Rolling 2020 Metal Thread

meanwhile Convulse have a new one out but as of two albums ago, they're no longer a standard death metal act and they are writing all of this ponderous, non-deathy prog type material that i have no interest in.

I started listening to the Convulse album last night and liked what I heard, but yeah, it ain't straight death metal by any means. (They haven't turned into Opeth, mind you; just a weirdo prog-death band. Lots of weird touches like whispering vocals in the corner of the mix and sort of folkish late-Primordial type melodies.)

And nothing against that kind of music which i do like for some bands. I'm sure it's done well. I just wanted more floor punching from them like World without God or their first reunion album.

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I'm just bad to the bone for power and symphonic, personally

really into this Thou/ERR collab album. hella goth grandeur.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/quietus_production/images/articles/29128/Lamp_Of_Murmuur_1603641114_crop_550x733.jpg
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0291658041_16.jpg

Hat-tip to the Quietus for this one: Naturally, Lamp of Murmuur' is a primo bandname, and while I was expecting some bottomless pit Lurker of Chalice USBM, this is actually a) Way more riffy than I thought, and b) really good all the same. No boys without toys having their guitar ripped out of their hands crying in their echo-y ambient torture nihil nihil basement BM*, but musicians frivolously axing away, in a very melodic and song-oriented way. Didn't think I'd like this as much as I do, but it sure gets the adrenaline flowing!

https://lampofmurmuur.bandcamp.com/album/heir-of-ecliptical-romanticism

(*) how I prefer most of my BM tbf

holy fuck, that Lamp of Murmuur is great!

almost reminds me of At the Heart of Winter at times

New Botanist out https://verdant-realm-botanist.bandcamp.com/album/photosynthesis
Haven't listened yet but loved Ecosystem

― gman59, Friday, 30 October 2020 16:57 (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

It's incredible! Building on the same vocal-heavy folky formula of Ecosystem, but way more prog. It's my favourite thing he's done so far.

There's a new Rob Zombie song. It sounds like it could have been recorded at any time in the last 25 years. The dude is in total aesthetic stasis, and the knuckle-walking part of me is totally fine with that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WULTU6zl2E

new azarath at the end of the month:
https://agoniarecords.bandcamp.com/album/saint-desecration

like with in extremis, the preview track doesn't have riffs with the catchy, absu-ey x factor that was all over blasphemers' maledictions. but I'm still always up for more azarath.

tangenttangent yeah I've checked it out since that post and like it a lot. not sure where it ranks within his discography for me but its solid as hell

also i'm late to the game here but really loving the newest Wayfarer that was mentioned above

i need to return to it, i liked it a lot and then a lot of other shit came out lol

Venom Prison comp is great. i guess they re-recorded some old demos and added a few new tracks.

they do breakdowns the right way, rather than becoming the song they supplement it.

and I'll say it - Larissa Stupar's vocals are out of this world sick

New stuff I like enough to buy (and in some cases already have):

Sólstafir - Endless Twilight of Codependent Love (Season of Mist)
http://img.discogs.com/Es_d8j3CB4luWSPCoQN-8XfDcAI=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-16128265-1604370385-2761.jpeg.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/7Gz2aaP3iC3eEzoNaMno4E?si=pDZTRbOiSyyuwbcsF6cLEw
http://solstafir.bandcamp.com/album/endless-twilight-of-codependent-love

A little less black metal, a lot more melancholic post-metal and a heavy dose of classic rock tropes this time out for the Icelandic band that does no wrong.

Barfbag - Let's Stop a War (Stay Gold Records)
http://metalshockfinland.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/barfbag-cover.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/2otZjLZkvYClwqWsMyI0FP?si=RLXRrxUHRpOo308ZPmMXQw
http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Stop-War-Explicit-Barfbag/dp/B086VRD3T4

I didn't expect much from this - A&R mogul David Bason and guys from the Dresden Dolls and AWOLNATION - but it hits me like the first Suicidal Tendencies record if they were a hell of a lot smarter (but a different kind of smart ST would eventually employ). Donald Trump is low-hanging fruit but this incredibly short EP was a kick in my ass when it came out election day. Not on Bandcamp and only available for purchase as an Amazon download, which kinda sucks.

Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full (Sacred Bones Records)
http://assets.boomkat.com/spree/products/686965/large/843563128633_T66333391490054.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/6X2TkIjKz0JmifXmr0Tj79?si=8QQkiuUkStGgSsyevSDfnw
http://thou.bandcamp.com/album/may-our-chambers-be-full

I had a lot of trouble picking tracks from this for my 2020 Spotify Playlist because all of it is so compelling. It really takes the best of two disparate worlds, both of which I like very much, and makes the combination sound enevitable.

Getting a bit of Tribulation vibes from the Solstafir (that's a compliment in my book).

Just played the song Hexennacht by Hellripper and it frrrrrriiggiinnnnn rippssssss. Multilayered blackened vocals laid over a bloody track of trash guitars. I wonder if the entire album is as good as this?

New Darkenhöld is quite solid and will meet all of your 'Oyez, oyez, braves gens !' needs:

https://darkenhold.bandcamp.com/album/arcanes-sortil-ges

As usual, the folks over at Haeresis Noviomagi deliver the goods, cementing the Dutch BM scene as possibly my favourite thing in metal right now:

https://empyreangrace.bandcamp.com

Obscure cavernous DM from Greece that absolutely no one is talking about but that really hits the spot:

https://bognorband.bandcamp.com/album/brain-paralysis

Swedish blackened doom courtesy of Svartrit, for fans of violins and musique concrète-ish interludes:

https://svartrit.bandcamp.com/album/irreelle-sindelag

When you're feeling bellicose and dying to crush face while you die in a proverbially pointless war:

https://ceremonialbloodbath.bandcamp.com

Just to backtrack for a second: May Our Chambers Be Full would have been better without Bryan Funck imo. ERR is a much more compelling vocalist and her bits are invariably better throughout.

Also, I really don't get the appeal of Sólstafir, their music is terminally vacuous.

I totally disagree. I haven't heard anything resembling the dual-vocals on this album before and it's amazingly effective.

re: ERR/Thou

yeah I like the vocal interplay as well even if I agree that she's obviously the more talented vocalist

I agree, but also their blend is its own new thing. Whether one or the other is a better singer is irrelevant imo

This new Mindforce track kicks ass
https://bbbrecords.bandcamp.com/album/reign-of-terror

Tbf I'm nearly always unduly harsh on dual vocalists in a metal setting so you can chalk it up to my ear-blinkers. I also don't like Thou all that much.

There's a new Völur album, Death Cult, out on Friday. Folky art-doom with overtones of jazz and modern classical. No guitars, only violin and bass. I interviewed them in 2017, when their last album came out.

oooh I like their stuff a lot, good looking out

Shaidar Logoth - Chapter III: The Void God
Hey here's another grrrreat atmospheric, post-black, beast of an album!

Love this shit, once the opening track takes off it's just YAAAASSSS

In somewhat surprising news to me, renowned flavoured tea brand doomsters-turned-stoners Celestial Season have reformed, and they've gone back to the well: early 90s doom/death with violins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZL6cXvrrYM

And the other new video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TiT9Z5e1Gs

Hmm... Tea!

Their Sleepytime herbal tea is excellent.

Found this while checking out highly rated 2020 albums on Rate Your Music - it came in at #36 ---

Havukruunu
Uinuos Syömein Sota
Naturmacht Productions

http://e.snmc.io/i/300/w/82dd214f8a10b768335aadc7a41a7b0b/8334593

http://open.spotify.com/album/3CdNDAIQpOcZJEhgkctLns?si=KUWdaw8AROOaiZIV1uIU3Q
http://naturmachtproductions.bandcamp.com/album/uinuos-sy-mein-sota

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUsU9ZH-GR4

Never heard them before though this is their third full-length album. Finnish Pagan Black Metal that is just relentless! Most of the album is a full-on gallop and the guitars are brilliant, riffs and superb solos that explode from the speakers. It's also quite anthemic but not at all cheesy about it. I am glad I found out about it, though they already sold out of all physical formats though a repress is promised for early 2021.

It’s okay.

late pass, but i think all these things are true:

1. the vocal interplay on the Thou/ERR record is cool and also one of the interesting things about the project
2. you could remove Funck's vocals from the record completely and they would not be missed ... and you *might* argue this would make it better
3. ERR is a fuckin' stunning vocalist / artist who should be bigger + better known (though she seems to be doing pretty OK as is)
4. #3 is a foundational factor behind #1 and #2

New Dark Buddha Rising out tomorrow:

https://darkbuddharising.bandcamp.com

Oh hell yes!

Another reason not to do a metal list yet

can I just say it really bugs me when metal bands on bandcamp choose grey or black text on a black background just to be goth or whatever?

Squinting is metal af.

All part of the five steps to be a metal band:
1. indecipherable logo
2. incomprehensible vocals
3. incomprehensible lyrics in archaic icelandic and/or latin
4. illegible 'ye olde englishe' font
5. dark grey on black website

I’m not too familiar with his previous material but if you like droney, mid-tempo Scando-Satanic BM that predicates about last things with unflagging intensity, Svartsyn’s Requiem will make a convert out of you. The vocals are top-tier, the guitar work wrings every sliver of meaning out of its limited palette of notes and the rhythm section is magnified by a mercifully anti-trve kvlt approach to production. I’m often skeptical of one-man BM acts but as with Kaatayra, I didn’t even realize what was going on at first. Anyway, Sweden is killing it this year imo:

https://carnalrecords.bandcamp.com/album/requiem

Svartsyn is a two-man acts I think? They're very good yes. For previous material, go to Timeless Reign or the split they did with Arckanum Kaos Svarta Mar.

speaking of Sweden killing it, i'm reposting this:

These folks from Uppsala, who call themselves The End Commune, are into some (literally) edgy shit if their blog is to be believed, but I'd rather judge them on the basis of their debut LP as Slutet, which is among the most distinctive BM releases I've heard all year. Between the (female) vocals, which rival Onielar's, the band's audible preference for improvisational fluidity over simple repetition, the Mesopotamian theme, and the judicious use of lengthy dark ambient segments, there is much to admire here. I would have admittedly shaved off 10-15 minutes of playing time, primarily from the title track, but the end result remains impressive nonetheless:

https://theendcommune.bandcamp.com/album/love-beauty-lp-2020-2

― pomenitul

^ this record is really something. distinctive, much to admire here and impressive -> otm

and

AOTY so far
Sweven - The Eternal Resonance

― ultros ultros-ghali

yes!

Eternal Resonance is gorgeous. It's probably stuck with me more than anything else this year.

Svartsyn is a two-man acts I think? They're very good yes. For previous material, go to _Timeless Reign_ or the split they did with Arckanum _Kaos Svarta Mar_.

New Macabre out tomorrow??!!!

I'm just listening to that new Svartsyn, and like too many BM bands these days, they (he?) really, really want to be Mgla/Kriegsmaschine now. They were never the most unique band around, but for some reason that annoys me.

Also: Slutet are surprisingly clairvoyant, the record has a song called Love Letter To Pfizer

I remember you saying that about last year’s Misþyrming record as well. It’s a fair criticism, to be sure, I just feel like Mgła’s execution isn’t always that hot and the Svartsyn is considerably dronier to my ears anyway, which is imo its most interesting aspect. That said, I haven’t been keeping up with metal for anywhere near as long as you have, so it’s easier for me to ignore/be oblivious to unoriginality.