Rolling Metal Thread 2012

Alcest were good when I saw them last week - much better than I expected. Have fun!

Listening to the new HOF now. I wasn't sure Ballou was a good choice for producer - thought he might indulge their worst instincts. But so far, the band sounds terrific. Don't really love the way he treats the vocals, but there's only so much you can do with Matt Pike's voice. And yeah, the songs are definitely solid.

I've also been really pleasantly surprised by the songs on the new Cannibal Corpse - they've actually broken ground, at least within the range of what it is they do. I really don't think there's anything else like "Scourge of Iron" in their discography. They've been on a streak for sure these past few years.

I like all Ufomammut, but the new one does sound a little "lazy/more of the same."

If you're a fan of heavy psych drone, it's a gift. But as someone who's followed their trajectory since the first demo, I'd like to see them branch out more. Of course if they d

...if they did, we'd just complain about that.

I don't see how them recording one 90 minute song and splitting it over two albums isn't them breaking new ground...

Anyway, one quarter of the year is gone. Can we have some top fives?

1. High On Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
2. UFOmammut - ORO: Opus Primum
3. Cannibal Corpse - Torture
4. White Hills - Frying On This Rock
5. Killing Joke - MMXXII

Obviously I'm including heavy rock in this as well at the moment.

Right now my top contenders look like:

Accept - Stalingrad
Alcest - Les Voyages de L'Ame
Christian Mistress - Possession
Meshuggah - Koloss
Torche - Harmonicraft

A lot's going to change between now and December, but I see Accept hanging around the top 8, 9 months from now.

Meanwhile, KEN Mode has just won the Juno Award (Canada's Grammy) for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year. They deserved it the most out of all the nominees (Anvil, Cauldron, Devin Townsend, Fuck the Facts), but still this is pretty incredible.

I guess my top 5 so far...

Eluveitie - Helvetios
Alcest - Les Voyages de L'Ame
Lyriel - Leverage
Christian Mistress - Possession
Black Pyramid - II

Really having fun with the new 3 Inches of Blood, totally cheesy (I mean, "Metal Woman"? "Leather Lord"?) but so very fun.

Chile is weird. I haven't found any music I knew nothing about, but if you see kids in band t-shirts it's Death, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide and Morbid Angel - even in churches.

haven't heard that many, but so far:

Asphyx - Deathhammer
Master's Hammer - Vracejte konve na místo
Accept - Stalingrad
Furia -Marzannie, Królowej Polski
Heidevolk - Batavi

Um, you guys, holy shit!!! Metal Archives is gone.
http://www.metal-archives.com/banner2ha.jpg

I think I've used that site more often that even wikipedia for research. I wonder where all that came from.

Oh fuck me, I just realized the date. Nevermind me guys.

April Jon.

i had just woken up, thats my excuse

Top 5 so far:

1. El Doom & The Born Electric – El Doom & The Born Electric (Rune Grammofon)
2. Thunderkraft – Totentanz (Svarga)
3. 3 Inches Of Blood – Long Live Heavy Metal (Century Media)
4. Bushman’s Revenge – A Little Bit Of Big Bonanza (Rune Grammofon)
5. (Tie): Christian Mistress – Possession (Relapse)/The Devil’s Blood – The Thousandfold Epicentre (Metal Blade)

If #1 and #4 are deemed ineligible, I'd replace them with Angel Witch and Sigh.

i was just listening to that sigh album yesterday -- the cover was much more interesting to me than the music i'm afraid :/

i thought (hoped) it'd be like renaissance gregorian folk metal type thing

I'm starting to cool off re the new High On Fire. Listened to a bunch of it in the car today and it just didn't sound that awesome. Not sure the world needs six High On Fire albums. (Says the guy with 15 Napalm Death albums and 21 Motörhead albums in his iPod.)

Scion Profound Lore sh

(argh iPhone)

Scion Profound Lore showcase was obviously awesome. YOB unsurprisingly stole the show. Atlas Moth definitely held their own in a deserved main support slot. And Pallbearer definitely lived up to the hype.

Now I'm back to rainy P-town. \m/

I really want to hear the new High on Fire. Their first three were AMAZING! I still need to hear Snakes. Also really want to hear new Corrosion of Conformity & Cannibal Corpse

Oh, and Astra too.

My top 5, alphabetical order:

Iron Mtn - Iron Mtn
Pallbearer - Sorrow And Extinction
RAM - Death
Steelwing - Zone Of Alienation
Woods Of Ypres - Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light

Though I think several of these will have a tough time making it high on an end of year list. I also really am enjoying the Astra and Orange Goblin records, and have yet to hear the new Ancestors, Accept or Ufomammut.

I was only kind of meh on the Orange Goblin tbh, but the Astra album sounds a bit more up my alley

I'm listening to that El Doom & the Born Electric record at the moment, it's good fun. Definitely in the Uncle Acid/ Orchid/ Blood Ceremony trad hard rock vein...

listened to the new nunslaughter yesterday. not bad.

oh! didn't realize there's a new master's hammer!

Forgot about the new Dawnbringer album too, it's a significant improvement over the last one. And yeah, watch out for Ancestors, they're going to blow a lot of people away with their debut this summer.

Ancestors debut? It's their third full-length. Or is their another Ancestors out there?

Agh, sorry, I mean Canadian band Ancients!

I've been doing this all week, I'm doing stories on Ancestors and Ancients, and I keep mixing the two bands names even though I've been listening to Ancestors for years.

Okay. Was rather puzzled. So what's the short of it re: Ancients?

i also like that Woods Of Ypres album

Ancients is a new band out of Vancouver that's created a pretty unique sound in a really short time, and their debut album is excellent. It would fall in the same category as Baroness, Kylesa, and Mastodon, but there's more of a melodic/harsh dynamic going on as opposed to those bands' now-streamlined sounds.

Their 2011 EP can be heard here: http://ancientbear.bandcamp.com/

This had better be an April Fool, held over:

http://www.earsplitcompound.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/sn158d-e1333380276402.jpg

What between this picture and people preferring Cheap Trick to The Fall, I'm literally too angry to get any more work done.

I like that cover! (But I don't like The Fall, so whatever)

Adrien - Those two Ancients tracks were great! Definitely looking forward to a full-length.

That cover reminds me of Bakshi's Wizards.

It's a bit Vaughn Bodé via Heavy Metal magazine.

Why is the second back Tusken Raider doing a jig? What is the band font supposed to be? What is the colour of it for? Why not use an artist who can draw feet. It's not the content but the execution... Jesus, I think I'm having a fucking stroke I'm so irate.

Lol Doran otm (tho Wizards is p dope)

i wanted to say a thing about Lyriel for anyone who hasn't checked them out. they're female-vox folk metal band that has been transitioning to symphonic metal. at the moment the transition is still a little incoherent, and (predictably) i prefer the more folk-inflected tracks to the symphonic ones. but i think they're really interesting with some decent tracks, even if the album as a whole doesn't mesh together. also, i love so much folk metal and symphonic metal but i've never been clear what the connection is between them (i think a certain kind of self-consciousness and maybe theatricality) but Lyriel is like trying to make that relationship explicit which makes them like triply interesting to me bc it's like their new album is excavating my own pre-occuptions. especially curious what jeff thinks about them.

Please forgive the blatant spam for my own site here but this has been amusing me today.

Can you make a Cannibal Corpse song lovely sounding by changing just one word?

Followed Home Then Cuddled and Force Fed Broken Biscuits are the best ones we've had so far:

Cannibal Corpse competition

I like the cover. It almost justifies a totally pointless reissue. Almost.

It's a bit Vaughn Bodé via Heavy Metal magazine.

No Vaughn Bodé, no Arik Roper.

Semi-related question: Isn't it about time Richard Corben got critically re-assessed?

I like the Sleep cover! And I also like Cheap Trick better than the Fall. And I was pretty excited to listen to the Lyriel, but my Internet crapped out in the middle of the download and I can't download it again. I'll post my top five thingies at some point, it's been a pretty damn good year so far though.

Also got a sneak peek of the new Witch Mountain at the Profound Lore showcase, big step up over the last one – especially with the vocals.

Yeah, the new Witch Mountain is indeed a lot better than the last one. The longer tracks especially blow me away on this one. (well done, Nate!)

New Sonata Arctica is super weird, right? It's not just me?

j3ff, the lyriel is on spotify fyi...

The Sonata Arctica album is AWFUL. What a huge disappointment. There's banjo on it. Banjo. Ensiferum proved a couple years ago, never give a banjo to a Finn.

Meanwhile the new Sabaton album is kind of awesome. This coming from a guy who usually can't stand that band.