Rolling Metal Thread 2009

^Mindrot!!! Yeah I remember listening to them back to back with Winter and Asbestos Death--before Neurosis was a genre. Good stuff.

I just love the new Ghost Brigade album. They're one of those bands where merely describing them (Katatonia meets Cult of Luna) doesn't do it justice...they come up with some of the classiest melodies I've heard from a metal band in a while, yet at the same time they can be tremendously heavy.

I think I agree with Adrien on the new 3 Inches of Blood... pretty rocking throwback metal. "All of Them witches" is especially glorious.

"Call of the Hammer" and "Rock in Hell" are so perfect in their 1985 vibe. One rips off Manowar, the other rips off Grim Reaper. Love it.

Sounds like Opeth didn't have the greatest weekend...

Ha, I read that last night...what a trainwreck!

The new Behemoth reminds me of the new Mastodon without the ELO stuff.

Is it sacrilege to say I think I now worship Karl Simon of Gates of Slumber more than Wino? Cause Hymns of Blood and Thunder is fucking owning my world right now, to such a degree that I don't even think I need the Shrinebuilder album to come out; this is my doom-biker-metal album of 2009.

I wish I liked Karl's voice.

Overmars is playing in Boston tomorrow night!! I wish I wasn't such a scaredy cat about driving long distances by myself. and driving in cities. and on highways. i need to make a metal friend here in greenfield who likes to drive places.

the Overmars album is definitely my second favorite album of the year. even though it actually came out in 2007.

any western massachusetts lurkers wanna drive to Allston tomorrow night?

I liked Christ Illusion quite a bit, but I have to say, World Painted Blood is better. The title track is the best thing I've heard from Slayer in quite a while.

In which I express my misgivings about the whole Shrinebuilder thing (that name's becoming increasingly ironic, btw, given how many people are willing to fall to their knees without having heard a note of music)...

i think what yr saying is that if you only like half the guys in the band you're going to be less excited than someone who likes 3 or 4 guys in the band?

well, if you hate sleep, om, and neurosis, i guess you wouldn't be that excited by the whole thing!

i wasn't even paying attention to this album, but now that i think about it, it might be really good! (i like sleep, om, and neurosis. i never listened to melvins, but the dude can drum. who cares what band he was in. and wino is wino. he's always good for a listen or two.)

MOST stuff like this, no matter who is in the group, is usually something that i listen to once and never play again.

There's certainly a lot to digest on the new Krallice album. It's something like 78 minutes long. Liking it so far, though.

oh god--when i saw them the vast majority of the set was one song that felt like it was definitely 20+ minutes. not sure that kind of length is good for them tho.

Recent posts mentioning Madder Mortem's "Eight Ways" prompted me to register and stop lurking. I fell in love with Madder Mortem with 2005's "Desiderata", which is one of my favorite discs this decade. I was nervous about "Eight Ways" because it's hard to live up to a disc that you love. "Eight Ways" is a worthy successor, and one I'm falling for just as much. In fact, I forced myself to stop listening to it for fear that I'd burn out on it like I did with Nevermore's "This Godless Endeavor", which I also think is one of the best discs this decade.

While I'm at it, other things I'm listening to:

Amorphis - Skyforger : Reserving judgment, too new for me
Augury - Fragmentary Evidence : Reserving judgement
Cattle Decapitation - The Harvest Floor : I can't get into this band
God Forbid - Earthsblood : I can't get into this band either, but I like this one better than their earlier work
Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know : Surprisingly good, but not sure how well it'll age
Kreator - Hordes of Chaos : I should love this band, and this is a great disc, but they leave me wanting more somehow. This feels like a strong release from them, compared to some earlier work.
Lamb of God - Wrath : Been a fan for a while, this disc is growing on me, I like it more than Sacrament, but not as much as As The Palaces Burn, maybe it'll grow on me more.
Mastodon - Crack The Skye : Love the band, love the disc. Many talk about hating the vocals, I like them a lot, I don't know why people seem surprised by their evolution, which seems perfectly natural to me.
YOB - The Great Cessation : I can't get into doom as much as I feel I should. This seems like a good album, but leaves me wondering what all the fuss is about.

So far, "Eight Ways" and "Crack The Skye" are my favorites so far this year.

Band I wanted so badly to like after reading a long TheLeftHandPath interview, but couldn't get into at all: Weapon.

Band I probably wanted to like more before reading a long TheLeftHandPath interview, but am still pondering, with guarded optimism: Teitanblood.

I'm also really liking the Dark Tranquillity demo comp, and the bonus tracks from the Projector/Have/Damage Done reissues.

My track-by-track (p)review of the forthcoming Slayer album can be read here. Short version: It's good.

what is the new krallice called? don't see anything about this online

I'm sure there'll be the title announcement/preview track appearing at Profound Lore any day. It's a beast of a record, that's for sure. Its last track really blew me away. Just like the first CD.

Oh, and I agree with you, Phil, the Slayer is really good. Nice preview piece!

God, Araya looks ancient. And Lombardo looks like Andy Garcia.

He does.

Nice Slayer write-up Phil, makes me a lot more excited to hear it than I was.

xpost-I just texted Mick Barr. He says the new Krallice doesn't have a title, but that they're referring to it as Dimensional Bleedthrough.

New Portal!!!

http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/mp3/portal_larvae.mp3

Wicked.

OK, I gave up on Teitanblood after a couple passes through both records. Got tired of the vocals, and didn't find enough inspiration in the music for that to be OK.

On the other hand, I'm *really* liking this new album by Italian atmospheric/doom band Urna. First band I've seen compared to Evoken that actually seems to be in the same category, to me, as opposed to sounding like somebody doing a cheap homage to Evoken in their basement. But if you like your black/doom/whatever low-fi, this might not be for you.

So does anybody here care about Ozzy firing Zakk Wylde and hiring Gus G. of Firewind in his place? I'm kinda interested to hear what that'll sound like.

99% fewer pinch squeals, that's my guess. I like Gus G, he's a nice guy and I think Firewind's a cool band.

On a more self-absorbed note, I'm currently putting the finishing touches on my first Decibel Hall of Fame piece. Woooooo.

Cool. Which album?

Here's a hint: "Heidi, heido, heida, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah"

If you know it, don't say it. (if you don't know it, shame on you, you'll have to wait till October!)

Wow I have never run across those guys before. Shame on me.

Haha. Germany, 1982. That's all I'm saying.

Oh I thought you were talking about J.B.O.

I think Mr. Mudrian dropped a hint in this interview, amirite?

Yeah that was my second guess. And obv have heard of them. Spin "Princess of the Dawn" all the time in Dj sets.

I think Mr. Mudrian dropped a hint in this interview, amirite?

Ah, I didn't know he spilled the beans. But yeah, that's the one. My type of HoF record, pre-1986 metal, not hardcore. It was really awesome talking to everyone involved.

Sweet, looking forward to that one.

Nice. I was just talking about [the band in question] on Facebook the other day; they were my first concert, opening for Dio at MSG in '85 or maybe '86. I think one of the reasons they never got as big as they should have was that their vocalist looked like a cross between Paul Williams and Klaus Kinski.

That's a dead-on comparison.

But still, the fact that Balls to the Wall went gold in America before it did in Europe was quite miraculous. 82-85, they could do no wrong.

One more question: Did you talk to manager/lyricist Deaffy?

One more question: did you wear a rubber?

One more question: Did you talk to manager/lyricist Deaffy?

Yeah, she helped me arrange the whole project. She's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Her lyric contributions were really minimal to none on that record, but if I was doing Balls to the Wall I would have insisted on an interview, because she wrote all of it, and touched on themes that no male metal band would ever have attempted.

That explains everything. Except the cover photo.

si that overmars album OUT yet? they're soooo good.

*is

i think so. but just in case you missed my post, it's a crucual blast american re-issue of their last album Born Again. cuz it never came out over here. so, i might be the only person who never heard it till now. its one of the greatest things i've heard all year though. and would make any best-of list that i come up with. no matter what year it came out.