Rolling Metal Thread 2009

yeah i wouldnt be turning to WITTR if you are looking for something folk-tinged. Eluveitie or Korpiklaani might be better starting points.

that being said, i think WITTR are pretty fantastic, i just dont really see much folk going on there, or at least that isnt how i would describe what i like about them.

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thats why i refuse to buy drudkh stuff alan and i just download it. Normally i avoid anything dodgy like that as you know, but the music is so damn good its worth d/l. Plus im pretty sure they denied being nsbm.
Until its totally cleared up i wont buy their stuff, but you arent giving them any cash if you d/l it at least if they are racist.

new wolves is similar to malevolent grain but I don't think it's quite as strong.

if what you're looking for is something more goth... their previous full-length (two hunters) might be more up your alley.

well, I just poked around and if a google cache of drudkh's wiki is to be believed, it turned up this gem:

and one of Drudkh's unofficial shirts also describe the band's music as "Art for White Intellectual Elite".

if that's true... blech.

not that a google cache of a wikipedia article is AT ALL definitive!

I suppose it's possible they did used to be but have changed their opinions, but who knows! That's the problem, they have never confirmed or denied them plus it might not have been the band who made the shirts. They wont do interviews so there is no way of knowing, which is why i wont buy their stuff.

yeah, I mean, I own burzum records, so I can't exactly point fingers.

Well there was never any doubt about Burzum.

Wolves in the Throneroom are pc eco-terrorists and yet still they were misquoted by Vice Germany and ended up having shows canceled and protesters on their first European tour. Sucks that can happen to the least fascist black metal band out there.

Nachtmystium got booted off Scion fest for similar reasons (because they had released a record on an NSBM label at some point).

Drudkh's politics, I'm unaware of, but I have never purchased any Burzum or early Emperor for similar reasons. Safer to download (or at least buy used), than to support that kind of crap.

I'm doing a piece on Janvs, who recently were censored by Terrorizer because their bass player was in some nsbm-related band, despite the fact that Janvs's music is completely apolitical. There are a lot of knee-jerk reactions to black metal going on these days, it's quite interesting.

I own Burzum albums. I'm fully aware that Varg is an ass, but over the last few years I've come to admit that stuff like Filosofem and Hvis Lyset Tar Oss are, musically speaking anyway, works of genius.

I thought Burzum got racist after he went to prison anyway.

Drudkh claims his lyrics aren't political at all, but I'm pretty sure he openly admits to having extremist right-wing, possibly white supremacist views. I guess I'm a hypocrite, but I love the guy's music.

I meant he openly admits to views we would classify as extreme right-wing and, I think, racist - though I don't know this for sure. Poorly worded; sorry for multiple posts.

I think they said it was Ukrainian ultra nationalist views. But it probably all amounts to the same thing.

I'm fully aware that Varg is an ass, but over the last few years I've come to admit that stuff like Filosofem and Hvis Lyset Tar Oss are, musically speaking anyway, works of genius.

otm.

I second (or whatever we're up to) all recommendations of Wolves in the Throne Room. I've dodged the Burzum and Drudkh moral-bullets by not liking anything I've heard by them.

I'm also liking the very fast and thrashy new Samael better than I liked Solar Soul.

And I think (based on only one listen so far) that I'm in favor of Saros' Acrid Plains, although I'll have to play it a couple more times to say for sure, or even exactly why. Maybe they're kind of Bad-Dream Theater (as opposed to Bad Dream-Theater). Not all that far from WITTR, actually.

I think Drudkh are pretty well known for having some rather suspect political leanings. They're very cagey about stating them directly, but they're there. It brings up that thorny old dilemma about separating the artist from his politics. I can understand someone being so disgusted with modern society that they would try and make the most ugly, distorted sounds possible. What I don't understand is why that so often leads to a flirtation with Neo-Nazi imagery and ideology. You see a lot of the same dynamic play out in early Industrial music. See Boyd Rice.

The Saros album has really grown on me. There are parts of it that actually remind me of Lush a little bit...

I'm in agreement with Glenn on Samael. Nothing groundbreaking, but that's kind of the point. It feels like they're letting out all the pent-up, uh, METAL that they were repressing during the industrial phase. Although the industrial remix of "Black Hole" at the end is kind of unnecessary.

Meanwhile, downloading new Lacuna Coil from CM iPool. I know what I'm listening to for the next hour or so...

Also, new Hammerfall is all sorts of glorious. Probably the most consistent record they've done in years. Plus, Blind Guardian-style choruses!

And an inexplicable cover of "My Sharona". Yeesh, this band sometimes.

Ha ha, that came as a surprise to my friend when I played it in the car.

So far, Shallow Life sounds like Karmacode 2: Karmacoder, but much better integrated, with catchy tunes and a virtuoso performance from Cristina.

Lyrics are still retarded, but that's been a constant from pretty much the beginning of their career, so I can't hold it against them here.

I'm not very impressed by the single at all. Who listens to Lacuna Coil to hear the dude all the time? I think some blog asked the same question not too long ago.

I'll give the album a listen tonight, I'm still interested in seeing if it holds up.

Okay, serious o_O at "I Like It." The hell is this, rave pop?

Answer: yes.

Every time I try to listen to the single, I completely zone out, so it must be pretty boring. Not sure why they picked that one. There are much better songs on the album. As it is, it's inconsistent but very poppy and kind of interesting in an experimental way. Cristina does lots of interesting vocal stuff. Not sure if it's actually good or not yet, though.

I really like the single a lot. So I wouldn't mind an album like it.

In regards to "My Sharona," back cover demonstrates one of the more interesting things about metal as a genre... when metal bands do goofy covers, there generally isn't any irony involved. It's usually because they genuinely think it's a fun song. If a pop rock band were to cover a Hammerfall song, there would definitely be an element of "look how goofy these guys are." Not saying that they aren't goofy, but still.

(that cover, not back cover)

In regards to "My Sharona," back cover demonstrates one of the more interesting things about metal as a genre... when metal bands do goofy covers, there generally isn't any irony involved.

Exactly, therein lies the appeal. I said something similar when Firewind covered "Maniac" last year. There's a joy in the way these European bands approach cheesy covers that American bands are reluctant to do. It's like snark doesn't exist in their world. Consequently, when I finally got around to playing "My Sharona" tonight, I couldn't help but love it. I had my doubts whether or not HammerFall could pull it off (that covers album they put out last year was really dicey), but they sure did. They nailed it, and it's loads of fun.

Not exactly feeling much from the Lacuna Coil. It feels slipshod. At least Karmacode had hooks and a nice Depeche Mode cover, this one feels bland at times. I'd like to think this'll grow on me, but girly pop metal albums aren't supposed to be growers, they're supposed to be immediate, and this one isn't.

Conversely, I actually like the new one by Swiss girlypopmetalers Lunatica. In a goofy, anime-closing-credits-song kind of way. They're shameless.

Yeeps, this just came along in the mail:

SUSPERIA VOCALIST SUFFERS HEART ATTACK

OSLO, NORWAY -- Athera ( Pal Mathieson) , vocalist with Norwegian band SUSPERIA, was rushed to Akershus Universitetssykehus Hospital in Lørenskog, Norway on the morning of March 9th suffering from acute stomach pains and heavy bleeding. Initial tests revealed that the singer had suffered a heart attack caused by a damaged blood vessel. Athera is currently in the intensive care unit under close observation, while further tests are carried out. He is expected to remain hospitalised for the foreseeable future. At this moment future plans including touring commitments remain unchanged, until a full diagnosis of his condition has been confirmed.

Athera recently completed vocals on SUSPERIA's fifh studio album, which is due for an early summer release through the bands new label Candlelight Records.The band worked continuously throughout 2008 on the album which Athera described as "going back to the early days with the melancholic riffing and dark emotional vocals and coming all the way through to today, with a perfect blend of everything Susperia has been and become."

Everyone involved with the band wishes Athera a fast and speedy recovery.

That's a shame, Susperia's a good band.

Meanwhile, Varg's about to be released from prison...

new Edguy album feels like they're going through the motions. "Ministry of Saints" is really good, but it's all downhill from there.

Still don't understand this at all, btw. Favorite cuts are probably "The Pride Of Creation" (starts fast with a pretty melody, slows down some and the melody keeps on hooking); "Dragonfly" (huge-chorus Queensryche/late-Lep drama-metal with ridiculous words apparently meant to be some kind of drug metaphor); "Speedhoven" (beautiful Thin Lizzy style guitars); "Dead Or Rock" (fake Axl sleaze better than anything on Chinese Democracy and maybe even as good as the first and possibly only Wildside album); "Aren't You A Little Pervert Too" (mid period Faith No More as a parody redneck country band: "There's a million ways to get off/I have seen it on TV in Tokyo/In Finland and Australia/Not so much in America/Americans prefer the rodeo," haw.)

Singles comp seemed clunky in comparison, though I admittedly need to listen to it more. Only problem is, my copy somehow seems to have disappeared somewhere, in transit between Queens and Austin.

I dunno, "Speedhoven" is a baffling mess to my ears, and the aardvark bit in "The Pride of Creation" struck me just plain goofy. As for "Aren't You A Little Pervert Too", I found that to be completely unfunny, and kind of condescending.

"Lavatory Love Machine", now that's a funny song. Classic stuff.

http://theendrecords.com/images/stories/covers/Nadja_When_I_See_cover_400x400.jpg

01. Only Shallow (My Bloody Valentine)
02. Pea (Codeine)
03. No Cure For The Lonely (Swans)
04. Dead Skin Mask (Slayer)
05. The Sun Always Shines On TV (A-ha)
06. Needle In The Hay (Elliott Smith)
07. Long Dark Twenties (Kids In The Hall)
08. Faith (The Cure)

didn't some euro-metal band just cover that a-ha song on THEIR covers album? can't remember who. a-ha love is always nice to see though.

Yeah, Liv Kristine's husband's band, I forget their name...Atrocity, that's it.

But the Nadja album looks really interesting. The MBV cover sounds colossal, like a 45 rpm played at 33 1/3.

eww that cover

eww those covers

Album of the year (maybe)

Look at the sad indie kids! So cuet!

Sad indie kids confounded by the old tree. Luckily he has a birdcage to capture it!

They're trying to capture the sun, which is hidden in the old tree, so they can put it in their television.

Is there a date on the Nadja? The A-Ha cover is monumental, even in crappy MySpace streaming version.

Haha, I actually like the cover!

And you're right about the a-ha tune, they do a great job.

didn't some euro-metal band just cover that a-ha song on THEIR covers album?

IIRC Susperia also did one on an EP a few years ago.

Man, I was banging on about 'Pea' on that Codeine thread a couple of weeks back. Such a great song. When I see the suuunnnn... *CRASH*. Dunno if I particularly wanna hear that Nadja album though.