Warlord - Free Spirit Soar

It's legit Warlord. Mournful brand of epic metal. They just sound like themselves, which is great since Tsamis is gone. There are some songs that I can't get enough of: The Bell Tolls, Alarm...

Absurd - Gottloses Mordgesindel

Cathcy and awesome!
Really digging the ''Blutgericht'' album!

Black Sabbath - Devil & Daughter

Still song for song best of the Tony Martin era. It's all down to the basics of having the strongest riffs, choruses, etc of any of them. I've loved these tunes for decades... it pales in comparison to the crazy groundbreaking of the 70s but for solid, fun as fuck songs, it's a great time and Tony Martin's voice is like liquid gold.

Other stuff playing this afternoon...

Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction
Attacker - Battle at Helms Deep
The White Stripes - s/t

I think it's great but people here have been real quiet about this one.

Shout - It Won't Be Long

A classic of 80's glam metal. Ken Tamplin and Lanny Cordola.

All Things Fallen - Shadow Way

Subtle but good prog/power with members of Pain of Salvation, Edu Falaschi and Harmony.

Savatage - Sirens

What can I say that everyone here doesn't already know? A killer classic!

Attacker - The Second Coming

Super focused, cleaner than the wild debut. Awesome stuff.

Lots of Impelliteri and Dio, solo and with Rainbow and Sabbath.

Black Sabbath - Anno Mundi (2024 remaster)

Holy fuck, first time hearing the new ones. This is actually incredible what they did, I got goosebumps which is kind of embarrassing.


Shits all over the Ozzy Sabbath 2021 remasters, those are TRASH

Ordered. Can't wait.

This afternoons listening pleasure has included:

Mean Mistreater - Razor Wire
War Cloud - State Of Shock
Demon Eye - bit a this and a bit a that
Full Of Hell - Coagulated Bliss

Mean Mistreater and War Cloud fuckin rock! Demon Eye are pretty fuckin cool too, need to check em out a bit more.
I'm new to Full Of Hell but damn they're fuckin impressive, gonna see them late August with Thou.

Cathedral Part IV:

Cathedral – The Garden of Unearthly Delights ('05) 8/10

The flow isn't as smooth as on the preceding one but I think, in this case, the bumpiness works in the album's favour as the compositions are a bit more raucous, crunchy and edgy as on some of their other releases. Highlights: "Oro the Manslayer" (when I read that title I always think of "By-Tor and the Snowdog"; must be the extended instrumental part…) and, of course, the 27 minute epic with additional female lead vocals that showcases everything this band can do and then some. A week ago I would have said: "the best full length since 'The Ethereal Mirror' 9/10" but now I'm not so sure about some of the shorter tracks. They display a lot of attitude but aren't earthshatteringly good when viewed individually. Perhaps some could use more hooky choruses…

Cathedral – The Guessing Game ('10) 8/10

A double album of totally freewheeling, carnivalesque, progressive alternative rock where anything is possible. There's a lot to take in, a lot to understand and misunderstand. It's one of those albums you have to wear in like new combat boots, which will take weeks or months and a jungle.

At first I didn't like it at all as I perceived it as a hodgepodge of ideas that weren't thought through to the end. An example is the intro track, which doesn't go anywhere but just stops after two and a half minutes. However, that impression has changed a bit since the music's fresh, inspired and memorable. For me, the standouts are "One Dimensional People" and "The Running Man", but that's only because I like King Crimson, not because those tracks really stand out as compositions. In fact, there aren't any central tracks on the level of e.g. "The Garden" or "Black Robed Avenger" or "Templar's Arise", which is a bit confusing. A double album (which often poses as a band's magnum opus) made up of comparably delicate flowers instead of trees? Well, ok.

A weak point is the lyrics. I would have preferred socially conscious urban commentary to go with this kind of music instead of relatively naive fantasies, i.e. "subway", "groceries" and "walkable ledge" instead of big words like "priest", "destiny" and "cosmic". "Journey into Jade", which is fashioned as a career retrospective including album titles, is even pretty daft from beginning to end and closes the album on a cringeworthy note.

Negatives, negatives – what about the positives? Well, with this band I take them for granted, and this "short comment" is already too long for words.

PS: Bonus observation: Dorrian's clean vocals switch between Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, Mike Muir and one of Doug Pinnick's voices: interesting because they're all Americans although Dorrian doesn't have an American accent.

Elegy - Circles in the Sand

Proggy twists, bulky guitars and soaring vocals; not too far from what Conception were doing around this time. Too bad the rest of the album sounds far lighter.

Hath- All That Was Promised album. OK, I admit it, I fucked up! I gave it a quick spin last year when it came out but as quickly dismissed it for some reason. But it’s freaking fantastic! Would have made my top 10 of 2023. Oh well, it’s all good that ends well!

Wampyric Rites - The Ancient Tyrant Returns from the Deep Forgotten Crypts

''Oh,it's you..well i'de better invite you in then.Wipe your feet.''

This might be one of their catchiest tunes yet with well-spaced out parts of memorable dark and morose guitars.Sometimes soaring other times not so much.There's a big hook in here that doesn't quite hit until the second time around and the bass drums are just perfect for their type of soundscape.If there's a half decent bottle of red wine on the offer,this band is the perfect accompaniment.

Gravesend - Gowanus Death Stomp

Pretty nasty, bruising good time... at the crossroads of grind, death and black and some various other things. Just gritty fucking fun.

Municipal Waste - Hazardous Mutation
SOD - Speak English or Die
Exodus - Fabulous Disaster

The 80s had to have been super sick tbh. Born too late... (good song as well)

Kerry King - Toxic

Listenable, energetic metal background music... Slayer's problem was always that they had the perfect mix of their songwriting with this youthful rage, and unfortunately thrash is difficult to do if you can't top the rage of those early days. But it's not bad.

The Dead South - Chains and Stakes
I don't know much about this kind of music, but it's sort of a modern bluegrass I guess. I really like these guys though, and going to see them in August.

The soundtrack to some good friendly violent fun and a house getting trashed.

I'm a fan of the song "In Hell I'll be in Good Company" from this band. They fit a odd niche between Country (Being from Rural Canada and not the southern US.), Folk and Bluegrass as you noted. The website tags them as Folk-Bluegrass directly.

I would recommend them for people who have varied tastes and are looking for something new but haven't heard them before.

I second that recommendation. I had a redneck buddy of mine send me that song a couple years ago, I was reluctant at first because we have different taste- but I'm glad I gave it a chance. Great stuff in general.

I bought all of the Dead South albums during the complete insane dregs of the pandemic era and haven't been back in a while - that time just seemed like another life. But they're good. I should go back. "In Hell I'll Be Good Company" is a great tune and they just have a pleasant sense of melody.

Judas Priest - Between the Hammer and the Anvil

Finishing the Rob Halford book. There's really something to how charismatic and good this fucking guy is at singing at his best. The band really was on fire here and the songs are direct but jam packed with cool twists.

Fight - War of Words

This is really cool - somehow always neglected trying his weird 90s stuff. Nice, meaty fucking riffs, and he sounds as good as he did on Painkiller, instant edge and charisma.

Within Silence - Return From the Shadows

Killer power metal. Positive, optimist and a pleasant sound but it still has power. The vocalist has a bit of an accent but is still really good. I have been meaning to check this out for a while. From Slovakia.

Sacred Warrior - Waiting in Darkness

This is great. Rhythmically heavier than the 4 classic albums with Ray Parra. Pretty modern but still has trad appeal. Eli Prinson does a fine job, maybe a little more mid range and dramatic but he goes quite high as well.

Witching Hour - Ligeia

This sounds like music the South Park goth kids would make, but in a good way. Some of the most stereotypically... well, goth gothic rock. I feel like bats are gonna fly out of my speakers.

Cenotaph (Tur) - Puked Genital Purulency

Much better after second listening.

about nowadays

Demon – Night of the Demon ('81) 7.5/10

The debut is odd: four classics of the NWoBHM / melodic rock ("Night of the Demon", "Into the Nightmare", "Father of Time", "One Helluva Night"), which belong on every Demon Best Of, and five fun but insubstantial hard rock tracks you can skip without missing much.

Demon – The Unexpected Guest ('82) 8.5/10

A defining moment. Track by track the band build on the best of the debut, perfect their own take on melodic rock and deliver one of their most consistent albums ever. The golden thread that runs through Demon's whole history starts here (and on the debut's title track, of course).

Demon – The Plague ('83) 8.5/10
Demon – British Standard Approved ('85) 6.5/10
Demon – Heart of our Time ('85) 7/10

What do you do when you've just found your style? Right, you throw it away and start to experiment, lol. Keyboards! Everywhere! A thick dystopian mist of keyboard sounds covers land and sea and births an essential dark new wavy pop rock album ("The Plague"), an icy concept album verging on neoprog that's too ponderous for my taste but that you may like if you like Roger Waters' "When the Wind Blows" soundtrack and "Radio K.A.O.S." ("British Standard Approved") and a solid but inessential pop rock record ("Heart of our Time") already featuring some elements of the pomp rock that is to come.

Vektor - Black Future

Very enjoyable album. A tad overlong, but the riffs are engaging enough that it doesn't matter. I find the circlejerk about this band tiring (there are better modern thrash bands out there IMO) but I can't deny this record.

I am the Intimidator
I mean, pretty much everything that needs to be said has already been said about this. Fun trad metal.

Domine - Emperor of the Black Runes
Symphony X - Paradise Lost

Yet more melodic metal that is classy and powerful and engaging... love this stuff. Domine's album is really fucking good, with a bunch of just powerful as fuck songs that keep adding more and are actually better for it. Cutting, galloping riffs and explosive choruses. Symphony X stripping their sound down to this more condensed state was a genius move since they're entertaining even without the long prog stuff. Russell never sounded better and with the huge guitar tone it all just sounds massive.

Kreator - Endless Pain

This is a failed attempt at an album listen (!!) The band is great, the album seems very nice, the album cover—whew! One of the best covers I've seen, honestly.

But that production... it's the same reason I don't listen to black metal anymore. So thin and piercing, so treble-y and hissy. As I get older I find my tolerance for this diminishing, so much so that I'm effectively cut off from a substantial quantity of albums, some of them undoubtedly among the best metal has to offer. It's a damn shame, as I was really enjoying what Kreator did with this one. I made it through the first track, drums hissing away in one ear and guitars hissing away in the other, and it was a damn good song. A real shame.

That is the only Kreator album I can get through.

Getting ready for the death metal poll!

Death - Symbolic

I can see why this is considered their best. My faves are Sound of Perserverance, Spiritual Healing and Human but I need to listen to this more.

Pestilence - Malleus Maleficarem

I like how this is right on the line of thrash. Pretty straight forward, I am more of a Spheres guy though.

Atheist - Piece of Time

Pretty awesome but I think Elements is where these guys peaked.

Paradise Lost - Shades of God

This is a big step up for these guys in listenability. Is this really not death metal though?

Carcass - Child's Play

*whispers* I like "Swansong" and think it's fun. Please don't tell anyone.

Black Sabbath - War Pigs Demo (Walpurgis)

Why the fuck did they scrap the lyrics to this??? The label made them? Radio wouldn't want it?

This demo is literally one of the best Sabbath songs, and it pushes the official version way down the list.

Demon – Breakout ('87) 7.75-8/10

The most interesting thing about "Breakout" is the framing: the tasteful artwork (even the back cover!), the fantastic opener "Life on the Wire" with those beautiful guitar arabesques by John Waterhouse and the intense closer "Through these Eyes", that sees Dave Hill screaming his entrails out and Waterhouse doing a Gilmour (backwards). (Ok, actually it's a Tim Renwick, but "Gilmour" just sounds more impressive.) What's between those 80s shoulder pads is Demon doing what they do, cobbled together and unspectacular but classy. 2020's Japan remaster prolongs the ending by adding the short instrumentals "Finale" and "End Piece" to make it more epic. The best version I guess.

Oh hey, it also does away with that really awkward rhyming of 'masses' with... 'masses'.

Anyway,

Dark Forest - Autumn's Crown

This album's cool. Galloping riffs, soaring melodies.

Paradise Lost - So Much Is Lost (Sanbreez Co2 Remix)

Just great summery chill out moment, incredible remix if you like electronic music with brooding atmosphere!

Cenotaph (Tur) - Reincarnation in Gorextasy

Intense album with great vocals.

I had forgotten this funny song from Bruce Dickinson. This bonus track is "a bit" Deep Purple-ish.

Mgla - Groza

The interplay between the dark guitar melodies and the rhythm section is wonderful. I love the bass playing in particular - of course with Mgla everybody knows how great Darkside is, but the bass lends this record such a dark, heavy low-end. At times it's quite hypnotic. I've always been enamored by the third track in particular.

Demon – Taking the World by Storm ('89) 8/10

Their most epic release featuring the monumental folk ballad "Remembrance Day" (9:23) worthy of Thin Lizzy or Gary Moore and the endless "Time has Come" (11:53). Despite those and other great tracks, I'm not completely won over because of the track order: The short, grating "Commercial Dynamite", which is a sonic earache because Dave Hill doesn't hit the notes in the chorus precisely, shouldn't be the opener but hidden away somewhere on side 2. As on the live album, "Blue Skies in Red Square" (8:10) is the rightful opener. The rating doesn't refer to the album as it is but to some dream track order that makes sense.

Demon – One Helluva Night (Live) ('90) –/10

Excellent setlist with most of their best tracks (up to "Taking the World by Storm") in one place (9/10). Unfortunately, the (small) audience is barely audible. So if you're expecting a great live atmosphere, "One Helluva Night" might be a disappointment (5.5-6/10).

Nightwish - Perfume of the Timeless

I like it, very Nightwishy and a good flow to it.