Rolling Metal 2018

It never existed and never will sub specie aeternitatis but insofar as some music is more overtly political than other music, it's not too far-fetched to argue that the political in art is a spectrum. Hence my wish that metal 'remain as neutral as possible'. Deride it all you like, but I don't care about the politics of, say, Darkspace and the experience of listening to their albums does not strike me as closer to the left or the right.

eh

metal has both anti-political/escapist as well as knee-jerk anti-establishment characteristics so it's easy to write narratives supporting either stereotype.

Pretty much. I general prefer the former but am not averse to the latter, as long as there's more to it than just that ('this music is good because it supports good politics' is both aesthetically and politically naïve).

*generally

('this music is good because it supports good politics' is both aesthetically and politically naïve)

has anyone said or thought this in the history of saying or thinking things

Politics is prescriptive. When it takes over aesthetics, it does tend to separate the chaff from the wheat on the basis of extra-artistic (which is a misnomer since art qua art does not exist according to this logic) values. Very few people who condemn aesthetic neutrality would admit to it, but the implication is there (we all must take sides and said sides cannot be neutral, hence we must seek the political good even in music). My position is that there is politics in all music but that this does not make it inherently or essentially political. It is traversed by something else (some ‘thing’, which can be equated with politics but is not reducible to it). When all is said and done, this ‘thing’ is precisely what we’re lending our ears to when we listen to music.

('this music is good because it supports good politics' is both aesthetically and politically naïve)

has anyone said or thought this in the history of saying or thinking things

Yeah, I'd like one specific example of a band pomenitul thinks makes shitty music, but gets a political thumb on the scale from critics or fans. Just one will do.

I love how you’re all just focusing on the straw man. Anyway, socialist realism, which was an official, state-sanctioned ideology being the Iron Curtain (and still very much exists in various parts of the world today) would be a classic example.

*behind (sorry, on my phone).

That's nice, but can you name a socialist realist metal band? We're talking about metal here.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TRV9i9S27VQ/UVB49vxrCuI/AAAAAAAAK_g/nBHJTYLqiOM/s1600/who-gives-a-shit.jpg

I do. A lot, in fact, as you've no doubted noticed. I care because it defines the way we talk about music (and art in general).

That's nice, but can you name a socialist realist metal band? We're talking about metal here.

That wouldn't prove your point (we're talking about listeners' attitudes, so reception trumps production here), nor are you engaging with the fleshed-out version of my argument which, incidentally, leaves more than just a bit of wiggle room for the political. Anyway, to reiterate before I get back to work: if neutrality is merely a 'sham' (as Simon put it – and I'm assuming he was referring to a musical and hence aesthetic context, as I agree with him if he meant it on a purely political level) then metal is thoroughly defined by the partisan politics not only of those make it but also of those who consume it, as if there were nothing in excess (something potentially apolitical or extra-political) that isn't merely reducible to the battle between left and right. Like I said, very few people who express contempt for aesthetic neutrality actually believe this, because it's an absolutist position that is quite hard to enact in practice.

if neutrality is merely a 'sham'...then metal is thoroughly defined by the partisan politics not only of those make it but also of those who consume it, as if there were nothing in excess

even on a purely logical level this isn't the case. the absence of an ideal neutrality, assuming "ideal neutrality" makes sense as a thought, would apply across every cultural product and therefore would just be a given when dealing with ways of receiving and creating them. that doesn't imply it's the entirety of reception or creativity any more than concepts like texture or subject or performance are. there isn't a quintessential substance, just a mesh of concepts.

sorry, shorter: "everything is political" is rarely used with the unspoken thought "and only political" tacked on

I'm certainly not arguing in favour of some quintessential substance (what I call the thing's 'excess' cannot be that, by definition, and neutrality, well, neutralises substance, as it is neither this nor that – it is a kind of ambiguity, if you will, which is precisely what draws me to art). As for the shorter version of your point, usage varies quite a bit, and the statement 'everything is political' does all too often imply an absolutist exclusivity (imho): 'nothing isn't political', i.e. 'solely nothing escapes the omnipotence of politics', which makes the aspiration towards aesthetic neutrality seem nihilistic. Anyway, I don't want to derail this thread.

Awful news about Caleb Scofield. RIP.

Metal thread's probably the wrong place for it, but Zeal and Ardor has a new track out: bandcamp.

No obvious trace of BM in the sound. Basically just a big, booming gospel-industrial stomp. Don't particularly care for it, tbh.

New Lychgate for people who like their death metal with a massive Castlevania church organ vibe.

http://blood-music.bandcamp.com/album/the-contagion-in-nine-steps

This Inhumankind album on I, Voidhanger is... something.

http://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/self-extinction

Double bass, flute and vocals. It's quite insane.

So Ad Hominem is pretty much unapologetic NSBM and therefore irredeemable, is that correct?
Google searches has me 90% sure this is correct but I welcome opinions here.

That's a hilarious metal band name.

In other news, anyone making the trek to Philly for the Decibel metal & Beer Fest?

http://scontent.fewr1-4.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/29542823_10160236218730597_1995971344426030973_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&_nc_eui2=v1%3AAeFy1I5tWEdl8j6dz9ZgH5TxUEokUHR-XW4nWGobFcsohpPtxjOvEKKl2e-rSuczTZZC4gOo-stFN05EPSrrzKEupo20yEB1SSt1EqbKSx23uw&oh=89bdc59ffc26f02f1002cabbb22d7494&oe=5B6A9F6B

Oceans of Slumber, whose new album The Banished Heart is out now and fantastic, are touring the US with Insomnium in May and June.

Awful news about Caleb Scofield. RIP.

― wronger than 100 geir posts (MacDara), Thursday, March 29, 2018 1:05 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i learned this during my band's set last night and suggested we abandon our current setlist to just play until your heart stops straight through (we are not capable of playing anything like until your heart stops straight through)

this is so sad and awful

Dont know what the guy’s private views are but I never got an NSBM vibe from Ad Hominem, their records are all over-the-top misanthropy clearly aimed to be as offensive as possible, with songs like Glory Hole Jesus and Anus Of Yahweh & all that so I’d stay clear of them if that isn’t your thing.

New Lychgate for people who like their death metal with a massive Castlevania church organ vibe.

http://blood-music.bandcamp.com/album/the-contagion-in-nine-steps

I just listened to this last night/this morning and was pretty intrigued and engaged. Some nice intricate dissonant guitar work.

Kim Kelley at Noisey previewed the new album from Italian jazz-doom-drone merchants Messa.

http://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/vbx7d4/jazz-drone-and-doom-collide-on-this-genre-defying-new-album-from-messa

You can stream it at the link via SoundCloud.

While generally I tend to like whatever Kim recommends, I really enjoy this and am surprised at how simple and accessible it is with so many moving parts.

That was featured in the monthly metal column on Stereogum, too. I like it a lot more than their debut, which was missing the jazz elements.

https://messa666.bandcamp.com/album/feast-for-water

Really enjoying the Lychgate. It's a subtler record than the first one, with less church organ, which may place it a little closer to some of your tastes

I mean it's still totally a death metal opera, but a good one

That Messa SoundCloud won't play for me. I don't hear any jazz-drone in "Leah," but I liked Belfry, and looking forward to hearing the new one. Kim mentioned Jex Thoth, who told me at a show back in 2014 that a new album was on the way, perhaps this will be the year. There's been a similar long wait for Finnish occult band Mansion -- they told me the mix is done on new album and announcement coming soon. Things to look forward to.

Wrote a review of the Inhumankind album for Burning Ambulance this morning; it'll be up on Tuesday.

Deceased are doing a one off in Tampa on 4/20. no way I'm missing that.

That Messa sounds fantastic. Thanks, guys.

Was at my mum's yesterday, cleaning out shite from my old room. Found a tape copy of the first Immolation album, which some dude is selling for £££ in Discogs, and the second Cancer album, which goes for similar. Also found a box of 7"s which I'd not seen for years, where the inbuilt kudos wasn't quite as comprehensive: Skid Row, Wratchild, Faster Pussycat. Did have a couple of nice BrutalTruth and Fu Manchu 7s, however. Where did the time go?

I wrote about the 10th anniversary of The Sword's Gods of the Earth and "hipster metal" for Stereogum.

Q1 bandcamp linkspamtacular:

Oppressive blackened death with curious production details
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pandaemorthium-forbidden-formulas-to-awaken-the-blind-sovereigns-of-nothingness

ADD bedroom tech-death with a bit of character (NYP)
https://estuarinemetal.bandcamp.com/album/sic-erat-scriptum

Cold and moist cavernous death-doom
https://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/untitled

Dramatic melodic death-doom
https://hamferd.bandcamp.com/

Suffocating atmospheric black metal in spaaaaace
https://mahr-pk.bandcamp.com/album/antelux

Fairly standard but satisfying black metal with a couple of folkish touches
https://nahtrunar.bandcamp.com/album/mysterium-tremendum

Deeply atmospheric post-black/space ambient from Ethiopia <--- recommended ffo Progenie Terrestre Pura
https://nishaiar.bandcamp.com/album/irix-zerius

Spooooky raw ambient bm
https://sunsunmoon.bandcamp.com/album/demons-in-medieval-times

Slightly nuts rustic bm:
https://ungfell.bandcamp.com/album/mythen-m-ren-pestilenz

Harrowing blackened funereal something something
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/loss

...and...

NEW MESARTHIM
https://mesarthim.bandcamp.com/album/the-density-parameter

Yes! and still doing the space nerd stuff too

recommended ffo Progenie Terrestre Pura

seen

omg new mesarthim

is it good or is it going more in the float-y direction?

i’ve only listened to the first track but it’s p heavy and majestic from the jump

decode the morse code at the end :-)

This is a couple of years late and slightly off topic but this album by Harm Done is really running a rusty shovel through my brainpan right now

http://harmdone.bandcamp.com/album/abuse-abused

Nasty, super-pissed French hardcore with some power violence/grind vibes and excellently septic production.

the new Morrow is *f a n t a s t i c*

(I'm not kidding about the morse code at the end of the final Mesarthim track by the way, it's worth decoding

the new underoath album is only... sorta metal. (about half of it could be read as a real sell-out move, the choruses are occasionally stock rock radio.) but i mostly wanted to mention it bc i think unperson may potentially like it

I can never remember remember which is Underoath and which is Unearth. Will this album help with that?