Rolling Metal 2017

lol they only picked that one cos the tour was supposed to be all last year and it was 20th anniversary (and then some of the leg got cancelled or somethin idk).

I actually like Roots even if it isn't even the fourth best thing THEY did.

Heh

xp I would be way more excited by a Chaos AD tour! But Arise would be better. Or Beneath the Remains. Schizophrenia. Morbid Visions. Bestial Devastation. The list is endless, really...

I like Roots a lot and I bet it's a blast live

otm

It woulda been fun. And the new Masquerade in ATL doesn't have quite the same feel as the old location but it still rules

I have seen Clutch 3 times never on purpose I swear that band opens for everyone. Chevelle too

I have seen Clutch 3 times never on purpose I swear that band opens for everyone.

Yeah, me too: that '93 show, when they were just starting out, then again in '97 between Neurosis and Pantera, then I got a long break from their plodding asses, until they were the middle band again, this time between Valient Thorr and Motörhead in 2010. Talk about sucking the energy out of the room - Valient Thorr were absolutely on fire that night, and Motörhead were Motörhead, but Clutch came out and slogged through 45 minutes of one-chord boogie until I thought I was gonna lapse into a coma.

god 2 minutes into the new Immolation and it alraedy feels like walkin into an old friend's house for a beer

OK, I have only listened to it all the way through once, but based on that and playing the advance tracks several times each, I'm going to predict that the new Battle Beast is the album of the year.

Light Of The Morning Star
Nocta
(Iron BoneHead Productions)
Release Date: 3/3/2017

https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000200749317-s72o5v-t500x500.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHuMdnhTJwg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNeRfAE9mh0

When you hear the term Gothic Metal you likely think of the current crop of bands that have neither the passion of Gothic music nor the power of metal, diluting both genres rather than invigorating them. Leave it to an album whose title literally translates to 'night' to finally have something embrace the darkness that draws in practitioners and devotees of both subcultures. The debut album from UK band Light Of The Morning Star after an EP Cemetery Glow that was released last June, Nocta incorporates enough Black Metal trappings to confuse the corpse-painted into thinking they are being serenaded, but the morose vibe that permeates the album is really far more Andrew Eldritch than Azaghal or Emperor, but being on a label primarily known for underground metal will likely give the band more exposure in that subculture, and that's fine.

The label has unleashed two tracks in advance of the album's release. "Ophidian" shows an actual groove with a post-punk prominent bass line weaving beneath whispered vocals whereas the title track kicks off with keys that could be harpsichord before melting into a mid-tempo anthem. As Cvlt Nation says when it premiered the song, "When I first heard the track... I knew I was going to love this despite not being much of a metalhead. It opens with a slow piano line before the rest of the instruments strike in. The vocals are not fierce and screaming, but rather deep, dark, and chanting. It really has a romantic, gothic (perhaps even vampiric) feel to it without being corny, so to me it’s the perfect blend of goth rock and metal. It’s a truly badass song that pulls you in right away.

My favorite song on the disc has yet to be released; "Coffinwood" is genuinely catchy, something as comfortable on a dancehall as a concert stage - anywhere it's dark, really.

The whispered vocals could be something of an acquired taste for metal fans, but the dynamic against the heavier-than-expected guitars and rhythm section makes it work. I wish that the production actually had a little more deference to those guitars, which might be the headbanger in me talking, but my inner Goth loves it and wants to share some absinthe with the O-A, the mysterious person behind this project, and frolic through a moonlit cemetery.

Junius
Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light
(Prosthetic Records)
Release Date: 3/3/2017

http://e.snmc.io/lk/f/l/b0cad9804b24a675e5549fdb7fdf4cda/6380035.jpg

http://junius-official.bandcamp.com/album/eternal-rituals-for-the-accretion-of-light
http://open.spotify.com/album/0LUp8pPrdr60BhFBr2Mdd7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-yN5358-S8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvZddkash0E

It's hard to believe that Junius has been around since 2003 but this is only the third full-length album from the group yet it is the final album of a trilogy though their discography is fleshed out with a slew of EPs and splits. I haven't heard everything they've done but from what I have heard, Eternal Rituals For The Accretion Of Light is likely the most accessible thing they've done to date.

Of the three songs released in advance of the album, "Clean The Beast" sounds like an artier, less organic Mastodon as it juxtaposes clean and harsh vocals. In the same vein is "A Mass for Metaphysicians," available at the Spotify link above, which delves into Deftones territory with a slippery riff and wailing background harmonies.

Rolling Stone debuted the other track from the album, "The Queen's Constellation," of which it says, "it takes the band's alternately soaring and crashing sound to even more diverse places, as can be heard on first single "The Queen's Constellation." Opening with a spiraling keyboard filigree, the song blends seismic riffs and singer-guitarist Joseph E. Martinez's Chino Moreno–esque vocal melodies as it builds to a chugging, upward march of a breakdown."

It seemed every time that Junius came by Philly they were supporting someone I didn't care too much about but in April they are doing a headlining club show that I am looking very forward to seeing.

It's been mentioned above but I have to say the forthcoming Obituary album is a monster! Guttural as hell and I still think John Tardy's got the best death metal pipes you'll find - and he uses them to great effect here.

nice - I didnt' care for the last one, is it similar? I didn't hate it either, just didn't like it as much as previous.

new Immolation is glorious, as is the POwertrip. Midnight, haven't had a great listen yet, but I'm sure I"ll love it.

next week = Inquisition on Friday, Overkill/Nile SAturday. was supposed to go to Suicidal Tendencies Sunday and even bought a ticket til I forgot I had a soccer game across town two hours away so I'm selling it.

humorously, the club (State Theatre in St Pete) is erroneously advertising Exodus as an opener. they have never been part of the tour package, maybe they were in negotiations early on, but they're definitely not going to be there, and part of me wonders if Exodus fans will show up pissed that it's Crowbar/Havok opening instead.

I emailed them to fix it, amazed it's gotten by this long

immortal bird are fuckin serious live

lol the questions starting coming in so frequently that ST's FB page manager had to swoop into the event and confirm, no Exodus would not be there, and yes, it was Havok/Crowbar.

venue STILL won't upset their website or reply to emails from several of ours.

gonna be some pissed Exodus fans lol

Immortal Bird got their van / gear / merch jacked ... have raised 14K in 3 days on GoFundMe ... shitty news / heartening news

https://www.gofundme.com/immortal-bird-stolen-gear-van

https://www.facebook.com/immortalbirdband/

Midnight album is fun as per usual. gonna be great to see them on the Decibel tour

attn Brad, this album has you written all over it I think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoIXjI7pok

Fuck, this Rebel Wizard album. Vicious, thrashy black metal with some Maiden/Priest guitar heroics thrown in. And it's Australian.

I wrote about Immolation.

If you like your female-vocal metal a little closer to Madder Mortem than to Xandria, check out the new Ravenscry album.

https://open.spotify.com/album/7vMCkszcwn6iLOpwtBcUim

(I just realized that I don't know if that's supposed to be ravens-cry or raven-scry. Kinda hoping it's the latter as an Odin reference.)

oh my god simon WHAT IS THAT SONG

dude the whole album is insane

aaaaaah

ostensibly they're considered a djent band? or used to be? I've listened to it like a half dozen times and I'm still confused

Junius were basically the only listenable djent band when their 1st album was out.

State Theater in St Pete STILL has Exodus listed on their website even after ST THEMSELVES were forced to go into the FB event to clarify the confusion.

People are getting massively confused, I am going to laugh my ass off if a shitload of Exodus fans show up and then start flipping things over when they realize they won't be there.

several of us have emailed them too, so dunno if they're just lazy or they really want to will this thing into existence.

If you say Exodus five times while staring into a mirror they suddenly appear and start thrashing behind u

I wish i hadn't just tried that when i was on the toilet

If your issue with BABYMETAL was that it still sounded too human, you might appreciate this:

https://open.spotify.com/album/5yoy8hzsgNMkAYHb350q7H

(It's vocaloid metal.)

Ha, that's good to hear. I'll have to go and look for it in the dark corners of the internet.

Meanwhile, here's something for anyone who isn't sick of post/atmospheric black metal:

https://violetcold.bandcamp.com/album/anomie

― Dinsdale

Also, for those of us who prefer physical format, there is a CD available and it's relatively inexpensive for US consumption.

For Vocaloid metal, I'll stick with Utsu-P:

https://open.spotify.com/album/7ex8PWSObIK1VQsUpixjnC

Medico Peste is yet another Polish band doing something a little different, somewhere in the Mgla/Furia/post-punk orbit. Apparently there's a cover of "Stigmata Martyr" on this upcoming EP.
http://decibelmagazine.com/blog/2017/2/26/streaming-medico-peste-hallucinating-warmth-and-bliss

Their debut album was really good, fwiw.

I wrote about Immolation.

― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Monday, February 27, 2017 7:43 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

great article. I really wish more people wrote about them (granted, Decibel gives them their due). never thought the one time I saw them headline in 1999 would be the *only* damn time.

Their releases over the past decade—2007’s Shadows in the Light, 2010’s Majesty and Decay, 2011’s Providence EP (a free giveaway from Scion AV), and 2013’s Kingdom of Conspiracy—have been some of their most bludgeoning.

this is otm. I have forgotten what Shadows looked like because that was during my weird showtunes phase (shut the fuck up, everybody), but I remember raving about Majesty on here after I got it, and Kingdom of Conspiracy I still play the fuck out of.

I think the only one I elevate slightly above the rest is Close to a World Below. I also have love for Failures for Gods, despite the clicky drums (I won't say typewriters, AG, won't do it), as it was the first one I owned.

some boring people might say Dawn of Possession is the best one or the only one worth owning. they'd be RONG. the angular atmospheric riffing is just hard to replicate. It's not about pummeling your skull a la Cryptopsy, it's making you feel like you're ambling slowly in Hell, crawling through an endless cesspool of blood, molasses, and raw sewage, and slowly losing your will to keep fighting upstream.

Since there was a lot of (justifiable) Astronoid love in the thread, the band will be playing a couple weeks of dates on the West Coast with Ghost Bath:

4/14/2017 The Park Theatre - Winnipeg, MB
4/15/2017 TBA - Regina, SK
4/16/2017 Distortion - Calgary, AB
4/17/2017 Astoria - Vancouver, BC
4/18/2017 Highline - Seattle, WA
4/19/2017 Ash Street Saloon - Portland, OR
4/20/2017 Thee Parkside - San Francisco, CA
4/21/2017 Complex - Los Angeles, CA
4/22/2017 Soda Bar - San Diego, CA
4/23/2017 Yucca Tap Room - Tempe, AZ
4/25/2017 Marquis - Theater Denver, CO
4/26/2017 Riot Room - Kansas City, MO

I expect full reviews from ILXors.

lol that should be a nicely polarizing bill

it's making you feel like you're ambling slowly in Hell, crawling through an endless cesspool of <yik>

in addition to the new immolation, have of late dug power trip, the great old ones, tomb mold, lorn & rebel wizard. ominous circle lp is okay, maybe better than okay, not sure yet. cultes des ghoules operetta thing is an endurance test but kind of fun. new portal & solstice soon?

Oh man the Great Old Ones record is killer. Lovecrafty black metal but just super fun to listen to.

Rebel Wizard and Tomb Mold are both spending a lot of time in my earholes. Waiting for my copy of the Lorn CD, secretly hoping Marc Maron will accidentally agree to interview them on his podcast.

Cathartic shrieky epic black metal by the aforementioned Ghost Bath: https://open.spotify.com/track/6eKu3fqaUDQm0iwwkFquy0

Re: Disperse

That was terrible.

hahaha no one but brad was meant to listen to that

Did Brad lose a bet?

(And for the record I listen to everything that is posted in this thread at least once as soon as I can hear the full album. Most don't get more than one listen, however. :) )

I love that Disperse song.

for real though I dig the hell out of that Disperse album, it sounds like someone went into the 1975's studio when they were off on spliff breaks and tried to make prog-metal using their setup xp

Simon OTM! I listened to the Disperse a few days ago when it got reviewed on AMG, and the first thing I thought was, "This sounds like that last 1975 album. But, you know, better." I think I even said something like that in the review comments.

It's not terrible, I don't think, but it's definitely not my kind of thing.

Hey guys. I haven't been contributing to this thread because frankly I'm severely burned out and need an extensive break from the new metal stuff. There's not much new stuff that makes me happy anymore. However the new Power Trip album is a hugely pleasant surprise in that it's ultra-formulaic thrash that remembers how catchy thrash is supposed to be. Hooks aplenty, great dynamics, the kind of filth and speed and tightness that has me comparing this record to Possessed and Exodus, with Slayer divebombs for good measure. Regressive metal for the proverbial win. It reminds me of being 17, at the height of my thrash obsession, in 1988.

And for those who like the girly metal (Glenn, take note) the new Kobra and the Lotus is a long-overdue strong effort by a band that always had a bad habit of underachieving in the past. They're a great fit on Napalm, and I hope they do well with the Euro-metal crowd.

Yes! I like "Gotham" a lot, and am looking forward to the rest of the Kobra and the Lotus album.