Mordy's Metal Listening Club - New Albums Every Monday

sound of white noise is excellent. Anthrax finally get a good singer and they still wrote good songs. Yes, like Black Album and Countdown to Extinction its a move away from thrash, but y'know, still good albums.

I like Load but I know I really am in a minority there. Loath reload though. But nothing is worse than their last 2. But they can have a 00s poll for that.

Anyway so far we have

Candlemass - Chapter VI
Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption (1990)
Iron Maiden -No Prayer for the Dying (1990)
Iron Maiden - The X Factor (1995)
Iron Maiden - Virtual XI (1998)
Metallica - Load (1996)
Metallica - ReLoad (1997)
Anthrax - Stomp 442 (1995)
Anthrax - Volume 8: The Threat Is Real (1998)
Slayer - Divine Intervention (1994)
Slayer - Undisputed Attitude (1996)
Slayer - Diabolus in Musica (1998)
Danzig - Blackacidevil (1996)
Danzig - Satan's Child (1999)
Judas Priest - Jugulator
Motley Crue - Mötley Crüe (1994)
Motley Crue - Generation Swine (1997)
Testament - Demonic
Skid Row - Subhuman Race

Anyone else?

can we take this to another thread by any chance?

^^^

Before you do start a new thread, don't forget Megadeth's Cryptic Writings and Risk...

is it worth doing a new thread? its not an email poll so theres only 50 options. Plus its based on aldo's picks this week anyway.
I'll take chat over to rolling metal thread though if you prefer, since perhaps some of those readers dont read this thread.

"also, I've never heard that candlemass but I kinda dig tales of creation. is chapter vi a big step down?"

Yes.

xpost - Of all the above mentioned, I like Diabolus in Musica quite a bit. And don't even put Danzig 4 in this category. That's one of the most underrated albums of all time.

i mean i want to listen to aldo's picks but i have absolutely no feeling on this poll so it's kind of annoying to have to check my bookmark and have it be only poll talk.

right I'll take it over to rolling metal thread.

Done

So aldo's picks... anyone wish to defend those albums?

Yup, as I said above, Harmony Corruption is a good album with a shite production. ND got boring for years after this; I almost never listen to Utopia Banished, but I still spin Harmony and hum the riffs and hooks to myself in my head.

Yeah, everyone has picked out pretty much what I think.

Harmony Corruption is a good record produced badly, and I'm being unduly harsh on Barney. I guess my biggest complaint is that it's not Lee (which is nobody else's fault, I guess) but not far behind is that it marks the start of the change toward a more Death Metal sound which those of us who remember Arena: Napalm Death will also remember Bill and Mick claiming would be utterly ludicrous.

The X Factor is way, way too long and is very patchy. As was suggested upthread, how much better Bruce made the good songs was very telling. And I repeat that even gy!be took the piss out of the Blaze era, that's how well regarded it is.

The Candlemass is indefensible though, an appalling album, seriously. Is there even a single good riff on it? I don't think I ever found one.

Ebony Throne is an alright track. John Perez from Solitude Aeturnus convinced me of that a few years back.

Maybe I'm just a superfan, but track 6 Aftermath is sounding pretty good too.

The Candlemass album isn't bad at all. Not upper-tier Candlemass, but I've sure heard worse from other bands. Sort of on the same complacent level as Tony Martin-era Sabbath.

The singer Thomas Vikstrom is the new guy in Therion now.

Worst 90s Albums By Established Metal Acts

going back a few weeks--this arckanum record kicks ass! i'm listening on headphones, not all that loud, but every riff is perfectly delineated and i'm totally trying not to headbang too much in my cube.

love that this guy is cool with trying to be a scary pagan while never letting go of his love of monstrously catchy, rocking riffs

yeah, I still haven't gotten around to that one but I really dug the arckanum record from last year. gotta carve out some time for it.

split with svartsyn is cool too.

Adrien is up

12 July - A. Begrand.
19 July - Call All Destroyer
26 July - pfunkboy
2 August - mordy
9 August - glenn
16 August - alan n

I had loads of ideas, but since Mercyful Fate hasn't been tackled yet, we might was well this week. So here we go:

Mercyful Fate and Two of the Best Bands to Have Covered Mercyful Fate

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1. Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath
In '84-'85 Mercyful Fate bugged the hell out of me. Awesome, awesome four-piece band, but like so many others I couldn't get past King Diamond's presence at all. It actually wasn't until I went back to metal in the '90s after my indie rock period that this album clicked for me. I don't know what it was, maturity, being more open to weird sounds than when I was 14, or what, but I got it. Shermann and Denner are all over this record, the twin guitar arrangements are just insane, King puts in his most schizophrenic performance of his career, the production is pristine (you can still be evil and kvlt with slick production, kiddies), the album cover is iconic, and for one of the only times for me, the Satanic lyrics, especially on the macabre "The Oath", sound so devout it's frightening.
(I tried dissecting the album in more detail four years ago: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/open-wide-the-gates-of-hell/)
Spotify

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2. Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse
Mercyful Fate is always lumped in alongside Bathory and Celtic Frost as major influences on the second wave of black metal, but of all the Scandinavian bands that came out in the early 90s the only one who could match Fate step for step as far as musical chops went was Emperor. Their 1994 debut is complex to the point of feeling impenetrable to unaccustomed ears, but let this album sink in, and you'll be drawn deeper and deeper into its faux-orchestral atmospherics and often grandiose melodies. The closing salvo of "I Am the Black Wizards" and the glorious "Inno a Satana" marks one of the most stunning album climaxes in metal history.
"Sample": http://truefrostandevil.blogspot.com/2010/04/emperor-in-nightside-eclipse-1994.html
Bonus Mercyful Fate cover ("Gypsy"):Spotify YouTube

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3. Wolf - Evil Star
Unlike the other two albums, this one's a lot easier to digest on first listen. Wolf is a three-piece from Sweden, and I consider them to be one of the very best traditional heavy metal revivalists going today. 2004's Evil Star blew my mind when I first heard it: loads of NWOBHM gallops and taut musicianship like Fate, but also with a singer who could actually sing with power. And this stuff is catchy. A total throwback to metal's glory days, utterly convincing.
Spotify
Bonus Mercyful Fate cover ("A Dangerous Meeting"): Spotify YouTube

this is cool, mercyful fate were nominated in the poll so I was going to check them out again (previous attempts many years ago failed due to the high pitched vocals).

I couldn't get into Mercyful Fate back in the day because of King Diamond's vocals, though I thought his look and their music was great. Sad to say revisiting it today I still feel the same way. Respect but can't enjoy it because I cringe when he opens his mouth.

On the other hand, that Emperor album is amazing! I tend to avoid black metal - my experiences with it the past five or so years haven't encouraged going back to the roots. Obviously I need to correct that as this is aces front to back. Thanks Adrien; left to my own desires I wouldn't have bothered.

That Wolf album is great too - after hearing Ravenous last year I picked this one up too. I haven't gone further back into their catalog - is it all this good?

Excellent choices all around! I heartily endorse the Mercyful Fate and Emperor records. Haven't heard that particular Wolf album though, will remedy that this week.

Anyone else around? I've had an excuse, was busy with other metal stuff.

Didnt care for Wolf, still cant take king diamonds voice and nothing much to add to the empereor since I've obviously already been familiar with that for a while now.

I've been busy as well. Wolf is my kind of stuff, plus they're a very consistent band, you know you're going to get a really good album from them every couple of years. Their last one (Ravenous) was particularly excellent.

I'm basically neutral on Mercyful Fate. I understand their historial importance, and Diamond doesn't bother me, but I don't feel strongly about either him or the music. Good to have an excuse to play an album of theirs every once in a while, in case this is suddenly the time when they start sounding great to me. But it wasn't.

Emperor is great. I couldn't actually tell you readily which Emperor album is my favorite. But it might be this one.

Wolf, I admit, didn't do much for me as a whole, but the album is worth it for the crunchy BOC cover alone.

so is it me this week?

i've been super busy too; no time to acquire this week's selections. i'll try like hell to catch up.

Want to swap weeks?

nope gimme about 30 mins

oh i can see why that was confusing--i've had no time to acquire merciful fate et al

I fucking hate Emperor. Don't know why, but they have never clicked for me. I love Wolf, though - one of the few bands I covered for Revolver before the editor stopped taking my pitches.

no theme, just some albums

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ANATA - THE INFERNAL DEPTHS OF HATRED (season of mist, 1998)

this is prob the first death metal record i really fell in love with. i was trying to get into metal and slsk chatting with this guy i kind of knew from (lol) livejournal music rating communities. he dropped a ton of death metal records on me and this one stuck instantly--i loved how clean and tight the playing was, but it was never showy and there are interesting melodies on every track. of particular note is "under azure skies," which is a total epic and has an emotional quality that is rare in this kind of music.

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CURSED - TWO (goodfellow, 2005)
i guess this is technically a hardcore record? whatever. it'll always be metal to me. cursed what has to be intentionally terrible production (it got even worse on their next album), but when they get going they sound like a rickety war machine barreling down a hill, being steered by the supremely angry chris colohan. check out "the void" and "model home invasion," if nothing else. cursed had a bunch of money and passports stolen from them while on tour in germany two years ago and broke up upon getting back to canada.

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AVERSE SEFIRA - ADVENT PARALLAX (candlelight, 2008)
righteous american black metal. the main riff of the last track is my business. last time i discussed them on rolling metal it was about how i'm probably too casual a fan for their guitarist--want to at least give props to their music 'cause it's excellent.

I highly, highly recommend that Cursed album. The production is actually pretty great in my opinion...it's by Ian Blurton of Tricky Woo.

completely unfamiliar with all three of these picks. should make for a good time.

^^what he said.

I've already tried and failed to get into Advent Parallax, but I haven't heard the other two, and am looking forward to playing them in the morning!

More recently, Ian Blurton's been in a great three-piece called C'mon.

Less off-topic, I'm very grateful to this thread for introducing me to Thunderstorm and Wolf. And here's a Gorguts interview, the high point of which is them describing how they work out their arrangements by singing the parts together! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGrwNM5ROBc&feature=related

Sadly, for me the theme of these three turned out to be "Exhausting Noise Whose Aesthetic Rationale I Don't Readily Hear, and Thus Lose Interest In Very Quickly". Which makes me want to know whether people who like all three hear commonalities in them, too.

I gave these all a shot, and I kind of like the Cursed record. The production is great, raw and visceral and it greatly compliments their music. I also think 20 minutes is about all of it I could handle so they chose wisely to keep it that long.

I have to say that overall this records are caps-lock BLARGH start to finish. I like BLARGH, even moments of BLARGH, but I also need some blargh in the mix. These were in my face all the time and I found them wearying, even annoying, long before they ended (though as I said, the Cursed record ends just before I would have shut it off). I initially liked the sound of both Anata and Averse Sefira, but by track three I was having trouble. Did make it all the way through each one but I can't say I enjoyed more than the opening of each.

I'm sorry I couldn't find a way past that initial assault. Maybe revisiting a track here or there will allow them to break through my prejudices.

i can see that--maybe it's the common aesthetic rationale glenn was looking for.

i'd say go back to the tracks i mentioned in the writeups--but i would say that, wouldn't i?

I will give them another go - like I said, my first impression was good but I wanted more deviation from the stock PUMMEL setting. Freed from an album of that I think there may be much to love.

I have some great albums lined up for next week

This weeks not over Herman - any thoughts?

didnt care for the anata at all, the averse sefira didnt stick either. i cant even remember the cursed. i think i turned it off ha;fway through.

Anyone else got thoughts?

I guess my picks better stay away from constant pummel for ez snappins sanity.

Yeah, I definitely like my music to have some kind of variation, some sense in which different moments have been assembled for some purpose. If I've heard everything after a minute, I'm not likely to stick around for 44 more. This seems almost tautological, but yet clearly not everybody feels this way.