent and elaborated harmonic layers, an eerily perfect production that is both obfuscated as the night that they proclaim to bring but yet clear-headed and stoic, and a truly foreboding mood.

This is a fine idea. It reminds me of a thread I posted in the S and C forum regarding the lack of discussion on the perfunctory list thread that is the Now Playing one.

Artillery - 1990 - By Inheritence

I first heard about this when two posters were arguing over which thrash album was better {This Kreator, that Sodom}. By Inheritence came up and I decided to download it out of sheer boredom.

Boredom cured! A very good album indeed, I intend to buy it soon. The guitar tone is very satisfying, especially the leads which have a layered sound [don't know if they are or not] and the fast-paced riffing underneath/between the leads. I love speed and precision in thrash, and this album satisfies. One thing that I noticed is that I tend to enjoy the more frantic/sloppy albums like Pleasure to Kill and Darkness Descends, but this one ranks up high with those albums. This album was very memorable, many parts sticking with me after first listen.


Worthy contribution?

Yeah, perfect. I haven't listened to that Artillery album in a while. I will play it soon now to refresh my mind on it and come back with some thoughts of my own in addition to yours.

Great. I'll be contributing often and may use this thread in place of help threads to pique my interest in new artists.

Good to hear. I find that taking the time to provide some useful insight on an album and discussing it amongst peers to be far more adequate in providing people with a great method of musical discovery than a simple name drop to fill out an ill-elaborated request. Besides, with everyone putting in the modest amount of effort required to keep this thread running as it should, I think that we may be able to cultivate very fine conversation on what this place is all about.

Time to contribute! I'll talk about the last new album I heard:

Unleashed - Warrior

Well, what can I say about this album? Not all that much, it would happen. It really doesn't stand out, it isn't excellent, it isn't terrible, it isn't even bland or medicore as such. What it is is entertaining, worth the time spent to listen to it but falling short when compared to the works of their peers in the classic Swedeath scene.

Unleashed have built a career out of this sort of thing. Fun but fairly unspectacular death metal. I enjoyed Warrior but I did have to stifle a laugh at the shouts of "Media whore!" and I'd be quicker to praise the virtues of Dismember, Entombed or Grave.

I heard Sacred Reich's Independant this week. While certainly competant guitar playing, this band doesn't seem very true to form what thrash should sound like. And their political themes come off as old hat. This band should go more traditional heavy metal in direction instead of illusions of straight thrash. If I want true thrash, I'll just put on some Slayer, Sodom or Kreator.

Cool, but try to keep it to last week instead of just the last album listened to. I think by focusing on the past week you will have had enough time to digest the material, days to reflect upon it and revise your opinion with multiple listenings.

The two Unleashed albums that I own are the first two full lengths, Where No Life Dwells and Shadows in the Deep. While I have not heard Warrior, those two are rather good albums even though they do not get a lot of play time from me. I have no special affinity to Swedish death metal like many death metal fans seem to possess, so perhaps my general lack of interest in the style from an overall perspective prevents me from fully getting into the band. I do like their useful application of groove, and the tone is rather nice.

Well, I'd say they're like a death metal AC/DC. A couple of great works, a lot of other stuff that is merely good, and a tendency not to change their sound much at all.

I'm not hugely attracted to Swedish death metal moreso than Floridian and so forth, but if I were to make a list of the best death metal albums ever made Left Hand Path, Like An Ever Flowing Stream and Nightmares Made Flesh would all most definitely make an appearance.

So according to your original post, we can only post summaries on Sundays? Am I reading it right?

Well not really, I suppose Saturday would be acceptable too. I just picked that date because it would allow for a full week's time to digest and formulate a matured opinion based on what you've listened to for the entire week. Otherwise it would be more or less like a "Now Playing ++" thread. The distinction may seem to be a phantom one and rather useless at a first glance, but I believe it will ultimately prove to be a useful one.

To get the most out of this thread, I suggest that we post our analysis once at the beginning of the next week (or end of the current week) and then for the proceding days, discussion of what has been posted.

A couple of albums to me have taken YEARS to digest(Ride The Lightning). The longer it takes, the less likely I am apt to come around to it. A few days is the average incubation period for me to admire or admonish a release. But there are usually more than five complete run throughs during such a period.

By Inheritance was definitely awesome, it sounded like Iron Maiden playing Rust In Peace.

Okay, and just to clarify, it's only albums we've recently heard, not owned for several years or whatever, correct?

Oh, it can be any album, as long as it's something you've listened to during the week, preferrably albums that you've listened to the most during that week so you can have a lot of recent familiarity with it.

Okay, I think I'm getting it. I'll contribute on Saturday.

Great! Also feel free to post some contributions tonight based on what you heard last week, as well (since I started it on tuesday rather than sunday, just a couple of days late).

Great idea. I rarely visit this forum anymore cuz there's so much redundancy.

My album: Necronoclast-"Monument"

I've had this album about two months, and haven't given it much spin time. Upon first listen it's basic suicide black metal. However, with some more in depth listening, I've discovered there's a lot of beauty. There's a heavy Katatonia influence in the riffing and leads (mainly Brave Murder Day era), which is definitely not a bad thing when done right. The lead in "Mourning Life" (about 5:20) is absolutely beautiful, depressing, and dripping Katatonia. There is also a strong Xasthur feel throughout the album.

Definitely one of my favorites from this year. Suicidal, depressive, and at times beautiful. Would recommend to anyone into this style of black metal.

I think I may enjoy this. I do like the newer direction that Katatonia has gone in the past few years. I do know what you mean about the riffing too, Katatonia has a particular style of melody and riffing that is somewhat unique and enchanting. Combining this with the trance-inducing style of Xasthur and his ilk should provide for some interesting music.

Okay, cool. I'll do one now:

The Amenta - n0n
This has been getting regular listening time recently. I was not a fan of their first album, but this one is a good step up. The industrial quirks have more of a flair, and have more of a role in setting the mood for the album (the intro track alone should set you up for what's in store). The music doesn't bombard you from all sides at once, but it does deliver some punching industrial death metal that fans of such music should enjoy.

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Wow, this is harder than I imagined. It's like writing a poem: Every sentence has to have heavy meaning. I'll do another on Saturday.

I'm intrigued. I've never heard of them and they're from Colorado (as am I). Ambient mostly? I'm quite a fan of ambient bm.

Well, they are a different sort. Although there is a decent smattering of non-metal ambience on the record, they are by-the-by a metal band. What sets them apart from the "ambient-black" metal I've heard is that instead of falling to the plodding bore of ineffective minimalism, they create evolving pieces that seem to be quite interwoven with subtle transitional elements. Their songs feel more like one whole rather than multiple parts, something that black metal has done for a long time of course. But the special draw to them in my ears is the huge feeling of unity I get when listening to the album. Everything is right in place.

I wouldn't call it a perfect album but it's got everything going for it. Just needs some more compositional maturity.

I'll definitely be sure to check them out. And I know what you mean about the ambient thing. Sometimes it goes to far: I Shalt Become being quite the example. While their "Requiem" release is in my top 10 of 08, it gets a little too "ploddy"...lol.

It's good to see that you decided to listen to Artillery after I brought By Inheritence's awesomeness up in that Kreator thread

I love that album too, which is strange considering that I tend to enjoy the brutal no holds barred side of thrash metal.



You took the words from my mouth!

Anyways, I'll contribute to this thread maybe today or tomorrow. Malevolent Creation's Retribution =

ELFFOR - FROM THE THRONE OF HATE

Just released last week via Northern Silence, this is a total re-recording, re-mastereing of the original demo/album release (as done with the previous two releases). This again is a great release from Elffor featuring majestic keyboards as the main instrument with the guitars in the backround, they are similar band to Summoning, and create what could be described as "Medievil Black Metal", the album has an ambient feel throughout, and some fine "catchy" melodies,this is a great winter listen from a spanish band!

I'm on my second spin through Cosmic Atrophy's Codex Incubo, and I must say that as far as debuts go, this thing is pretty unbelieveable. If Demilich's Nespithe, the most obvious comparison by default, is worth 97% or so, this is definitely 89...91% stuff. You know, folks, rexxz isn't nearly as stupid as I look, and even if he lacks the Antti Boman belchgargle, his work here is rather respectable and original. I can't quite pin down the reasons why this sounds like Demilich to me, the riffs aren't copied off Nespithe, and instead of long, burrowing things that resemble those worms in Dune, these are sharper and perhaps a bit more economical.

The production could be a bit heavier, but the message gets through: this is a very good debut album. For fans of Demilich and death metal with a progressive edge.

A real review will be coming up in a while. I just need a few spins and a dozen beers first.

I will definitely have to check this out too, sounds very interesting. Big fan of Katatonia, all eras. 'Brave Murder Day' is an essential record, loved it. Not such a big fan of Xasthur, but this sounds intriguing nevertheless. Scottish too, which makes it even more interesting to me.

Excellent idea. Gives me a reason to participate more actively in this forum. Await an analysis on the awesomeness of Insect Warfare everyone. xD.

Axel Rudi Pell - Tales of the Crown

I've said it before in the FFA, but he's finally lost it. I hear bitching about how his cover album was shitty, but I didn't listen to it. But he's lost it with this album. Powerful, bouncy songs that build upon eachother to create long, satisfying hard rock romps? Long, winding solos that just sort of play themselves out? All gone here. This is a deplorably boring and trite album from a band that actually hit their peak with the last album Mystica. I think the main problem here is that most of the songs are too slow and uninspiring.

Where "Fly to the Moon" and "Losing the Game" and the title track of the last album soared to the stars, this album has songs like "Higher" and "Crossfire," which just sort of sit there and plod along in this angry, monotonous groove. And the title track is a truly awful, meandering piece of crap that I didn't think Pell was capable of at all. Avoid this.

Let's see, since I listen to a lot of stuff on my ride to work, I'll skip that and go straight to what I have been experiencing late at night via my Technics 1200 TT, Marantz 2230 receiver, and Sony V700's in my vintage music room by the light of a few red 25 watt bulbs in recessed lighting Note though, these albums I know pretty well but experiencing them on vinyl for me is a completely separate experience as if I was experiencing them for the first time in many ways.

With that, this past weekend:

BAPHOMET - And The Dead Shall Inherit . I have been trying to dig into some older school death metal and lesser known bands from the East Coast and via YOUTUBE (and not via a recommendation by anyone here) saw some video posted there that has a hodgepodge of old school death metal samples with their titles and covers. The minute I heard these guys I knew I'd like them, so I found it online and grabbed a copy. After a few listens I bought the CD remastered digipak from Peaceville, but about 3 weeks ago I found online someone from Paris selling the promo from Peaceville for $9 bux w/only $5 shipping so I grabbed it. Suffice to say that it's an extremely clean copy. Anyway, I've been checking it out on vinyl and as usual the vinyl copy sounds so much better than listening to a CD or an MP3. What I like about this album much better than Cannibal Corpse is that the riffing while still chunky is pretty memorable and I like the halftime straight ahead riffing. What caught my ear most are Frost's vocals which are extremely low and haunting. Even though there are no leads, the riffing just keeps coming and coming. Perhaps they aren't the tightest band, but I like that about this album.

Sadly, I also have the BANISHED record and it just pales in comparison to that original BAPHOMET record. Although the BANISHED record isn't bad, it's just not as dark, straight ahead or as haunted sounding. It also sounds like there are some groove changes which I didn't like. Not saying I don't like grooves, I love them; but regardless of what style groove it is, it has to rule and those grooves on the BANISHED record just don't.

BAND OF GYPSIES - Live At The Fillmore East I've known this album for a long time, I think the first copy I had of it I found in the very early 90's when I was re-exploring classic rock/stoner music. I have it on vinyl and on CD; but most recently got a copy of it from my work which is remastered and reissued on 180G red vinyl. Suffice to say I absolutely love this record, Miles Davis even cited this version of MACHINE GUN as his favorite Hendrix. Listening to it again on a brand spanking new copy was a pretty awesome experience to say the least. Talk about deep groove...this album has all of that and more. The first 2 songs for me in particular WHO KNOWS and MACHINE GUN are just heavenly. It's amazing to hear the jamming too on this one, it's completely live and impromtu, back when bands knew how to jam which is so rare in this day and age and is basically a forgotten art form which is sad.

AC/DC - For Those About To Rock I had this album on vinyl when it came out, but it was ruined in a flood in my parents house a long time back. I have the remastered CD digipak and have been listening to it a lot lately on the IPOD on the way to work. Just last week I won a sealed copy of the original 81' album on EBAY. It's sorely under-rated, with just a song or two being on the weaker side (perhaps COD is the weakest); but the rest of the album is just pretty kick ass. My favorite tracks are the whole first side, especially INJECT THE VENOM. For the second side, I also love EVIL WALKS and NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES (um Motley Crue, AC/DC wants that Dr. Feelgood riff back!!!). And what a great production, another classic by Mutt Lange. With each album he worked on AC/DC with (I call it the classic Lange trilogy) he just made them sound bigger and bigger without making them sound too AOR with slicked over reverb.

There are more that I listened to on vinyl this weekend, but that's enough for now.

I agree with you, except that I really think "Where No Life Dwells" is a Swedeath classic, right up there with Dismember et al. They've never managed to come close to that feeling again but several of the other albums do feel pretty solid. I even like "Across the Open Sea" more than many other people seem to.

My picks:

Blitzkrieg: "A Time of Changes"--A really frustrating experience. I feel as though I ought to love it, but it's got the same problem that Satan's "Court in the Act" does, only to an even greater degree ... the production is just one huge mistake. People say it's raw, but no, this isn't raw at all .. legend's debut is raw...I think I can tell you exactly what the producer was thinking of: He wanted it to sound like a massive concert in front of thousands and thousands of Blitzkrieg fans at some big stadium. The reverb is just insane .. the drums are far-off explosive "pffft" sounds and the vocals seem to be loud enough but comingg out of some huge speaker dozens of feet in the air and echoing off of everything. Guitar riffs? Well, they sound really good, but are a bitch to make out. The leads sound great though and this man is a fine soloist. Brian Ross sings well but his falsetos are occasionally jarring because they come screaming at you much louder than the rest of the vocal presentation and at first sound off-key, but then you realise what the band is actually playing and somehow it sounds ok in the end. Anyway, I want to hear the earlier demo stuff because I'm sure that, as in Satan's case, it just sounds better.

Ved Buens Ende: "Written in Waters"--This is one of those albums whose magic seems to deepen for me every year. I'm glad I still have albums like that and it's a sign that I'll be listening to this one for many years to come. I find the music so compelling and unlike anything else in a metal context. Some bands have tried to play in a similar style to what VBE did but none of them have really approximated the feeling of loneliness and desolation that VBE put forward. The rhythm section is just incredible and it's easy to focus on what the drummer and bassist are doing, which I think is marvelous.. Thee sometimes theatrical and sometimes droning vocals work really well for me, especially mixed with those thin andd menacing black metal rasps of Vikotnik's that sound like noone else.

Good thread idea, this.

Indeed, this is an incredible thread and I'm looking forward to contributing a bit later.

You rec'd this album and as usual I take your recs pretty seriously (Dying Earth the complete series is on its way for Christmas!) so I've listened to it several times since then. Even with all the reviews I've read and the descriptions I've heard it still sounded like absolutely nothing I had pre-conceived. It hasn't exactly clicked with me yet, as I guess I was expecting more underlying "catchiness" behind all the jangly, jagged, oddly formed riffs. This is a release that is going to take many repeated listens. I'm looking forward to hearing it in a better context, though, away from work, where I can really give it my full concentration.

Good thread idea, hopefully this will bring me back as a regular poster!

anyway...

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the biggest fan of death metal (black metal being my preference) If you ask me why this is, I would probably reply that I find most of it to be without any heart or feeling and I find much of it very hard to take for extended periods. However, recently I have dug out my old Morbid Angel records and have been spinning them almost constantly. "Covenant" is my favourite at the moment as it seems to remind me of what I saw in slayer as a youth. It has punchy production without being over produced, evocative lyrics and best of all it's chock full of RIFFS. The whole cd is chock full of an endless stream of idea's that don't seem over or under used and for me this gives it that "timeless classic" status.

Here's where I tell you that I only own their first 3 albums and the only material I've heard off of their other releases was from seeing them live.
so is the rest worth it?Does it compare to Altars, Blessed or Covenant? and most importantly did they retain their massive and original sound despite losing dave vincent later on?

I personally don't think so...but I think in part the reason you may like the Covenant album is because of Flemming Rassmussen's involvement. It's in part to why I love that album as well. I think that album is great (besides GOD OF EMPTYNESS which I guess Beavis And Butthead have forever ruined for me, and I'm not so down with the "singing" aspect so much). I think the classic sound you also mean is the lack of kickdrum triggers which give it more of that Slayer sort of punch and it certainly makes it sound more "oldschool" to me. It also meant to me no Scott Burns style of triggering which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I like his production but I've read interviews online with Paul Speckmann about the kickdrum triggering and lack of bass in his productions and what came out of Morrissound in general; and I can see that angle.

On that note, I'd love to get those remastered MASTER and related records that took the triggers off the kicks and put back the original parts/solos.

Morbid Angel's Covenant is bit of an oddball when viewing it with the three full length albums preceding it. It's got a marked less thrash sound, and I believe this is where the band really got away from that sound and did something that was seperable from current trends. It's a rather good album but I feel that they could have went with a different snare sound if I had to choose something to nit-pick about.

An interesting thing about Covenant is that you can also listen to some of the slower melodies and really pick out the direction they were going on Domination.

Is that to say that domination is a comparable album in terms of quality?

I need to give Covenant a rest. I play it in my car but I find myself only wanting to keep playing The Lion's Den and Angel of Disease. Now I am getting sick of even those. That's why I tend to just play some radio stations because I don't want to speed and I don't want to associate a cd too much with driving a car because it will lose alot if I play it on my stereo.

No, Covenant is the superior album of the two (in fact if you ask many death metal aficionados you will quickly learn that Domination is rather detested) but the other has a much different approach from the albums that came before it. Imagine taking the slower parts of Covenant and focusing the songs around those grooves. The vocals are also very different; they are more of a gruff yell than the inhuman screeches from previous efforts. In short, it's not really comparable to the previous albums in quality or style, but it stands as a decent album all on its own. I rather like it.



Cheers, Napero. Glad you liked it. I've been waiting for some really involved survey of the album, I think yours will deliver!

I got several thrash albums last week, but the ones that were most awe inspiring are by Messiah.

Hymn to Abramelin and Extreme Cold Weather
These are both must have albums for any thrash/black/death metal fan. Maybe they were too underground to be much of an influence in their day, but after listening to these albums, I feel like they were way ahead of their time. Messiah could be described as the archetype for blackened thrash, but they also have elements of death metal. The vocals are evil and raw, perhaps, even moreso than Possessed or Sodom - like a camel spitting blood in your face. Listening to these albums got my juices flowing. The production is very raw, but I like that. There should be way more reviews on the Archives for Messiah!!!