Iceni

I have to ask what the hell is up with the gas mask, I see that motif everywhere and I don't think I quite get it.

I LOVE that song... 'The Fatalist' by Dark Tranquillity.

It's rare that I hear a band that really sounds huge. The album 'Hero' by Divinefire left a big impression on me as an album that felt quite large; I've had similar experience listening to 'The Crown of Winter' by Forest Stream 'Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide' by Sulphur Aeon, 'Born of Slime' by Slugdge, and the song 'Skylight' by Atoma, but that's all that comes to mind at the moment. I listen to and enjoy Evoken, Abstract Spirit. Paramaecium...I've never quite gotten the same from any of those albums.

So you know they're a bunch of jackoffs. 'Potter's Field' by Sympathy over my roommate's nice big speakers. I was listening to their second, 'Earth Diver' and it was cripplingly forgettable. I'm also getting really sick of progressive 'metal' bands that have roughly 2 minutes of actual metal in most of their songs to accompany the six remaining minutes of nothing, and what there is happens to be very repetitive.

'Earth Diver' by Cormorant. What in the hell are people raving about with this band? I keep seeing glowing, gushing reviews, people making a path of palm fronds and frantically journeying to the village ahead looking for a donkey tethered by a colt to appropriately welcome these alleged geniuses. Apparently their last album was handed directly to them after several days upon the summit of Mount Sinai clouded in smoke and the rumbling of trumpets but for the life of me I can't see what there is here beyond some reasonably competent black metal. Nor more, no less. Maybe it's just me. I haven't really been in the mood for black metal since Fall 2013...

'Ephemera' by Aeon Zen. Yeah, this album is still good. It might not be the one I pick up for my latest trip through Bandcamp (I wish I were certain enough about Amiensus to buy both albums as they both cost only $5) but I'll definitely keep an eye on it.

'Gastronomicon' by Slugdge. This album feels a little less varied than the last one, a bit more blackened death going on, but it's still awesome. I do still love the clean vocals, they're well-done and a welcome addition.

In the time it takes for 'Great Cold Distance' to arrive - 'Forsaker' by Katatonia. Recently every time I listen to this band I'm reminded of how uniquely awesome they are. It's a lot like Persuader's latest in that it almost gets better with every listen. The album 'Illumine' by Edge of Haze actually reminded me a lot of Katatonia but a little more technical whilst at the same time taking on more doom elements in places; I want to hear it again because I liked it and was quite intrigued. If they develop the idea more they could well become one of my favorite groups.

'House of Heroes' by Battlelore. Off of their second-worst album 'Evernight'. This was one of maybe two enjoyable tracks on that entire release, but it is undoubtedly a good song.

I wondered about that too...I dunno, if I were in a band I might give interviews in French. You know, to show off.

'Forces' off of the Berserk soundtrack.

Ex-Lax, we call it here in the States.

'The Challenger' by Anuryzm. I'm glad I was patient with this, it's kinda muffled and quiet but it is very good material. You also don't often get a metal album by Lebanese and Egyptian musicians with a rhino on the front.

The album 'Born of Slime' by Sludge. From the song titles you'd think these guys were a joke band whose music took second place to amusing lyrics and maybe a bit of musical jibing. Not so much. Not so much at all. So far this album has been awesome, perhaps my favorite or second favorite from the latest batch of albums I've checked out.

It was certainly the zenith of their career - but because all the instrumentation was so well integrated they had serious distribution problems and I think that ended things too soon. 'Rebel Yell' cover by Heidevolk. Yes, this is real.

My preference was for 'Under the Sine of Hell' but I don't wanna get off on a tangent. 'Velua' by Heidevolk, the first of five tracks from the new album to be any darn good. Interestingly my disappointment concerning the fact that they did a song about the #%*ing Vikings like every other sodding basic-bitch folk metal band on the bloody market was almost as great as my disappointment in finding out that this album is a lazy sack of pandering codswallop. I hope the album picks up from here and they don't go the way of Iron Savior and just start circling the drain slowly but surely. If not I have at least two great releases and two decent ones with good tracks to buoy me.

Absolutely, I understand. I've been on a listening binge lately (had a night duty shift so basically from 9PM-5:45AM I was doing very little except plowing through the list I'd made) so I'll be throwing out snap reviews like mad. Speaking of which, Flatstick promised to be really fun and interesting and proved to be as disappointing as most of Carnival in Coal's material, upon which it seemed to be heavily based. By contrast, Amiensus' first full-length is proving a lot more enjoyable than I'd expected, and the new EP from Niburta was a pleasant surprise considering it had djent and metalcore vocals. The folk elements made them sound a little more like Eluveitie, which helped a lot. 'Tapestry of the Starless Abstract' by Ne Obliviscaris.

You might also like 'No One Is Alone if No One is Alive' by Czar. I liked it enough that I won't ignore it, but my guess is it'd fit your tastes better. 'Eyehatesalt' by Slugdge. So Encyclopedia Metallum is claiming this is sludge - if so it'd be the first sludge I ever got into. Thought it'd be Diesel King (even on the basis of the name alone) but they proved to be monotonous and got old extremely quickly. It's really heavy though, some of the weightiest stuff I've ever heard.

'Devourer of Worlds' by Ara. Good tech-death, strong Gorguts influences, dissonant elements and blackened sections. FA, you'd probably like this - my first impression is that it reminds me a bit of Colored Sands, on the surface anyway.

'Deadly Scenes' by 6:33. I mainly hear Carnival in Coal here (mainly since Arnaud Strobl was in both bands) but quite a lot of Devin Townsend Project as well. It would seem Strobl has a similar sense of humor too, although with a significantly more grim bent on account of he's French. It feels like a good one but I'll have to revisit it before buying.

The album 'Kill The Light' by Achokarlos. I like a few songs off of this album; I suspect others might appreciate it more than I do. So far, though, I'll only be buying individual tracks. The opener gave me hope that this would the closest alternative to Karaboudjan anyone's ever produced, but alas no.

I've been approved to stay on with the Center during the fall semester, which is good. My prospects after that are less certain but I'm also much less terrified about not having a job afterward, the stuff I'm doing is pretty transferable and if I end up doing this African Studies certificate that should be good as well.

The album 'Eat Me' by Dol Kruug. This has been a bit repetitive but otherwise pretty enjoyable. It's the guy from Dol Ammad doing death metal.

'The Red and the Grey' by Protean Collective. I must have listened to the weak tracks first, because this album sound pretty good now. And hey, guess what? Helium Horse Fly turned out to be a limp-wristed imitation of Madder Mortem. Sister of Unexpect, my ass.

'TYR' by Anova. Persefone better watch their asses...these guys also have great cleans with lousy harsh vocals, but they're sounding a lot more interesting to my ears. This sound production sounds awesome too, guitars sound all scratchy and Dan Swano... Of all the bands I'm checking out I'm most interested (judging by the description alone) in Helium Horse Fly. The guy describing them said they were like Unexpect, which is a little bit like describing an eminent physicist as being like Isaac Newton. I'm curious to see how they'll not quite meet those expectations.