(2018) Aorlhac - L'esprit des vents:
https://ladlo.bandcamp.com/album/lesprit-des-vents

Better!

Demolition Hammer - Pyroclastic Annihilation. How did I just hear about these guys? This is some pummeling shit! Pumped to see them live next month!

I was listening to (1992) Demolition Hammer - Epidemic Of Violence (2008 Limited Black Disc Collector's Edition) last weekend and saw them at last year's Brutal Assault.

Prepare to get destroyed.

White Zombie - "More Human Than Human"

Way back Wednesday! This song was my jam back in 1995! LOL!

Fucking right. They are playing this small fest, Full Terror Assault, and when they got added I had never heard of them. Finally got that record and holy shit! Looking forward to the fest even more now.

Iron Savior - Warrior 2017

Shit, I am actually really liking these re-recorded versions. Thunderous guitar sound and Piet has maybe never sounded better. Really crazy. I hope he can carry this type of sound to the next album rather than the lame shit on the last album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPgq-YioZwU

I'm actually getting chills from this.

Forgotten Woods - Overmotets pris

This song makes the 1st album irrelevant, in my view It's like a best-of compilation of the best riffs on the 1st album, altered slightly, and given a more interesting drum performance.

The re-recordings do sound really good, but again, I can't stand it when they change the song's original key! First SA changed the key on "Destruction Preventer," and now Iron Savior changed the key on "Tales of the Bold"...those are both my favorite songs by those bands, and they committed base treason by altering the key!

The SA re-recordings weren't as good as the originals but still sounded pretty good and interesting. These actually sound a little better than the old ones. I guess I don't care about key changes. Plus, the originals are still out there anyway.

Winterfylleth

Playing their discography in release date order today. Great UK folky black metal.

Tygers of Pan Tang - Wild Cat

I think the debut of the Tygers is an underrated NWOBHM ditty. There is much to like about this one - rawer, rocking and simpler than any other of their albums.

Dark Tranquillity - Fiction

The beast of an album!

Striborg - Mysterious Semblance of Spectral Trees

Good old Striborg, lovely and strange atmosphere.

Demolition Hammer - Epidemic of Violence. Which is exactly what this record feels like!

Stormwitch - Walpurgis Night

Pretty solid straight up heavy metal album from the 80s. Didn't know this German band at all. Was on the Spotify recommendations for Manilla Road.

Weird. Early Stormwitch sounds nothing like Manilla Road. A solid record to be sure but their later stuff gets much better as far as songwriting goes.

Overcharge - Speedsick

Rockin Motorhead-metal-punk!

Spotify's recommendations are not as good/accurate as last.fm's. Often they just seem to list bands from the same time period/decade, even if their style and sound are different from each other.

Namie Amuro - Checkmate!

After some metal albums, here I am back to j-pop. People often praise Ayumi Hamasaki(and she's had some good stuff, don't get me wrong), but I've always been more of a Namie Amuro and Koda Kumi fan.

Striker - Underground

I heard some of their stuff last year but somehow never got around to buying albums yet. This is surprisingly deft, complex and yet kickass music, with the production, writing style and vocals all being basically perfect for what I want out of trad metal.

Honestly I think I slept on these guys because I'd never read much about exactly how well written this stuff is, much better than many bands of their ilk now.

The Chasm - "Reaching the Veil of Death"

One of my long time favorite bands. I haven't spun my CDs of them for so long, I just had to listen to this awesome song.

I love me some Striker and I appreciate the songcraft and complexity. If they could only couple it with a pinch more of the raw approach that was present on their two first albums I would be game. Some punkish rawness.

Speaking of which:

Bat - Wings of Chains

I hope this not the only album they do because this kind of stuff is my jam - raw, punky heavy/speed metal!

Yeah I liked what I heard of the old stuff. The polish and refinement in these later albums is really hitting a sweet spot though. They just seem to be on fucking fire.

Agreed. It kinda reminds of the evolution of Enforcer with their songcraft. Of course it is done in a different way with Enforcer but the point stands - a great evolution in both cases. Enforcer just went for amazing melodicism while not losing any of the power.

Enforcer - From Beyond

"Undying Evil" is such a hit!

NP: Gladiator - Bastard Death

Beneath the Remains-esque thrash from 1992. it's not original or anything, but sounds convincing enough to me so.

Yngwie Malmsteen - Dreaming (Tell Me)

The best ballad I've heard from him. Really loving 'Odyssey' after a while.

Some Stormwitch is really good. Got their three first albums (I recall), and some compilation of their early tracks. Songs like 'Priest of Evil' and 'Stronger Than Heaven' should be more known. Not really knowledgeable with German heavy metal apart from the obvious greats, but they belong to the better half. "Witch Metal"?

The next two albums - "The Beauty and the Beast" and "Eye of the Storm" are also very solid albums if you like melodicism and some quite...romantic undertones in your metal. Solid stuff.

Battlerage - Steel Supremacy

Absolutely raw and powerful. It is not for prog fans and perfectionists but who cares - this is heavy fuckin' metal!

I was blindsided yesterday when I found out Erra has released a new album. Had no idea whatsoever. I got it without hearing or seeing anything and the first song is already better than practically everything on Drift while at the same time sounding so similar. Jesse must have had the flu or something cause his vocals on Drift were so weak. Here he's back in better form. The production is way better, too. Only heard the first song so far.

edit: three songs in and it's turning into Ghost Atlas (Jesse's other band) with harsh vocals + djenty riffs.

edit 2: having finished a first run, this is far superior to Drift while essentially being written the same way. Doesn't touch the Garrison-led albums but it's good to hear the band actually being great again.

edit 3: multiple listens. I can't stop listening. Wonderful stuff.

Borrowed Time - Borrowed Time (2013)

Had to clean the dust off the case while this played so I guess it’s been a few years since I spun it despite really liking it when it was released. Music is ok heavy metal but vocals are way average. Don’t think I’ll play it again soon.

Carcass - Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious

A true classic in Death Metal.

Invocator - "Weave the Apocalypse"

Exhorder-sized riffs and dizzying technical riff precision is wasted by the hardcore-ish, Phil Anselmo-like tough guy vox and dumbed down groove metal parts. This was released in 1993 after all.

.

Kataklysm - Meditations

Checking these guys out for the first time. I am a huge fan of Death Metal, but somehow these guys always flew under my radar. This albums is excellent. The drummer is absolutely beastly.

Hell - Curse and Chapter

Been playing this album a ton in the last few months. I think I still like Human Remains more, but this one absolutely kills.

Autarcie - La Fin du Trimardeur

Great stuff, kinda epic sounding.

Tribulation - 2015 - The Children Of The Night

Not bad at first listen. I'm a huge sucker for this kind of atmosphere.

Testament - Sins of Omission

Just might be my favourite Testament song. It's so badass!

Turisas - Battle Metal

t's been years since I've listened to this Finnish viking/folk/battle metal classic by Turisas. Still a pretty entertaining album overall.

The Cult - "New York City"

Pure rock n' roll intensity!

Jawbreaker - Condition Oakland

Just a beautifully raw heart-on-your-sleeve punk song, really.

Deep Purple- Bloodsucker