Mordy's Metal Listening Club - New Albums Every Monday

BTW - KSH if you need to buy one death metal record as a starting point, I recommend Domination by Morbid Angel. So so awesome.

I have a theme in mind for mine, with a couple of get-outs if things get picked by other people in the interim.

Post anytime after midnight UK time Nate I guess? that's usually what happens in the clubs. Euros need a dose of metal before bed, especially on a bank holiday weekend.

They tell me it's after midnight in England, so here are 3 of my favorite unsung metal albums. I chose all 3 because they are such strong works, that have received such little fanfare.

***

Thunderstorm - Witchunter Tales (2003)
For fans of: Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Black Sabbath

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dlMIuPXi_r0/S4CC60IYsBI/AAAAAAAAA0A/e0rpj9536oU/s320/front.jpg

For Glenn and the others who steer clear of death metal, here's a traditional doom/power metal opus that's been sadly lost in the twenty-first century shuffle. Fabio Thunder is an Italian with an incredibly strong voice, song-writing ability, and studio access. Every song on this record deserves to be a classic, the production is absolutely massive for an independent record, and the final tune is a Sabbath cover worth its weight. Spread the word.

Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence (1994)
For fans of: Dissection, (early) Darkthrone, Entombed

http://image3.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID20872/images/the_Nocturnal_Silence.jpg

My friend and I discovered this record back in 1994 thanks to its cover bearing a striking resemblance to a Deicide album, and it's been a favorite in our circle ever since. It's that rare gem of blackened death where the riffs are furious, the vocals are ultra-satanic, and the rhythm section is produced at Sunlight studio, so it has girth, low end, and BALLS. Necrophobic went on to have a fairly lousy career, but this debut (especially the first 4 tracks) contain some of the best riffs and arrangements you could hope to hear. Wish this one got its due. It deserves it.

Voivod - Phobos (1997)
For fans of: Neurosis, Hawkwind, Voivod

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IWqfvyO_nw8/Si7NllmEt1I/AAAAAAAAJVE/sVla1WhbGlI/s400/VoivodPhobos.jpg

Sure, we've all heard Voivod. But this was the band at a creative high-point, during a career low. I heard this album sold something like 4000 copies in the US, which is a tragedy since I consider it one of the bands' strongest albums, both conceptually (it's the only album since Nothingface to actually return to the Voivod saga), and musically (it's probably the heaviest and most far out psychedelic record in their catalog). Eric Forrest fronts the band, sounding at times like a doppelganger of original vocalist Snake, and alternately like a demonic space vampire. In this album, the Voivod reawakens on another world, creates a clone army of himself to scour the surface clean, then prepares to go to war with his god. It's a murky, analog affair, with vintage synths, accordion, tons of delays and echo, and a snare drum that sounds like it's two feet wide. Should definitely be considered alongside Dimension Hatross and Killing Technology as a masterpiece of psychedelic metal.
Note: avoid the bonus track "M-Body". It's a throwaway track they did with Newsted when that was still a novel pairing. The other bonus track is a decent, if uninspired rendition of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man".

Fixing broken bookmark...

what happened to my post?

im sure i posted here earlier

I'll give the Thunderstorm a go if I can find it

BTW - KSH if you need to buy one death metal record as a starting point, I recommend Domination by Morbid Angel. So so awesome.

― Nate Carson, Sunday, May 30, 2010 6:37 PM (Yesterday)

noted. thanks dude!

I've never bought a metal CD or considered myself a metal head but I really enjoy it so I decided to get a bunch of stuff and asked my little bro for suggestions. Here's what I'm looking forward to:

Bathory "Under the Sign" & "Blood Fire Death"
Candlemass "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" & "Nightfall"
Opeth "Ghost Reveries"
Celtic Frost "Into the Pandemonium" & "To Mega Therion"
Mercyful Fate "Don't Break the Oath"
Venom "Welcome to Hell" & "Black Metal"

I really should give Phobos another chance. As much as I've liked Voivod over the last 22 or so years, I sure wasn't impressed when Forrest came into the picture. In retrospect that's not really fair, Piggy's riffing is some of the darkest stuff he ever did.

I am not a Voivod fan - I've tried, and tried again - but man, I would totally read this comic book:

the Voivod reawakens on another world, creates a clone army of himself to scour the surface clean, then prepares to go to war with his god

I was listening to Incantation's Primordial Domination yesterday. Don't know how much love they get, but it's not enough. I hope somebody picks one of their albums, and I really hope it's Diabolical Conquest.

i seem to have found the thunderstorm.

I'm not anti-Death by policy, although it's probably not my highest-yield subgenre. But a few songs in, I'm definitely enjoying this Thunderstorm album. More on that later.

Meanwhile, before I listen to it again, here's what I said about Phobos 12 years ago.

xpost - Adam, your little brother is guiding you is doing a great job. Those are all top shelf albums. Let us know what you think of them and we can help you find more of the same. Looks like you're already in really good hands though :)

Adam, your little brother is doing a great job guiding you.

Yeah, I like this Thunderstorm album a lot. I'm not sure I'd recommend them over Black Sabbath, Candlemass or Solitude Aeturnus, but if you know those and want more, this is a really solid "more".

Necrophobic did nothing for me, sadly, and I can't think of anything interesting to say about why.

Will now play Phobos again for the first time in at least a decade.

And yeah, Adam, that's a fine list to start with. I particularly like that he recommended a couple albums each by most of those, so you get a little deeper into each band, rather than being in skimming mode trying to process twice as many bands right from the start.

Maybe not the best intro to Opeth tho?

Well, I like this Voivod album quite a bit less than I did when it was new. Now it seems really kind of unbearably repetitive to me, like every single riff is played 4 or 8 times exactly the same way before moving on. This is sort of true of a lot of popular music, of course, but today these repeated things are grating on me badly.

My problem with Necrophobic has always been that they have no identity whatsoever. It sounds like every other death/thrash band, every single riff, drum roll and vocal line sounds like someone else. I've owned this album for over ten years and traded it because the complete genericness means you'll never go "let's play some Necrophobic".

That vocalist is only on that one Necrophobic album, as far as I know. Who else sounds like him?

Also, if there are more albums with riffs, that memorable, I want to hear them.

xpost "Maybe not the best intro to Opeth tho?"

I think it's a pretty ideal intro to them, honestly. And I like most of their stuff.

I get much more out of Grotesque for example, to name a contemporary.

Or Impiety circa Skullfucking Armageddon, who might be guilty of playing those same standard death/thrash riffs but at least up the brutality level a few notches.

Don't get me wrong, the record is absolutely fine, riffs are strong, great production, nice melodic leads. It just stays so safely in the Swedeath comfort zone, just between Sunlight and Gothenburg...I can understand why people see this record as a classic, the one that combines all those bands into one. To me that's just a bit too lazy/easy.

Maybe not the best intro to Opeth tho?

Maybe a lot of my love for that particular Necrophobic is aided by the fact that in 1994, I had very little context for what Swedish Death Metal was SUPPOSED to sound like. All that really matters to me is that the guitar riffs are so good, the bottom end is there, and the vocalist really carves out his own niche.

That record seems to stand alone to me in my collection... So I'll certainly look up the Impiety and Grotesque you suggest. Thanks!

Opeth was my idea, cos I wanted something Swedish. He did say to check out Hellhammer. What should i look into by them?

I've listened to a bit of these and am lovin it!

Oh, I see, there's very little....

get the reissue of all their stuff that came out a year or 2 ago. I totally regret not buying the vinyl of that s it was "too expensive" now its OOP and prob sells for triple what it was.

Hellhammer only recorded 3 demos (rereleased as one 2LP) and one EP. My fave is Satanic Rites (3rd demo), then the Apocalyptic Raids EP. The first 2 demos aren't that great to be honest.

It's all gloriously filthy.

Maybe not the best intro to Opeth tho?

bites tongue
― Siegbran, Tuesday, June 1, 2010 7:26 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Siegbran I personally would love it if you would put your guns on blast on this topic

don't encourage him! he's being polite.

"So I'll certainly look up the Impiety and Grotesque you suggest."

everyone on earth needs impiety in their lives. they just don't know it. they are god.

xpost - Ghost Reveries is the best production the band ever had, and the first time they were actually functioning in the studio as a band. Plus it's got "Baying of the Hounds" which is one of my personal favorite Opeth tracks.

Sure I love Still Life and all the others, really. The biggest trick with Opeth is getting used to their sound. Which album you work with is fairly superfluous IMO.

Ghost Reveries is a perfect introduction to Opeth. It's a little more accessible and streamlined, and can ease a new listener into their more meandering fare.

Which Opeth album you start with depends on what your other tastes are, I think; they have albums that would be more appealing to black metal fans (the first two or three), albums that would appeal more to prog fans (everything from Blackwater Park on), and some stuff in the middle that'll appeal to more hardcore death metal people. My personal favorite albums are Damnation, Deliverance and Watershed, and I also really love both their live albums, especially The Roundhouse Tapes.

The drum break in "Welcome to Hell"... WOAH DUDE

Oh damn the solo in "Witching Hour".

OK, I was just playing my 3yo daughter some music over breakfast, and iTunes segued into that Necrophobic album while I was in the kitchen. She reports that she likes "Awakening..." quite a bit, but that it's hard to make her sippy cup dance that fast.

I've moved on to other Thunderstorm albums. Could have done with out the "In a Gadda Da Vida" cover on Faithless Soul, but I'm liking it otherwise!

No surprise - another three I've never heard.

Thunderstorm is great. Not just okay, or even good, but freakin' awesome. The rhythm section is really together and as Nate said, sound massive. It's not proper doom without some serious balls from the bass and drums. I like the sound of the singer's voice too, which really helps.

Not a death guy, and cant tell you if Necrophobic is generic or not, but it is rifftastic. Some really great guitar lines just thrown out there and quickly replaced by another good one. I like. Singer is a bit whatever, but he didn't put me off the thing. The title track was the highpoint to these ears. Much as with the Amon Amaarth earlier, I like the slower stuff; it gives the blasts more impact when they let go. As I'm still a death metal noob, I have to ask: do other bands get as much swing as these guys? The pocket they form is nice and the eruptions out of it more primal than some of the busier drummers that I always seem to come across in the genre.

Speaking of pockets, my favorite part of the Voivod I've heard over the years has always been the drumming. No exception here, as I absolutely love the drums on "Bacteria" and "Quantum". I don't remember Voivod as being this dense and murky sonically, so I'm going to have to dig up my cassette of Nothingface to compare.

Thanks for a fun week Nate!

And Alan, I definitely plan on picking up From Wisdom to Hate. Very cool album.

Voivod has never been as dense or murky as they were on Phobos. Nothingface is sterling audio quality.

I too have finally been spinning that 3rd Gorguts record today in the car. I'd heard the first two but this one sure has a lot to love!

Somehow I think my obscure taste has totally derailed everyone's enthusiasm for metal club. Sorry guys!

nah dude i've been moving this week, i really want to hear these!

These are cool picks Nate - I think the holiday week is sapping some interest. As for me, my sickness is sapping my energy and ability to say anything meaningful.

I think if the thread title was changed more would click on it, a lot dont realise its updated.
If we dont change the picks in the title every week then maybe a "new albums every monday" would be better

yeah, I def want to check these out but I've been pretty busy this week. sorry, nate!

No worries, lol. I was just being emo. You all rule.

Thunderstorm shouldn't do covers. This version of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" at the end of As We Die Alone is terrible.