Rolling Metal Thread 2010

re: metal haven
i don't think they've closed all the way, but the end is nigh. for now it's deep discounts, etc. until it's all gone, i guess? that's what i read at least.

Yeah, I tend to lose patience quickly with uber-technical death metal where flurries take precendence over rhythm, at one end, and brutal death focused on pounding and bellowing, at the other, but Immolation find a good place in between. Not that their purpose is to suit my particular parameters, obviously.

Also, this new Gamma Ray album sounds a lot better than I expected. But lately the test of Gamma Ray/Helloween albums is whether I can still stand them the third time, so we'll see.

(And this last is not a metal rec, but if your metal tastes segue into Jesu, then over to Mono, then into quieter atmopherics, go look up the Japanese duo Matryoshka...)

It's a good time for old-fashioned doom these days...the new albums by Hour of 13 and Apostle of Solitude are knockouts.

I'm doing some research into NSBM music and I'm curious if, outside listening to the artists on the Resistance Records website, there's a good place to start -- has anyone written about NSBM or other racist/anti-semitic metal movements? Are there other labels/artists that I should be checking out?

Also, loosely related, I'm trying to compile a sizable list of songs/albums/lyrics that deal thematically with concepts of possession, embodiment, exorcism, etc. I'm sure there are tons, but I've only been able to come up with a few (Master of Puppets, maybe?).

There's a book written in German called Unheilige Allianzen, unfortunately untranslated and my German is only good enough to read the German wiki page about the book (barely). I probably couldn't do substantive work in the original (tho maybe this is a good chance to improve my German so I could).

The Encyclopedia Metallum is pretty comprehensive - searches on 'genre' and 'lyrical theme' will give you good starts on either of your questions

http://www.last.fm/tag/the%20pagan%20front

http://www.last.fm/tag/national%20socialist%20black%20metal

http://www.last.fm/tag/nsbm

http://www.last.fm/music/Sieg+Oder+Tod

http://www.last.fm/tag/rac

http://www.last.fm/music/Sons+Of+North

http://www.last.fm/music/Gestapo+666

http://www.last.fm/music/Aryan+Blood

that's just two minutes i spent on the internet. lemme know if you want me to spend three minutes.

Even legendary Canadian Werewolf True Pitch Black Metal band Byzantum is on the Encyclopedia Metallum

http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=26983

I think Decibel had an article on this a few years back.

"Orgasmatron"

"So what's the plan - get the three support acts out on the road on the same dates but maybe in smaller venues?"

Essentially, yes. Though Tombs and Krallice want to stick to the east coast. So there will be a host of Ludicra dates with the best local support we can muster.

And on a personal note: my band Witch Mountain (formed in Portland, OR back in 1997) has just finished a new album with producer Billy Anderson. Think Goatsnake with Anne Wilson of Heart on vocals.

I'll be shopping it at Scion fest and Roadburn. But meanwhile, any press folks who are interested in this sort of thing, email me at nanotear AT hotmail and I'll get you the mastered sampler.

And if you know of any radio outlets that handle this sort of music (like Scott Kelly's satellite radio show for instance), please let me know. We ended up with a song under 4 minutes that actually has a chorus.

It took us ten years to make a second album and it feels so so good to have it done once and for all.

Send me one. I will even post an MP3 on my MSN blog if you want.

Done.

Think Goatsnake with Anne Wilson of Heart on vocals.

I'm definitely interested. Will email.

I'm certainly interested in hearing it, but these days I'm not writing for anything beyond my barely browsed blogs.

Finally digging into the Ihsahn, this is fucking fantastic.

Jon, I'm happy to have people hear it who will simply spread the good word. It is a "promotional sampler" after all ;)

Well then. :) E-mail sent.

Just wrapping up my first listen to the new Orphaned Land and, well, I think it'll take some time to fully form an opinion on this thing. It's massive, and honestly, a bit of a slog to get through in one session. There are some really good moments and, unsurprisingly for an album this massive and ambitious, some moments that really don't work well at all. An early favorite is "Disciples of the Sacred Oath II".

Does C0sm0 still post around here? Curious to hear why he thought Phil's exercise was an "unnecessary mess". I thought it was good to see someone try to find out the truth before either a) giving press to a band with questionable beliefs or b) unfairly ignoring a good young band.

http://invisibleoranges.com/2010/02/wolvhammer-eps.html

weird post--it's like he wants to minimize the issue of racism in metal. i think it's perfectly reasonable that folks might want to avoid bands that have those beliefs. but c0sm0 and i have never seen eye-to-eye afaict

weird post--it's like he wants to minimize the issue of racism in metal

Especially when paired with the post below it, where he asks what questions people would like him to ask Varg Vikernes.

lol didn't even see that

Yeah, I thought it was good of Phil to call out the band and forcing them to get that all out in the open, and it was good of the band to respond so quickly. I don't understand what's so wrong with that.

With Varg's people screening each email interview before approving submission, I doubt he'll be giving many interesting answers at all, at least answers to the questions most people want asked.

I got this email yesterday.

This is too good an opportunity to pass up.

So, let's put our heads together.

What questions do you have for Mr. Vikernes?

hahah i don't really know what's so good about this opportunity, both for the reason adrien mentioned and because varg is an upper-level bullshit artist in interviews anyway.

oh also and why give pub/attention to an asshole like varg?

it seems more like people want to make a bigger deal out of the wolvhammer thing than necessary. it didn't really seem like he was "calling them out," more like he was asking a legitimate question that, i would think, they would want to be clear about in the first place.

Varg Vikernes: no. Ville Valo: yes! Yes yes yes new HIM yes yes. Back to sounding like they sounded when I thought they might be my new favorite band. Happy Metal!

awesome! That last record was way too artsy for its own good. I want big hooks from HIM, not weirdness.

Thanks for the Witch Mountain love on the MSN Blog Phil.

http://music.msn.com/superfans/heavy-metal/blog/free-music-witch-mountain-mp3/?silentchk=1&

Forty years ago, Black Sabbath released their debut album

HAIL THE (tr00) BIRTH OF HEAVY METAL, ACCURSED INFIDELS!!!!!!

"Forty years -- what a surprise!" (to the tune of Bowie's 5 years)

Nice Overkill review Adrien. I almost picked that up yesterday when I saw it at Best Buy, but it was fucking $18.99 for the single disc version for some weird reason.

Kinda liking Anima (Serbian rock/metal) and While Heaven Wept (somewhere between Dream Theater and Candlemass). And Gamma Ray and Overkill sound good. But HIM and Rotting Christ and Ihsahn and Immolation are my heavy rotation right now. HIM back to their grandiosity, Rotting Christ taking those arabic flutter-riffs into a new sphere, Ihsahn making sax sound both metal and Metal, and Immolation just stomping on heads. The music year is officially well underway.

Ihsahn is definitely my early favorite of the young year, particularly "Frozen Lakes On Mars" - I can't stop playing that one. The whole thing is really awesome though.

Anyone heard this band?
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1Otz94ZFcBM/S3fvpgpI7gI/AAAAAAAAAnY/Wa2kZ2_Xo0A/s400/a2adb7c63e05.jpg

http://www.myspace.com/mountaingoatband

http://thewarp.org/blog/images/fortunel_a.jpg

It's amazing how noodle vague has influenced so many ilxors to store images they find to use on ilx one day

i found that in seconds by GISing "copyright police"!

Influences

Clutch. Kyuss. Nirvana. Boris. Black Sabbath. Sleep. Electric Wizard. Down. Queens of the Stone Age. Goatsnake. Probot. Cathedral. The Melvins. Bongzilla. Weedeater. Daniel Lioneye. Tom Morello solos.

hey, there's another goat somewhere in dere.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1Otz94ZFcBM/S3fvpgpI7gI/AAAAAAAAAnY/Wa2kZ2_Xo0A/s400/a2adb7c63e05.jpg

she got to keep the bong after the divorce iirc

I like his friendly face and friendly moobs

In other news, I am listening to the Black Breath album on Southern Lord - this is the followup to the EP they released in December - and it owns, in much the same way as the EP owned. Kurt Ballou produced it so it's a bit more, um, produced, but it works for them. Really hope the whole world is sucking their dicks by summer

I loved the Black Breath EP, and having Ballou produce the new one can only be a good thing. Really looking forward to this one!

I liked the EP, but I thought it was a little one-dimensional. Is the album more varied?

Listening to the new Lair of the Minotaur disc, Evil Power. I don't know...I want to love this band, because on the surface they're the ultimate metal band - their name, the fact that their albums have titles like Carnage, The Ultimate Destroyer and War Metal Battle Master, the video for the last album's title track - but I just don't feel like they're living up to their potential. In my opinion, they peaked with The Ultimate Destroyer. This time out, they've brought in bassist/vocalist Nate Olp from Demiricious, a band I think is really underrated, and the songs have titles like "Let's Kill These Motherfuckers," "Hunt and Devour" and "Death March of the Conquerors," but it's just not as awesome as it should be. I'll give it a few more listens and see if it grows on me.

fwiw i always felt similarly about those guys.