Rolling 2023 Metal thread

Yeah, anyone who sided with the convoy is instantly persona non grata in my books.

I'm digging this German band The Night Eternal. Dark and gothy heavy metal, like Danzig fronting Tribulation, pretty close to In Solitude sometimes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suCxxWXRKn8

The Max and Igor Cavalera re-recordings of Bestial Devastation and Morbid Visions (plus two new songs dating back to that era) are really good. I'm writing about them for Burning Ambulance tomorrow.

Was morbidly curious about those, I normally am not a fan at all of re-recordings like that, but I might have to check them out based on your recommendation.

Just listened to *Morbid Visions* and yeah, lots of fun and sounded great; pretty clear to hear that they've kept to the spirit of the originals.

but lol at Nuclear Blast for releasing the 20-minute long EP separately and charging full price for it

damn jmm that night eternal is real nice. otm that it's like in solitude. I loved in solitude.

Yes, I love them. Pelle had a poetic spark which really elevated them. TNE's vocalist is eerily similar at times.

As promised, my thoughts on the new Cavalera records, plus some other stuff.

Re: Profanatica

They toured with sketchy bands and when I saw them on such a tour (doing a headlining show without the sketchy band) send shout-outs from the stage against "virtue signal" types. I count them as boneheaded and tolerant of stuff I am not so tolerant of. So I can see people having a problem with them or giving them a pass since they are not overtly Nazis themselves. I will admit they put a sour taste in my mouth and I probably won't see them again.

Was morbidly curious about those

nice

I'm looking forward to checking these out too. I was pretty disappointed with the old school morbid visions the first time I heard it, and specifically, with the production. but that was back when I was in high school (aka the nu-metal years). haven't gone back much since then.

Since this line of convo is still on-going, I'll chip in my two cents that I had a similar crisis regarding Panzerfaust based off their name when they toured with UADA and Imperial Triumphant a few years back. I spent way too much time trying to figure out their deal and my conclusion at the time was that they are classic dumb edgelord metal guys who are probably OK with sketchy shit (like choosing that fucking name), but not the types to promote gross stuff too directly in public at least.

At the time, the main search thing that came up was them was about them peeing on the Westboro Baptist Church ( https://loudwire.com/panzerfaust-piss-on-westboro-baptist-church/ ), which is low hanging fruit but pointed enough in the right direction for me to feel better about them. There were a couple little things about people protesting at their shows or trying to get them kicked off bills, but it didn't seem to be based in much concrete evidence apart from their name or their tour partners since I think UADA got in hot water for playing a big Euro fest with Graveland (or someone like that) around the same time.

Anyway, I decided to go to the show and all three bands were v good live, but Panzerfaust was a total highlight. I was genuinely mad that their set was as good as it was since I was kind of primed to dislike them based on how much kvetching I had done about it. They were selling some merch with dopey shit like "This is Not a Fucking Safe Space" written on the back though.

All that said, I do think them not only showing up to the trucker convoy but choosing to post about it on their own social media is enough of a bridge too far that I would try to avoid seeing them again, despite how good they were live. There's just too much great stuff made by people who aren't morons or who don't make you spend hours pouring through internet forums to figure out their needlessly opaque politics out there.

it's always implied that I don't "get" metal when I take issue with stuff like this but I don't see how the nazi name isn't the end of it

when I took issue with darkthrone having an album of the same name the backlash was pretty vicious and I'm still not sure exactly why

honestly, is there any reason to give a metal band the benefit of the doubt on this stuff?

no but metalheads will be metalheads

well, "boneheaded and tolerant of stuff I am not so tolerant of" kinda sums it up for me too. I sometimes go through a similar process to the one JDHH outlined above for some reason too... possibly because I was a young, dumb, and full of edginess at some point too?

not just metal tho. this applies to various adjacent fandom sewers I like to wade around in too, noise/industrial, horror/exploitation, anime (see girls und panzer... or, er, don't), etc. is there a point tho? I dunno. I'm not great at prioritizing what to do with my time...

anyway, if you're not bored with knuckle-dragging death/doom yet (I am not, somehow) the preview tracks for the new gateway have been fun to throw on lately:
https://gatewayband.bandcamp.com/album/galgendood

no frills, just some chugging, doomy riffs, you probably know what this sounds like already

given they turned in 2005 I'd imagine they are all 40 years old give or take

formed

oh, I'm not at all familiar with the canadian band and was speaking generally. sorry, that probably wasn't clear.

ah gotcha

This latest Horrendous track is so so cool

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

gonna drop in a mention of the new Church Of Misery which is EXCELLENT.

It's so great to have Church of Misery back, and the new album really feels like a return to form.

And those Horrendous tracks are unreal! There's a band that always seemed good-but-not-great to me, but there's some super creative stuff happening in these riffs that has me riveted.

Also, just a heads-up, Ken Mode's VOID, out in September, just might be my metal album of the year so far. It taps into the collective WTF feeling most of us had post-pandemic. I spent 2022 fretting about how and why humanity blew the opportunity to collectively eliminate covid, and VOID captures that unease in harrowing fashion. VOID taps into those awful feelings I was trying so hard to stifle, laying the misery bare. It's a brutal but also healing listen.

the new Outer Heaven record is kicking my ass this morning.

haha was just coming here to post about that. so glad to have another one from them. they ripped at Hell in the Harbor

Alkaloid (a prog/tech-death supergroup featuring members of Obscura and Triptykon) have a new album coming out soon, their first since 2018. Their music is surprisingly hooky; I like it a lot. Here's the new song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JVfMiwzgJo

Apparently they're pulling a Metallica/Baroness — the new album is 70 minutes of music, split across two CDs for mood reasons.

The broooootal slam/death label New Standard Elite is selling their entire digital catalog (110 releases!) for $1 on Bandcamp.

https://newstandardelite.bandcamp.com/album/molested-divinity-the-primordial

My Bandcamp collection is now ruined, but I couldn’t pass up that deal.

Angry Metal Guy picked up on it too, but it's insane how many musical references I can pick out in the new Outer Heaven.

I loved their last album but this one feels like a humongous leap forward

plus have always loved their vocals

still listening to it non-stop. jesus. I do find it interesting that most of the hardcore elements appear gone though.

took advantage of that $1 New Standard Elite deal upthread. tempted to do a 30 for 30 youtube review of each album but...let's be real.

The new Spirit Adrift album sounds like Ian Gillan singing songs from Bark At The Moon. I really didn't like their covers album, but this thing rules.

New Prong album in October. I love Prong, so this is good news:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smATksUfCF4

I always forget they used to be one of my favorite bands. Pretty good song. Maybe it's time I catch up on everything they've released since Rude Awakening.

not a big tech death fan but Paroxysm Unit mixes it with brutality and it mostly works on the new one.

but dear god everybody does the "sueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey" pig death vox nowadays, like don't even bother to come up with another sound or nothing.

I'll have to check that out; my friend Anton plays sax on one track.

I've been catching up on new standard elite's last few releases this week and that's a highlight for sure

but this run in general...

Molested Divinity -> Nithing -> Paroxysm Unit -> Trichomoniasis -> Inverecund -> Embodied Torment

...is all very solid and there's some really wild stuff in there too. the nithing and trichomoniasis are particularly 'out' - check out that track 17+ run on the trichomoniasis

as for the pig vox, well, they aren't my fave either. but I can compartmentalize, I guess.

I guess I should buy the whole damn catalog, esp since today is a bandcamp friday... but I already have 15 older releases and I'm not sure if I need quite so much of this sound...

Nithing was the other one I was planning to look at. just picked it up.

can't wait to listen to the Crypta album.

Yeah, Molested Divinity are great — and, as it turns out, a fantastic soundtrack to proofreading Medicare enrollment guides all day!

i have them on account of buying the entire discography for $1. I've only listened to maybe four of the 110 albums so far lol

did discover Deleterious who were great

the Crypta delivers as expected. they were great live so I expected nothing else.

all-female quality death/thrash from Brazil

Something like 3/4 of that band is ex-members of Nervosa, right? I liked Nervosa a lot, so I'll definitely check them out.

oh for real? well no wonder I like em then.

though admittedly I prefer Nervosa to this (so far)

Okay, so what's the deal with Wayfarer? What does everyone else think of them?

They definitely tap into the cartoonish cosplay of black metal, obviously influenced by Wovenhand and Fields of the Nephilim. I have the new record and it's fine, but although they boast that this is "a funeral for the American dream", their lyrics dwell on/romanticize the whole white settler experience, which is something I always find off-putting. It feels as though they're being billed as "profound" (no record label pun intended) but actually say little of any worth. When it comes to black metal mixing with Americana, I'll take Panopticon over anything else.

The first song from the new Cannibal Corpse album was just OK. But this new one...FUUUUUCK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh20dk87S4E

going way way back on the thread buy nyc native - that Tidal Wave record you posted is really doing it for me

And sound the Someone Has Done Good Symphonic Prog-Death klaxon. Of course it's on I, Voidhanger. Behold, Fleshvessel

https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/yearning-promethean-fates-sealed

Never thought I'd see the day a headliner would announce their last (pre-encore) song at the 25 minute mark, but congrats Pyrexia!

(Terrible show overall...no wonder only 30 people showed up)

Thanks for the tip off on that Fleshvessel record imago, instantly purchased after sampling a few tracks. That label is killing it.