Your five favorite metal records of the moment

This Skepticism record... It feels kind of lame to say this, but I didn't really know music like this existed. Definitely unlike anything I've ever heard... But it's great!

They're a great band, also a rare example of how keyboards should be used in metal. May I recommend their Aes EP?

Also you might want to check out Thergothon.

Been meaning to... I stumbled upon an old list that Siegbran made of a bunch of great metal records; what a feast!

siegbran's great metal list

BTW, j., I like your comment about both laughing at extreme vocals and taking them seriously at the same time. Those vocalists seem to run the gamut, too, with regard to balancing those two things. Someone like David Vincent seems to not have a lick of "it's okay to laugh along with me" in his delivery, whereas someone like Lord Worm plunges so far into the realm of the inhuman/ridiculous that I can't see it not having an element of humor underpinning it.

Siegbran's fav Voivod album not in my top five Voivod albums.

immolation - 'majesty and decay'
convulse - 'world without god'
repugnant - 'epitome of darkness'
teitanblood - 'seven chalices'
voivod - 'dimension hatross'

A few recent acquisitions that have me jumping off the walls:

(1) Atheist: Piece of Time -- From what I've read of this band, I suppose I was expecting something a little more "jazz-lite" or somehow not powerful, but happily this is crushingly awesome. The band can turn on a dime, but it never feels too flashy in its technical prowess. The guy's voice is prett great, too.

(2) Unleashed: Where No Life Dwells -- This is just solid, satisfying, meat-and-potatoes death metal. I'm digging in to the Ekeroth book about Swedish death metal so I'm looking forward to discovering a bunch more bands.

(3) D.R.I.: Dealing With It -- I've always read about these guys as a big "crossover" band but somehow never checked them out until just now (I happily found this LP used). This sounds pretty much like straight old-school hardcore to me, but it is nonetheless an insanely addictive listen, just really spilling over with creativity and catchiness. It's hard to say what makes it special, but it really does rule.

(4) Immortal: Sons of Northern Darkness -- One great freaking riff after another. The last song blows me away.

(5) Gorguts: The Erosion of Sanity -- There's a little bass break in "Orphans of Sickness" that is one of my current favorite moments in any metal song.

I also think Mean Man's Dream is one of the most unintentionally hilarious album titles ever for some reason.

First off, Suffocation are insanely good. I really liked that EP I bought, so I picked up Pierced From Within yesterday--totally floored.

ok this is sweet

"orphans of sickness" is alltime

Are there any metal albums that sound significantly influenced by Miles Davis' "metal" stuff (Dark Magus/Agharta/Pangaea)? I think that could be my way in to metal.

FunkyTonk, that's a tough question... I don't know if there's all that much overlap there, to be honest. I'm not all that big on "gateways" in music, though. It's a nice theory, but I think the best way to appreciate a genre is just to jump right in. Forget about how it relates to what you already know and are comfortable with. Try to appreciate it for what it is. Relish the disorientation and lack of comprehension. My favorite, most cherished, "landmark" records have pretty much uniformly been "what the fuck is THIS?!" experiences on first listen.

Thanks. I've been at this for a while and gateways are what works for me.

Btw, I already like some metal (Gojira, Pelican, The Locust, High On Fire, some Gothenburg stuff), just not enough to, you know, ever want to actually LISTEN to it.

Different question though: could some one point me toward some modern instrumental metal that is technically/compositionally complex but that also puts a high premium on emotion/soulfulness?

I should have added rhythmically complex to the above.

I've been hearing great stuff about Gojira--definitely need to check them out. I've still never heard it, but Obscura by Gorguts is supposed to be pretty out-there and harmonically unhinged in a way that I can imagine someone into Miles's deeper, freer '70s stuff might be able to dig...

If you have a really, really loose definition of metal, Ice's first album Under the Skin kind of reminds me of Miles (when it doesn't sound like dubby Godflesh), but more On the Corner than the ones mentioned above.

new Fontanelle rec on Southern Lord is deep Miles tribute from Sunn/Jessamine/Earth/Iceburn dudes

Yeah, that Fontanelle record is fantastic. Not even remotely metal, but awesome.

'modern instrumental metal' - cmon, just get used to the vocals.

One the Kevin Martin/Justin Broadrick/Ice tip, be sure to check out God's "Possession", and the less jazzy "Anatomy of Addiction". I could swear both albums were on Spotify (U.S.) only a week or two ago, but I can't seem to find them anymore.

There are two other God albums - Loco (live) and Consumed - but they're super hard to find these days.

Ulcerate's Destroyers of All - technically, compositionally and rhythmically complex, as well as surprisingly soulful/emotional.

Not instrumental but yes, you should try to get used to the vocals. As with most extreme stuff their vocals are basically a percussive or textural instrument anyway.

I third the Fontanelle, coming more from the prog side, but certainly dips into the Miles fusion era. Diagonal's The Second Mechanism on Rise Above/Metal Blade also has some fusion, but definitely heavy on the prog.

Texas stoner metal band Wo Fat have a post-Bitches Brew element to some of their latest stuff, but even going back to their first album in 2006, they covered "Runnin' The Voodoo Down."

Chopping and blending Miles' voodoo brew even finer among other elements like space-rockin' Hawkind and Pink Floyd are Ufomammut. Their latest double is not to be missed.

Listening to Gojira on this goddamned day though. I picked a good week to get on anti-depressants.

has anyone already said, Scott Walker's 'Bish Bosch'? if not, that's the one for me.

curiously enough, 'Fontanelle' (which get a mention upthread) is a word found in one of the songs' lyrics. : )

candlemass!!!

"There are two other God albums - Loco (live) and Consumed - but they're super hard to find these days."

There is also a remix EP of Anatomy of Addiction called Appeal to Human Greed that's quite good.

Happy new year! Just three for now... Curious to what you guys are digging (and, of course, always hungry for recommendations...)

(1) Enslaved: Vikingligr Veldi -- Holy HELL this is an astonishing record. I love how there are just these long, long stretches without vocals. I love how they go from searching, exploratory (but not wanky) passages straight into full-on blasting. I love that they repeat figures longer than you expect, sometimes a lot longer, creating that really immersive effect (like on "Inn I Slottet Fra Drommen" by Burzum). Ridiculously good. The early 2nd-wave Norwegian BM has just been blowing my mind lately; all these amazing classics which are totally new and fresh to me.

(2) Samael: Blood Ritual -- So glad to have discovered these guys. It's mid-pacedness really appeals to me, and its such a lean, streamlined, just completely effective and ultra-dark sound they've cultivated on this record. The riffing is tremendous, very much in an early Celtic Frost vein. And the vocals are pretty exceptional as well--not ultra-aggressive or theatrical, just perfectly dark/evil. I feel like these guys are underappreciated.

(3) Cryptopsy: None So Vile -- This is just a fun, sick ride, but the thing that's really been standing out to me is the drumming; the fluidity and the nuanced-ness are jaw-dropping, but not so in-your-face technical that the plot gets lost.

Yeah these are all classics. Vikingligr Veldi is another one of my all time favourite BM records. Samael "Ceremony Of Opposites" should be your next stop, it takes all of the good points from Blood Ritual to a new level.

In terms of (slightly) older records, currently revisting these:
Sjenovik - Jouissance (thick dark slow-paced BM)
Strid - End Of Life (slow hypnotic depressive BM from 1993, this is a total classic and everyone should hear it)
Lustre - Welcome Winter (slow hypnotic depressive BM, clearly modelled after ^^^^)
Rottrevore - Iniquitous (crushingly HEAVY old school death metal)
Nightfall - Macabre Sunsets (weird death/doom hybrid, with that typical cavernous 90s Greek sound)

I had an unreasonably good used CD haul today at one of my favorite shops:

Assuck: Anticapital
Blut Aus Nord: Ultima Thulee
Cryptopsy: Blasphemy Made Flesh
Death: Symbolic
Enslaved: Eld
Incantation: Onward to Golgotha
Judas Iscariot: Thy Dying Light
Manilla Road: Invasion
Morbid Angel: Formulas Fatal to the Flesh
Possessed: Seven Churches
Trouble: The Skull
Ulver: Kveldssanger

I don't even know where to start!

Yeah these are all classics. Vikingligr Veldi is another one of my all time favourite BM records. Samael "Ceremony Of Opposites" should be your next stop, it takes all of the good points from Blood Ritual to a new level.

― Siegbran, Thursday, January 17, 2013 4:48 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

And thanks as always, Siegbran; I will pick up Ceremony of Opposites stat.

right now, man its easy to pad this list out with my Pagan Altar obsession:

Pagan Altar - Pagan Altar
Pagan Altar - The Lords of Hypocrisy
Pagan Altar - Mythical & Magical
Wo Fat - The Black Code
Fen - Dustwalker

Wo Fat live almost sells me on Wo Fat in the studio. Not quite though, because live they were otherworldly. Trance inducing, and telepathically tight on changes and extended jams.

Shit, sounds like I need to see them live then, as I've really fallen for their last two albums.

If they head up your way do not miss them. I figure they'll likely hit the road outside of Texas when they return from Europe at the end of April.

I will definitely keep my eyes open, thanks for the tip. Sometimes I give up tracking the tours for these blog hype stoner bands because they always end up so much more popular in Europe and spend their time over there.

It's great to see people discovering pagan altar. I remember people freaking out that they got in the alltime metal poll ahead of pantera and glam metal.

I thought I had replied more fully to the Miles Davis-influenced metal recommendations about 90 posts back. Thanks to all who offered them.

I had heard and liked the Fontanelle previous to this thread. Very Complete On The Corner box. As others said, definitely not metal. And for me, nowhere near as intense as the Miles from which it takes inspiration. But cool.

Really liked some of Wo Fat. Especially "The Spheres Beyond". That's as close as I've come to hearing the heavyish Miles-influenced sound I have in my head.

Going to check out some of the other recommendations as I'm able. I've been thinking for years that based on what I've read about him, I should be able to get into some Justin Broadrick stuff, so I'm looking forward to hearing God.

On a somewhat different note, I just... /discovered/ this Cloudkicker album last night: http://cloudkicker.bandcamp.com/album/the-discovery
It's not Miles-influenced, but it's pretty cool modern instrumental metal.

Also Chimp Spanner, which despite having a terrible name and some overly polished sounds and some rather vacuous passages, is also pretty cool modern instrumental metal. Not deep, but fun.

Oh, and I really liked the instrumental version of Periphery's self-titled. Which caused me to wonder: are there other metal albums that have been released in both vocal and instrumental versions?

The deluxe version of Nightwish's latest album came with a second disc of instrumental versions.

Which, considering the trouble they have holding onto vocalists, could really come in handy for them going forward. "Here are the backing tracks - rehearsal is Monday at 10."

- sacramentum - 'far away from the sun'; finally got a copy! (it's just been reissued on vinyl and cd). it's every bit as good as siegbran said it was. shot through with veins of beautiful icy tremolo melodies. really inventive drumming too.
- disma -'towards the megalith'; this has grown on me a lot. really like the production - actually audible, meaty, bulldozery bass.
- vader -'de profundis'
- spawn of possession - 'incurso'; not often in the mood for stuff this technical, but when i am, it's cracks-me-up amazing.
- judas priest - 'sin after sin'. recent 2nd-hand vinyl acquisition. rules.

(1) Sacramentum -- Far Away From the Sun: Despite the reissue being really LOUD (ugh!), this is just beautiful.
(2) Gorguts -- Obscura: Wow!
(3) Evoken -- Embrace the Emptiness: I can't stop listening to this. I love the moments in which the clean, ringing guitar peeks through.

Just three for now... I'm on the precipice of an enormous funeral doom phase.

ever heard this one, clarke?

http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/The_Gault/Even_as_All_Before_Us/84669

i'm digging the aeternus from this year, after it didn't do much for me at first.

it's got a lot going for it before you even get to less-tangibles. the production is great, modern through and through but not radio-overdriven - the bass is really resonant and as if to make up for the occupied low end, the drum sound is really thick. the drummer seems to be very subtle - surely this is one of those albums where drum hits were engineered as separately as possible in some cases, so that musical differences could register? because he changes it up a lot in small ways. the guitar tone is nice and dirty. the songs have a very human-scale feel to them, pretty loose and riffy in the stretches before they make (frequent) shifts in rhythm/structure/etc. obviously very technical but somehow in a way that they let drive the songs, and be proportioned to the contours of the songs. nice growling.

i even like the spanish guitar interlude, and usually acoustic interludes on metal albums just embarrass me.

i totally concur on the aeternus album. others i've been enjoying in the past year or so:

new(ish)
- progenie terrestre pura - 'u.m.a.'
- summoning - 'old mornings dawn'
- lustre - 'wonder'
- carcass - 'surgical steel'
- autopsy - 'the headless ritual'

old (but new to me) discoveries (revelations!)
- tormentor - 'anno domini'
- dream death - 'journey into mystery'
- master's hammer - 'ritual'
- enslaved - 'frost'
- grave - 'into the grave'

Oh man, I love Dream Death. Check out the demo comp they had a while back, it's great.

cool, i will. really dig the album (was trying to track down a copy for ages....)

weakling

Isengard - Vinterskugge
Darkspace - III
Darkthrone - Sardonic Wrath
Hellhammer - Satanic Rites demo
Belketre - Ambre Zuèrkl Vuordhrevarhtre

*beams with pride* Darkspace got a hold of you then :D

Which of those other records d'ya think I'd most dig?