___

Whilst I doubt anything I have to say will be all of that enlightening I might as well chime in with my two cents on the matter. I wouldn’t say that I hate slipknot, as a band, anyway, I am completely indifferent towards them. I will say, however, that I hate what they represent, because what they represent is the watering down of metal in order to create an image and sound which appeals to the masses. It is the antithesis of the spirit of metal, and it’s not new. We saw the same thing with“hair metal“ in the 80s.  

I've also listened through:
Exhorder - "Slaughter in the Vatican"
Exhorder - "The Law"
Yeah, it's tough to tell - still way too early for me to comment on where "Invincible Shield" stands in the catalog, of course.  And honestly, I approach each album as a stand-alone effort, without allowing a comparison to other albums dictate my feelings about it.  Similar to the way I love "72 Seasons" from Metallica - I don't look at it within a context of whether or not it's "Ride the Lightning, Pt. 2".  It's just a great album on its own.
The same goes for "Invincible Shield".  As a rock-solid heavy metal album, it is a fantastic album.  "Crown of Horns" is a true triumph! 

Emperor - Wrath of the Tyrant
 

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (album)

Blasphemathory - War, Blasphemy & Divine Destruction
Bolt Thrower - Those Once Loyal
Sentient Divide - Haunted By Cruelty
 

Soundgarden - Superunknown (album)

Watchtower - Demonstrations in Chaos

Watchtower - Demonstrations in Chaos

Iron Maiden - Killers (1981)
 

Messiah - Christus Hypercubus
Disgrace - Grey Misery
Ripping Corpse - Unreleased 2nd Album
 

Messiah - Christus Hypercubus
Disgrace - Grey Misery
Ripping Corpse - Unreleased 2nd Album
 

Messiah - Christus Hypercubus
Disgrace - Grey Misery
Ripping Corpse - Unreleased 2nd Album
 

Messiah - Christus Hypercubus
Disgrace - Grey Misery
Ripping Corpse - Unreleased 2nd Album
 

Sodom - 'Til Death Do Us Unite (1997)
 

Ripping Corpse - Dreaming with the Dead (1991)
 

I think hideous pretty well sums it up. I wouldn't ever be able to click on something that horrific, not a minor complaint by any means.
It's either blackened or progressive. They've gotta pick one, can't be both. Got curious so I went and dialed up a video, and holy shit it's worse than I even imagined. They're like a fucking power metal Arch Enemy hybrid. Nothing remotely progressive or blackened happening here, unless just having keyboards counts as being progressive. Who listens to this shit? This is worse than Moonlight Sorcery even. I might have nightmares.
Yeah last year's Moonlight Sorcery was pretty fucking terrible. Wretched even. Lame power metal with bm shrieks is about right. And I had gotten all excited beforehand because they're Finnish. I really think the Finnish metal authorities should confiscate their passports and deport them for that abomination.
Faethom
 
 
NP: Disciples of Mockery - Prelude to Apocalypse, New Jersey death, their only full length album from 1999. Craig Pillard of Incantation fame on guitar and vox. These guys certainly spared no expense on their cover art
 

Pentagram Chile - The Malefice (2013)
I'd never heard of this band before, and discovered them last night by listening to a track from their second album, due for release on April 24.
So I'm off to listen to The Malefice. Two discs!
 

GBH - Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne

GBH - Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne

Dead - For Lovers of the New Bizarre, German goregrind 2011
 
Dead Infection - Corpses of the Universe, Polish goregrind 2008
 

GBH - Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne

I try to pay attention to how much I can actually enjoy and digest properly. I talk a lot about burnout and that happens pretty easily for me, but the other path I can go down if I'm not careful is the endless stream of content - listening to everything, forming quick takes, but not really absorbing anything. I find I can alternate between maybe two or three new albums over the course of a month or two, as far as really paying attention and taking in what they have to offer. Any more than that and I start losing what I care about in the experience. So basically my listening habit is like it was when I was a teenager and could only afford a couple albums at a time, except I have to try to purposely keep it that way.
I also find that being online at all while I'm listening is really disruptive to the experience, it turns music into background noise. That's hard to manage sometimes.
NP - Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium: Nahab

Coroner - R.I.P. (1987)
1987 fucking... I was 18! And back then, I used to buy LPs just because I liked or was intrigued by the cover.
I think the day I bought that first Coroner, I'd also picked up Epicus Doomicus Metallicus by Candlemass and Graceful Inheritance by Heir Apparent.
I loved Coroner and Candlemass (in very different musical styles), not at all Heir Apparent.
 

Thy mighty contract (1993) - rotting christ
 
storm of the lights bane - dissection 
 

Under the sign of the black mark (1987) - bathory
Deathcrush (1987) - mayhem
In the nightside eclipse (1994) - emperor