What Are You Listening To?

[Arioch]

The Crown - Crown of Thorns (2024)

An album I've been enjoying listening to several times a day since last Friday. Will definitely be in my top 10 of the year.

 

[AlSymerz]

Trouble - Manic Frustration

[Arioch]

Magoyond - Pandemia (2012)

 

[Arioch]

Magoyond - Necropolis (2022)

 

[Arioch]

Mad Throng - Retribution Is At Hand (2024)

 

[Arioch]

Ripper - Experiment of Existence (2016)

 

[Arioch]

There aren't many people on the forum today. I feel quite alone. Could it be the end of the world and I just don't know about it?

And where has Yannis gone?

Holy Moses - Finished with the Dogs (1987)

 

[FatherAlabaster]

2 hours ago, Arioch said:

There aren't many people on the forum today. I feel quite alone. Could it be the end of the world and I just don't know about it?

And where has Yannis gone?

Holy Moses - Finished with the Dogs (1987)

 

I'm always around but I don't have much to say these days. I'm playing a lot of music but not listening very much. Playing always eats into my listening time, but the trade-off has gotten pretty extreme in our new place. I kind of wish I had a long train ride ahead of me to just sit back and enjoy some tunes.

[Arioch]

Death Angel - Frolic through the Park (1988)

 

[AlSymerz]

Alestorm - Live At The End Of The World

4 hours ago, Arioch said:

There aren't many people on the forum today. I feel quite alone. Could it be the end of the world and I just don't know about it?

 

I sleep occasionally!

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Arvas - Into the Realm of the Occult, Norway 2013

 

Gorgon - The Lady Rides a Black Ride Horse, France 1995

 

Arvas - Black Satanic Mysticism, Norway 2015

 

Patronymicon - Ushered Forth by Cloven Tongue, Sweden 2019

 

5 hours ago, Arioch said:

There aren't many people on the forum today. I feel quite alone. Could it be the end of the world and I just don't know about it?

And where has Yannis gone?

He was up on top of the Acropolis last week, have you checked the Eiffel Tower?

[RelentlessOblivion]

6 hours ago, Arioch said:

There aren't many people on the forum today. I feel quite alone. Could it be the end of the world and I just don't know about it?

And where has Yannis gone?

Holy Moses - Finished with the Dogs (1987)

 

I’m on vacation, so no time for music. That’s probably my favourite 80’s thrash album btw.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Eternity - Mundicide, Norway 2023

 

Persecutory - Summoning the Lawless Legions, Türkiye 2022

 

Persecutory - The Glorious Persecution, the new one

 

[AlSymerz]

Toxic Holocaust - From The Ashes Of Nuclear Destruction

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Malignament - Hypocrisis Absolution, Finland 2021

 

Odiosior - Syvyyksistä, Finland 2020

 

Sacrilegious Impalement - IV: Infinite Victor, Finland 2023

 

[markm]

On 10/9/2024 at 7:24 PM, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Not too enamored with the new Undeath tbh. My buddy Cody said he sees it as essentially Cannibal Corpse worship, and now I can't unhear that. It's OK, I'll have another listen at some point, but I doubt I'll be purchasing this one like I did their last one.

I respect the Kinks, or at least Dave Davies, the guitarist who infamously cut the speaker cone of his guitar amp with a razor blade to create the distorted guitar sound for their hit song "You Really Got Me." 

 Superman, Apeman, Celluloid Heroes, Come Dancing...they were absolutely atrocious! But as always totally cool if you like them man, have at it my friend. I could probably dig an ELO box set though. Or at least I wouldn't run from the room screaming. ELO was one of the only normie "classic rock" radio bands from my youth that I thought had real songwriting talent

 

Yeah, I wouldn't imagine the Kinks, for the guy who looked for the most brutal sounds he could find by the time he was out of diapers, would be appealing. Although, the options during the time period this comp focusses on, being the late 60's, as we both know were prior to any real metal.

The kinks often described as eclectic, varied, whimsical, quirky.....hardly adjectives, I associate with your musical tastes. But the thing is, their charting tracks just scratch the surface as I've found out. For one thing they released a number of non album singles as they used to do back in the day that you don't get on their studio albums so fans wouldn't feel like they were buying the same song twice. What?! Buy a single song, wtf does that?  Well, that used to be a thing, kids. And, then there are all these B-sides, and bootlegs, etc. Natch, I realize that matters not to the guy who only wants brootal, but just sayin'......

They had a successful 65 tour and then due to unspecified problems with music unions and promotors, were effectively banned from the lucrative U.S. market several years. Davies went inward and wrote these oh so British nostalgia cultural character sketches and observations of life. The gems found on his classic albums between 66-71 are quite remarkable to me, given I'd not heard many of them. He moved from that R&B garage sound that was such an influence on hard rock and punk to a range of styles that are more reminiscent of late Beatles White Album era and Woodstock rock, plus folksy rootsy influences somewhat reminiscent of Dylan's work with The Band, and even country, not to mention what would eventually be called indie rock, baroque rock....you name it, he trailblazed most of the rock era genres. 

Undeath 2024 doesn't do it for me. I picked up It's Time to Rise from the Grave, and liked it pretty well, but the new one is obviously a turn to more of a modern DM sound and like most extreme metal I hear these days feels generic, repetitive, monotonous, unmemorable, full of tired same-samey-same tropes. I can actually enjoy these cookie cutter DM albums  for a quick fix for about the first third before feeling like I've hard the same song for twenty minutes and either force myself to listen to the whole album with nothing to sink my teeth into or differentiate tracks which is stupid or bail which is what I invariably do.  

[AlSymerz]

Crippled Fingers - Through The Pain

[markm]

On 10/12/2024 at 6:39 AM, JonoBlade said:

 

Been listening to the new Chat Pile and that Untervoid quite a bit. 

I can't figure out why I like Chat Pile. It's like Korn with a black metal logo. Nice to surprise oneself with enjoyment of something outside one's lane from time to time.

Have a good weekend gents.

 

Thanks for reminder for Chat Pile. I knew they had a new one out, but hadn't listened to it yet. I never listened to Corn, but I can cop to NIN, Tool, RATM, Marlyn Manson, Deftones, System of a Down and I'll throw in Janes Addiction, just because, I'm definitely hearing that alt metal vibe, of course noise, a smattering of sludge, and  a large helping of post punk and even gothy Joy Divisionish influence. I'd say it doesn't pack the singular wallop of anguish of God's Country and is metal adjacent at best but I find myself gravitating to more and more "heavy music" out of the trad extreme metal paradigms these days. 

Also been listening to:

The Crown/Crown of Thorns

Blood Incantation, which as I guessed, is growing on me

Oranssi Pazuzu/Muuntautuja @FatherAlabaster, you might like this one. Just two listens in, but the fusion of black metal, virtuosic-avant-weirdness, and use of electronics is quite good making me think of that Plebian Grandstand album but different, fuzzier, jazzier, of course more psychadelic and less bombastic. 

 

 

[Spiderlix]

HellGoat - Dangers of Infinite Darkness

I really appreciated the Malignant (HOL) death with black influences.

[FatherAlabaster]

23 minutes ago, markm said:

Oranssi Pazuzu/Muuntautuja @FatherAlabaster, you might like this one. Just two listens in, but the fusion of black metal, virtuosic-avant-weirdness, and use of electronics is quite good making me think of that Plebian Grandstand album but different, fuzzier, jazzier, of course more psychadelic and less bombastic. 

I appreciate it man, I'll make some time to put it on this week. I have found them a tough nut to crack, but I'm feeling a little bit open-minded right now.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

38 minutes ago, markm said:

Yeah, I wouldn't imagine the Kinks, for the guy who looked for the most brutal sounds he could find by the time he was out of diapers, would be appealing. Although, the options during the time period this comp focusses on, being the late 60's, as we both know were prior to any real metal.

The kinks often described as eclectic, varied, whimsical, quirky.....hardly adjectives, I associate with your musical tastes. But the thing is, their charting tracks just scratch the surface as I've found out. For one thing they released a number of non album singles as they used to do back in the day that you don't get on their studio albums so fans wouldn't feel like they were buying the same song twice. What?! Buy a single song, wtf does that?  Well, that used to be a thing, kids. And, then there are all these B-sides, and bootlegs, etc. Natch, I realize that matters not to the guy who only wants brootal, but just sayin'......

They had a successful 65 tour and then due to unspecified problems with music unions and promotors, were effectively banned from the lucrative U.S. market several years. Davies went inward and wrote these oh so British nostalgia cultural character sketches and observations of life. The gems found on his classic albums between 66-71 are quite remarkable to me, given I'd not heard many of them. He moved from that R&B garage sound that was such an influence on hard rock and punk to a range of styles that are more reminiscent of late Beatles White Album era and Woodstock rock, plus folksy rootsy influences somewhat reminiscent of Dylan's work with The Band, and even country, not to mention what would eventually be called indie rock, baroque rock....you name it, he trailblazed most of the rock era genres. 

Undeath 2024 doesn't do it for me. I picked up It's Time to Rise from the Grave, and liked it pretty well, but the new one is obviously a turn to more of a modern DM sound and like most extreme metal I hear these days feels generic, repetitive, monotonous, unmemorable, full of tired same-samey-same tropes. I can actually enjoy these cookie cutter DM albums  for a quick fix for about the first third before feeling like I've hard the same song for twenty minutes and either force myself to listen to the whole album with nothing to sink my teeth into or differentiate tracks which is stupid or bail which is what I invariably do.  

Yeah I can understand why some people might like 60's rock, and there is a small amount of it I can listen to for nostalgic reasons, having grown up just enough to be aware of music by the late 60's. I'm a huge Beatles fan as I've said, and I can do the occasional Simon & Garfunkel album or The Mamas and the Papas or even the occasional Dylan album. Anything else would've been so late into the 60's that I probably lump it in with 70's stuff. Hendrix's 3 albums '67/'68, MC5's first album was '69, First Stooges album was '69, First Zeppelin album was '69, First Allman Bros album was '69, First Neil Young album was '69, all those seem more like 70's bands to me.  

Speaking of Bob Dylan, did you see the trailer for the new Dylan film, A Complete Unknown? It popped up a day or two ago on Youtube and now I want to see the film when it comes out at the end of the year. This kid Timothée Chalamet they found to play the young Dylan really nails it I think.

When in doubt always bail. It's that time you save not finishing albums you already know you don't really like that enables you to find the good stuff. Sometimes I'll be clicking around on random stuff and have to go through 12 or 15 or more albums before I'll find one that I'd even consider listening to the whole thing. And even then sometimes I'll still bail after a few tracks. We don't owe them anything, we know going in we're not gonna like every single thing we sample. I like to give 'em a fair shot, but if they just aren't doing it for you then don't punish yourself, just move on to the next one.

 

True Black Dawn - Of Thick-Circling Shadows, Finland. Revisiting some of my Finnish favorites from the current year.

 

Nocturnal Sorcery - Captive in the Breath of Life, Finland

 

Black Sun Disciple - Hatebound Warfare, Finland

 

[AlSymerz]

The 60's had some of the best music. The Beach Boys, The Who, CCR, Jefferson Airplane, The Hollies, and that doesn't include the aussie groups!

NP: Dead Head - Slave Driver

[Thatguy]

2 hours ago, markm said:

Oranssi Pazuzu/Muuntautuja

For no particular reason I've decided to save this for the second half of the week. Stay tuned.

[Arioch]

Slayer - Hell Awaits (1985)

 

[JonoBlade]

3 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Hendrix's 3 albums '67/'68, MC5's first album was '69, First Stooges album was '69, First Zeppelin album was '69, First Allman Bros album was '69, First Neil Young album was '69, all those seem more like 70's bands to me.  

Did a double take on this because I thought Led Zep I couldn't possibly be 1969 could it? Since Zep II also was. But so it is. 

Made me think to raise a topic I intended to mention a month or two ago but forgot to (or did I? - dementia incoming). There was this documentary I saw called 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything....  (not just a one hour one-off but 8 parts!) It is an interesting social commentary about what was going on at the time, mostly US centric, but UK did come into it. I learned a lot, however:

1. One episode banged on about how great The Stones' Exile on Mainstreet is. I am sure it is great and it sold a million copies. Do you know what else got released the same year? that Led Zeppelin album with Stairway to Heaven on it which sold 24 million copies. No mention. [could be because Zeppelin famously does not licence its music for TV use - but not even a mention of what was probably the biggest band in the world at that point?]

2. I was waiting. Waiting. Waiting. In episode 8 there was some background music to a riot in the UK which credited Black Sabbath - Children of the Grave. There was no mention in the narrative of the band itself, when 1971 could be seen as the year that heavy metal began. Both Paranoid and Master of Reality were released that year. We've debated this before. I reckon Paranoid is legit metal, others say Master of Reality is the most complete first metal album. Either way, it was 1971 when that happened.

No mention of it in the 8 x 1 hour-ish episodes. They seemed more obsessed with David Bowie and bunch of funk and various things. Which is fine...but a missed opportunity to give a more complete account of 1971 as a pivotal year in music. 

3 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

When in doubt always bail. It's that time you save not finishing albums you already know you don't really like that enables you to find the good stuff. Sometimes I'll be clicking around on random stuff and have to go through 12 or 15 or more albums before I'll find one that I'd even consider listening to the whole thing. And even then sometimes I'll still bail after a few tracks. We don't owe them anything, we know going in we're not gonna like every single thing we sample. I like to give 'em a fair shot, but if they just aren't doing it for you then don't punish yourself, just move on to the next one.

I can see why this is an efficient approach, but it does risk overlooking a lot of stuff that might take longer to embed.

There have been a few bands in the last year where my first impression was "that is ridiculous, it'll never work" but for some reason persevered and ended up liking it. Plenty of instances of course where I hear an album once and never go back, but those are normally the ones that already sound familiar and don't bring much new to the table, even if well done; like that Undeath album.

Still, true enough that you don't owe anyone anything. So long as you're buying a few albums from a few bands every so often, you're doing your part.

Better than anyone with a Spotify subscription.

N.P. Taphonomia Aeternitatis - Gesänge im Leichenlicht der Welt | ABIGOR (bandcamp.com)

This was a random purchase that I had to persevere with a bit. Now really like it and they've got a massive back catalog. It is funny that the album plays through once and then is repeated with an "old master" version. The clever bastards get you to listen to their album twice in a row! It took me a while to notice this because I tend to cue stuff up and let it go while I work during the day.