Rolling Metal Thread 2010

oh yeah I liked to make lists from early in my music geekhood until I was like 17

then one day I was like wow I gotta be straight with myself, I no longer care about listing bands or albums or songs or books or authors

I still like unordered lists of unrelated things though - coconut milk, titanium, the new Enslaved album, a bookshelf, kittens

holy shit this track "giants" off the new enslaved

and then the jazzy shit on "singular"

what a fucking completely incredible band

I mean check this shit out:

* Hordanes Land (EP) (1993)
* Vikingligr Veldi (1994)
* Frost (1994)
* Eld (1997)
* Blodhemn (1998)
* Mardraum - Beyond the Within (2000)
* Monumension (2001)
* Below the Lights (2003)
* Isa (2004)
* Ruun (2006)
* Vertebrae (2008)
* Axioma Ethica Odini (2010)

I'm not nuts about Monumension but even with that in there who the hell has anything like that kind of a run of consistently engaged, forward-looking albums in this genre? Like, I will rep for the entire Darkthrone discography, and think that each Darkthrone album is at very least an interesting commentary on metal/the scene - they're almost like the ombudsmen of metal. But Enslaved, they just keep going for it again & again & again.

'Manumission' by Enslaved?

The new Cephalic Carnage is up in my top five of the year so far.

always when I hear a new enslaved record I start out "guys, I already know you can do this" and then by the middle of the second song I'm like "oh shit here we gooooooo"

Haha, perfectly put.

Oh, hey, looks like I have the new Enslaved as well. Is it just me, or have Nuclear Blast become like the best label out there?

it's weird how much ass nuclear blast has been kicking lately - if you look at their '06 release schedule, it's a lot of passable-but-eh stuff and this year they've got at least two on my year-end (Cathedral & Enslaved...there's no way Enslaved don't make it, it's that immediately good) + there's a new Melechesh coming in October

Glad to hear someone else likes the new Sword album. I was alarmed to read the withering review in Decibel. I still have hope.

Saw Valkyrie, Torche and Baroness last night. What a great show. The latter two are playing now at Wicker Park Fest, Chicago. I first saw Valkyrie at Alehorn of Power in '08 at Double Door. Is there no Alehorn fest this year?

I was alarmed to read the withering review in Decibel.

Decibel would never permit themselves to run a positive review of The Sword. Which is why, despite the personal affection I have for the people who post in this thread and also write for them, I say fuck Decibel.

So pissed I had to work today and couldn't make it down to Wicker Park Fest. So anxious to hear both the Enslaved and Sword albums.

Decibel would never permit themselves to run a positive review of The Sword.

if I called Albert tonight and said "I fucking love the Sword album and want to make the case for it in Decibel, in a box in the reviews section not in my column," I have all confidence that he'd say "you got it"; your notion of the editorial standards of Decibel being some tastemongering coven of orthodoxy is, to put it politely, ill-conceived.

there is a two page sword spread in the same issue. written by an ilxor! and its postive. i think. i still need to read the whole thing.

in a box in the reviews section not in my column

You have a column...?

Maybe I need to get a Decibel subscription, hah.

mine just kicked in -- totally worth it imo

If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but they've seemed pretty predictable to me - and pretty gullible (cf. Watain cover story) for a while.

Which is fine, btw. I don't begrudge Decibel its existence. I'm just saying Albert doesn't run his magazine the way I would in his place. Which should be obvious.

Well, the point is, there's a favorable two-page spread for the Sword right at the center of the magazine this month, wherein they're given much space & opportunity to answer the criticisms of them most commonly voiced. Giving a band a two-page spread certainly counterbalances any claims of editorial bias against the band in question

imo

the most damning evidence one could offer, re: Decibel's alleged editorial bias, would be the lack of any pre-1980 platters making it into their exalted HoF. for a while there i had hope that this apparent oversight would be addressed with Motorheads induction. unfortunately, instead of Overkill--possibly the heaviest album of its decade--we got the "no way?" obviousness of Ace of Spades instead; like, y'know, lord lucifer bless the immortal '80s, man! now don't get me wrong, i generally love the rag to pieces otherwise, i just wish they (he?) would address the fucking brontosaur in the fucking living room issue--that being metal in the decade of its very fucking conception, man. long live Metal Mike Saunders, you fucking ingrate whelps! fuck!!! \m/ ^_^ \m/

^ old fart speaks ;)

tr00... :'(

No offense to Decibel writers, but I think the magazine now sucks. I just read picked up Classic Rock, they had a great 12 page tribute to Dio with a cool cover and everything. But the "hard rock/metal" magazine in the man's own country: nothing. Screw you.

FAO Bill http://decibelmagazine.com/Content.aspx?ncid=373098

that's pretty good. I look forward to the August issue (off to bury my head in shame)

10 Hail Decibels for you.

is the brutal truth guy that compares himself to dio in that r.i.p. link above the same one with a decibel column that he uses to talk about how cool he is every month? gross.

nope, different guy.

dan lilker was in Anthrax

ah. lotta big egos in that band imo.

lol @ Necrobutcher's conclusion

A great small man has ceased to be, but the music lives on. R.I.P.

i will say that the band on the cover of the new decibel means nothing to me. i didn't even know they existed until long after they had broken up. cuz i'm old like that. kinda cool that the cover actually looks like the cover of a magazine from the 1990's though.

yeah, the cover is terrific.

I wrote the Dio obit in the print version, Bill, so address any criticism on that part to me. I'm actually surprised that the Sword record got such a bad review -- but that just means the individual reviewer didn't like it. Other than the occasional small grammar thing or the adjustment of the numerical score (I am, to be honest, actually a little annoyed that they knocked down the score on my Jucifer review), they don't touch the text of the review.

I must say, the new sword cover hits all of the right nerd buttons for me. haven't listened since their first one, but I thought that was pretty good. I'll prob give this one a shot sometime.

ohhhh man...nice. [drools]
must. hear. this. asap.

whoa, full stream of the new thou album on npr.org! awesome.

Early Graves vocalist Mahk Daniels killed in van accident: http://bit.ly/dDr2D6

not familiar with the band but that's some sad news for sure. r.i.p.

That's sad, RIP.

Hey metal thread -- I saw Yakuza Arkestra at Wicker Park fest yesterday and WOW was it loud and awesome and heavy. We went specifically for their show. I don't know if it will ever happen again, but if so, I look forward to more strategic use of the jazz talent. Ken Vandermark, Dave Rempis, and Mars Williams don't need to hide in the corner. Kelly Lamont (Bruce's sister, I think?) is an monster vocalist as well. Didn't stay for Torche (already seen them, felt tired of elbowing frat dudes for my place on the street) or Baroness (didn't care, had to work today) but it was worth a trip to that area for sure.

Anyway, I liked them well enough before, but seeing them live 2x in one month has made me a Yakuza superfan. Anyone know when Bruce Lamont solo record comes out?

that's a pretty killer lineup

Lamont's solo disc will be later in the year. I may know more soon; if I do, will post here.

I learned from this youtube vid that he was a student of Vandermark's. Interesting!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6u6ECkxMYE

Vandermark and Mars Williams were part of the Peter Brotzmann tentet + 2 that I saw in a church in Portland back in 2001 or so. One of the craziest things I've ever seen.

xpost - New Enslaved! Downloading now! The only bands with similarly consistent catalogs are Voivod, Opeth, and Rush. I think it takes a progressive mindset and a general disinterest in commercial success to be so staggeringly consistent, forward thinking, and true.

xpost - I gave the Sword a chance live and they were a total dud on stage. They've toured A LOT since then though so I'll strive to keep an open mind.

I'm a well documented Vandermark fan*, but Rempis is no slouch. Check out Engines or Rempis Percussion Quartet if you're interested.

*full disclosure: i am married to the guy who made this (nate, he was there when i bought tshirts from you at that agalloch show a year ago or whenever that was): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtSYQAtK6RY

does anyone know what numbers the new Nachtmystium record can expect to do? and/or how many copies of Assassins were sold? curious about how popular "big" metal records like those really are

For big critics faves im guessing
20,000-50,000?

Only the label knows for sure but I doubt it's 50k. That seems like a lot for anything in this realm except Dethklok.

i was meaning worldwide

Ah that's another story.

yeah, I just had no idea what sort of numbers we were even talking about here. thanks!

I think a band like In This Moment will probably hit 50K this time around. Lacuna Coil does about that.

selling 50k worldwide is pretty fucking hard unless you are getting lots of mainstream coverage, fyi. poppier metal like Lacuna Coil with tv coverage in their home country & in Scandinavia & Germany can hit it for sure though. if nachtmystium is over 30k worldwide I'd be pretty surprised.