Rolling Metal Thread 2010

godflesh/swans - holy shit!

I enjoyed both Melvins and Isis Friday night, surprising myself. Full review on the Voice website tomorrow.

Isis were definitely better than when I saw them circa panopticon but I just find their quiet/loud material from the last few years a little formulaic and too samey for me to really get into in a live setting. Not bad, just nothing I would care to see again.

Not saying their older loud/LOUD material is any less formulaic. It's just more to my liking.

Loved the way the melvins set never let up. The first track off of lysol they closed with was crushing.

Btw, nothing new, but I'm listening to witchcraft's alchemist record from a few years ago and actually just said, "man, this is so fuckin good" to myself, hah. This record and the new cathedral just nail the psych/metal/hard rock sound.

And, as usual, I'm immensely jealous of you euros and your killer festivals. That gybe atp lineup is amazing as well.

has anybody heard this new album by Demontage? because it is FUCKING AWESOME. think I will write something about it soon. Shadow Kingdom Records can pretty much do no wrong right now imo

Demontage reminds me of a lot of underground Canadian bands from the mid-80s. Wildly exuberant, capable of some really weird moments, and totally unclassifiable. Their new stuff is a lot of fun.

man yeah that is right on. Like pre-Nothingface Voivod: who the hell was in that class at all? just these guys from far away, doing their own thing, carving out their own space. Demontage's choruses sound pratically PiL-style tonedeaf sometimes but still the band works. Added their new one to my 2010 year's-best after one listen.

Loved the way the melvins set never let up.

Man, you ain't kiddin'. In my review I described it as an endless two-man drum solo with occasional guitar and vocals. And I think the reason I liked Isis was that they only played seven songs, repped their entire catalog (that one song from Celestial stood out like a sore thumb with a burning road flare taped to it) and just kinda hit it and quit it. I'm curious if they played longer at the Williamsburg show the next night. I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

I also interviewed Buzz and Dale pre-show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GKA-oYOKNM

dudes, the new Yakuza is out tomorrow!

i saw them last night and they were awesome! i would have bought some merch but i didn't have any $.

Ooh, first-listen enthusiastic endorsement from me for the new Equilibrium, provided you don't object to their version of goofy anime-viking excess.

dudes, the new Yakuza is out tomorrow!

One of the year's finest albums, that one!

"Like pre-Nothingface Voivod: who the hell was in that class at all?"

Nope. But I would say pre-Angel Rat Voivod is more apt.

So Shining (the Norwegian electro-death-jazz group) won the contest they were in to get a million kronor from A-Ha. In even better news, they're going to spend the money on a U.S. tour.

whoa. how did one go about winning the contest?

People voted online.

Shining is unbelievable live, so it's great that they'll be coming over.

They turned down the opening slot on the Enslaved tour this November. So good for them for finding a way to do this under their own steam.

I don't hate the new Ozzy album. In fact, I kinda like it.

So who wins between the new Ozzy, Rob Zombie, and Danzig? Somehow, I'm guessing that Danzig album is the best of the 3, but I've heard none of the above...

For me, it goes Zombie, Danzig, Ozzy. The Danzig album is really good - his best since #3. But it's got some weak tracks here and there. The Zombie disc is a stripped-down, raw version of his usual sound, but all the songs fit together so well that if there's a bad one it just blends into the album as a whole, and there are some really great ones on there.

that ozzy album sounds so depressing

I haven't heard the new Danzig, I haven't been really interested in his stuff since 1988. But maybe I should give it a shot.

I like the Zombie album more than Ozzy's. Scream has some good moments (I really like four or five tracks), but it's still too overproduced, too dumbed down, too much autotune on Ozzy's voice. And it's disappointing how underutilized Gus G is, I thought he might bring some of the riffs and shredding that he's done so well with Firewind (a band I genuinely like), but instead he's just a hired hand rather than collaborator, playing a bunch of boring, C-grade Disturbed riffs that the far more pedestrian Churko tosses his way.

I love Danzig 4P.

you love danzig in exhange for urine?

(sorry)

looooool

I can't believe people are excited about a Sleep reunion. Sleep were not that good, people. They wrote one decent riff, for "Dragonaut," and sunk it with mediocre execution. And Dopesmoker? If an hour-long concept album about how much the band who made it likes to smoke pot doesn't make you hate them, I don't think I want to be your friend. I do not understand this nostalgia for mediocre juvenilia. High on Fire are fifty times the band Sleep ever dreamed of being. I don't begrudge Pike and Cisneros taking the money, but why anyone would want to see this is utterly beyond me.

I don't know how to break this to you but everybody loves Dopesmoker

yeah sleep really brought down the level of discourse in metal....

well I preferred it when it was called Jerusalem

yeah, 'jerusalem' is definitely a heavier and thus better title.

If an hour-long concept album about how much the band who made it likes to smoke pot doesn't make you hate them, I don't think I want to be your friend.

you're harshing my buzz

anyway, I don't love sleep but jerusalem/dopesmoker is a total classic.

if we can't ban unperson can we at least ban him from this thread

or just call him banperson

Hey, I greatly prefer High on Fire to Sleep as well.

got the new Yakuza at Newbury Comics -- looking forward to digging in soon

I want to see Sleep because I foolishly skipped seeing them back when I last had the chance. They came through town with Hawkwind on the Holy Mountain tour and I snobbed them off because I thought they were exactly as Phil describes them.

Over time, I have developed an appreciation for them, particularly Volume One and the Asbestos Death stuff. I agree that Holy Mountain and Dopesmoker/Jerusalem are over-rated albums. But that doesn't mean they're worthless.

And anyway, I'm curious to see how they sound with Jason from Neurosis on drums. Al claims that Jason can play things that Sleep wrote, that Chris was never able execute. Sounds like sour grapes, but there's no doubt that Jason is a total pro.

And in Portland, the show is Sleep/Scott Kelly/YOB. So everyone here will get there money's worth in the first 40 minutes ;)

Hey, I greatly prefer High on Fire to Sleep as well.

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, June 22, 2010 2:12 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I do too. You may be able to turn unperson on Sleep, he used to hate the Melvins too.

"I do not understand this nostalgia for mediocre juvenilia. "

And as for that statement, I don't think you can be a heavy metal journalist and not understand nostalgia for mediocre juvenilia ;)

Al claims that Jason can play things that Sleep wrote, that Chris was never able execute.

Don't buy this for a second.

just subscribed to Decibel too \(^o^)/

Haven't previewed the Yakuza yet, but I might buy it unheard. A lot of the more interesting releases have passed through the mastering knobs of my friend Collin's Boiler Room Mastering, including Nachtmystium (he texted earlier this year - "Dude, it's industrial!"), Yakuza, Twilight (supergroup of members of Nacht, Isis, Minsk, Leviathan, etc., not the movie soundtrack), upcoming Zoroaster album, etc. Keep an eye out for The Swan King later in the year. I think they're in the studio with Sanford Parker now.

That new Zoroaster album is a lot better than I was expecting.

I'm curious to know if Unperson's sniffiness about drug albums extends to, say, Satan albums or albums about, just, y'know, rocking or albums about supernatural shit. I mean forget Sabbath and Slayer for starters. Does he extend the same lack of courtesy to, say, Dopethrone by Electric Wizard? Sweetleaf by Sabbath...

I saw Sleep back in the day and saw them play the fans ATP the other year. I can't remember them first time round but they were astounding in Minehead. Some of my learned colleagues were in tears at how good it was. I just didn't buy the T-shirt because it was covered in massive pot leaves.

And the new Yakuza is a massive disappointment.

Yeah, the new Zoroaster is really good - especially compared with the lameness of their last one.

Re drug songs, "Sweet Leaf" is the worst song on any of the first six Black Sabbath albums, and it's not just because of the lyrics; it's because the riff is static and up-and-down like a pile-driver, totally lacking the groove their best stuff has. I "extend the same lack of courtesy" to Dopethrone because it's not as good as Come My Fanatics.... Why my "sniffiness" would logically extend to songs about Satan or anything else, I'm not quite sure. "I smoke pot - impressed?" is a particular kind of dumb, and has been at the root of a fucking ton of really, really bad music. I don't care how much pot you smoke offstage (or how much of any other drug you choose to ingest); I just don't wanna hear about it.