Rolling Metal Thread 2014

I'd say MOST of the folks in the bands talked about on here have jobs besides the band

Huh. I felt like I was watching for Power Trip out here last year, but obviously I missed them. It's just seemed like every time I've gone and looked for months they were talking up a Dallas show. No big deal, hope to see them soon.

Triptykon was so unbelievably good last night. Opened and closed with colossal epics (Black Snow, The Prolonging), played a couple Frost songs (Circle of the Tyrants, Visions of Mortality) and Hellhammer's "Messiah". Loved hearing the new stuff live, too. Tom was in good spirits, the crowd made him crack up at one point.

I was gonna comment on how amazing Godflesh was on Friday but I didn't want to rub it in on Skrot. The setlist was impeccable and the performance was minimalist brutality at it's best.

http://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1.0-9/1538841_10154022369195597_6940233881799967393_n.jpg

Tonight, though... Satan! (With October 31 in support). I am so looking forward to it.

Rub it in - no worries!! Glad it was a great show. Someday, I guess...

New Cormorant has less wankery than the last one and more heads-down blazing. It suits them well. New vocalist is kinda nondescript, which also suits them okay, I guess.

What black metal from the first quarter am I missing? Nothing has really blown me away so far, despite several releases that had seemed promising. Really look forward to the new Thantifaxath and Svartidaudi records.

I can't believe I am about to see Satan with all the original members play this set list...

[Img=https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t31.0-8/1015315_10154034182200597_9159921595757959716_o.jpg][/img]

https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t31.0-8/1015315_10154034182200597_9159921595757959716_o.jpg

What black metal from the first quarter am I missing?

Slagbjorn's posthumous album, really just a 3 song EP and 2 other tracks. Good, though.
http://youtu.be/ZEidxBfIv9E

Svarttjern is very ... Norse. Has its moments: http://youtu.be/K0QGVqrvEkg

I have yet to hear the new Sorcier des Glaces, which is terrible of me because they're a great band. Rauhnacht's Urzeitgeist, mentioned somewhere upthread, is supposed to be really good, but of course I haven't heard that other. Kriegsmaschine? Everyone keeps talking about that one. I really need to get on top of all of this myself but here I sit listening to Colored Sands. Still.

Fluisteraars and Kriegsmaschine are the big standouts this year so far.

I'll have to spin the Kriegsmaschine a few more times. It didn't do much for me on the first couple listens, even though I loved the last Mgla album. The Slagbjorn track has piqued my interest. Interesting back story, too. Svarttjern reminds me of Watain a bit, especially the guitar tone. I need to check out the other stuff. I keep hearing good things about Fluisteraars, so I guess I'll head there next. Thanks!!

So... Satan last night... Shit.

That show was phenomenal. In a word: Majestic. Metal the way it should be played, totally classic but with speed and power that was a nod to the then-burgeoning underground metal of the time, guys that can play (especially the guitars, which are insane and huge) but who never let their playing skills get in the way of the power or the glory. Classic material played alongside last year's album and it all sounded brilliant, which is exceedingly rare for reunions after several decades.

I texted my wife who was sitting on a table during the show that it might have been the best show I ever saw. And that's nuts. I have seen hundreds of shows. Used to see 120 or so a year back in my NYC music critic days. But I'll be damned if I could think of a show I liked more right now.

Oh man that sounds great!

It was... Man, what a great show. My only issue was they only had Small shirts left after they sold out of almost everything in NYC a night or two before.

In Philly, what's a metalhead to do this Thursday:

Behemoth / Goatwhore / 1349 / Inquisition @ Theatre Of The Living Arts 
Iced Earth / Sabaton @ Trocadero Theatre 
Kadavar @ Kungfu Necktie
Master / Vektor @ Mill Creek Tavern

I'll be working, which sucks, so I won't see any of them... :( But if I had to choose I think I'd go with Master although the Behemoth and guests are all good too.

Never pass up a chance to see Kadavar imo.

As much as I've liked Iced Earth at times, I think that'd be a safe pass for me after their awful new album. If I could curate the rest into a Behemoth / Kadavar / Vektor / Inquisition / Goatwhore bill, I'd be pretty happy. All said though, that's a hell of a night for one city.

Anyone going to Maryland Deathfest next month? I'll be there at least for the Friday lineup of Agalloch, At the Gates, Castevet, Mgla, Necros Christos, Solstafir, The Ruins of Beverast et al. That is a seriously stacked day.

Oh, wow, this new Gamma Ray album is a shockingly solid heavy/nwobhm/thrash thing with almost no power-metal bombast. Well, not as much as usual, anyway. But still with solos.

I keep hearing good things about Fluisteraars, so I guess I'll head there next.

The problem is, I just *know* they'll never pull this off ever again, their next album will be padded out with filler.

That sounds like a fantastic proposition. Fluisteraars have probably been saving up riffs for years, like when a novelist says everything he or she needs to say about the world in their first book and then either essentially disappears (e.g., Harper Lee, Ralph Ellison et al.) or follows up with some hare-brained novel about "important issues" (e.g., 99% of MFA graduates).

I saw Godflesh the other night which was great but, you know, monochromatic in a good, mindcrushing way. But I'm still bummed I didn't get to see Satan!

The band or the malevolent deity?

lol!! ^^

The band was malevolent and God-like, so that's redundant!

turns out Cobalt aren't done after all

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=755034351193822&id=109020659128531&fref=nf

In the end, all one ever experiences is one's self.
Erik and I have had a rocky last few years due to extreme personal experience. I cant discredit him for his profound personal development, considering that I have been elusive due to my nature as well.
We have spoken and a new Cobalt album will be recorded, and will be massive and overshadow everthing we,and many others, have ever done.

I now have the Rauhnacht record, and it's bit of a letdown. The first track "Einsam Ist's, Durch's Moor Zu Geh'n" was posted online earlier and is awesome, unfortunately the other seven tracks range from merely competen to boring as fuck.

I'm still working my way through a couple of older finds, and this one stands out for now, Mortualia - Blood Of The Hermit:
http://www.spirit-of-metal.com/les%20goupes/M/Mortualia/Blood%20of%20the%20Hermit/Blood%20of%20the%20Hermit.jpg
Horna/Sargeist main dude doing hypnotic slow black metal with tortured vocals.

This Thantifaxath album is fantastic, a bit Krallice-like while still very much it's own thing.

Lazer/Wulf, the Georgia-based instrumental trio whose music Creative Loafing said "echoes the best math, metal, and prog rock craftsmanship of the last decade," release their highly-anticipated debut album The Beast of Left and Right on July 15 via Retro Futurist Records.

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I liked the band enough seeing them play with Orange Goblin and Holy Grail last year that I want to check this one out.

Liking both Thantifaxath and Mortualia.

how come nobody really lumps gigan in with the other dissonant evil stuff like gorguts, ulcerate, deathspell omega, etc? finally checked out their lp from last year, and man, it really hits the spot. I love how drums have a live, loose feel to em. totally burly and technical but with lots of fills and fun hi-hat and cymbal work and it's just the opposite of that rigid, triggered sound. cool fuzzy guitar tones when the effects get heavy too. some of the moments where they mix grind with psychedelic guitar sounds actually made me think of gasp's record on slap a ham but it's been while so maybe I'm off-base on that one. anyway, this thing rules.

http://i.imgur.com/0qRBFoe.jpg

lol wut?

I need to know what that's about but

how come nobody really lumps gigan in with the other dissonant evil stuff like gorguts, ulcerate, deathspell omega, etc?

I haven't heard their most recent one, but god this band is overlooked. Even the first one is nuts, discordant and weird, fucked up sci-fi synth noises and there's a long free form freakout on the last track.

oh man, you NEED to hear the new(ish) one! it's on spotify if you use that.

What black metal from the first quarter am I missing?

I love A Pregnant Light. Maybe not quite black metal, but it is fantastic. And I also quite like Ghost Bath. The vocals might put you off, but I kinda like them.

xxxpost

Last year I watched the Golden Gods Awards for the first time and vowed never to miss it again. They pretty much turn cameras on an auditorium full of metal and hard rock people, audience and performers alike, and wait to see what happens. I'm not totally sure anyone is ever in charge.

The above pic is from last night's (and not a photoshop.) Sadly I missed the show. So bummed.
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/golden-gods-axl-rose-joan-jett/

If I could choose anyone to sing this it would have been Beth Gibbons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-mc7D6hs5U&feature=youtu.be

Enjoy!

I am also digging the new Thantifaxath album quite a bit. Good call on that one. Just added Gigan to my Spotify playlist (Alan N: That sounds right up my alley). A Pregnant Light are excellent. I love how they optimize the lo-fi nature of their recordings by making some fairly unconventional production choices. Inventive stuff.

I haven't heard their most recent one, but god this band is overlooked.

Yep. I hadn't heard of Gigan before their most recent one came out, but it's fantastic stuff.

I could maybe say the same about Pyrrhon; their new one The Mother of Virtues is tailor-made for me (I listened back to their previous ones and wasn't inspired at all).

Checked out that last Gigan record last night. Based on the description up-thread, I kinda knew I would like them, but good lord I was not prepared for just how godly that record is. My initial sense is the drum performance alone could be studied for months without getting bored. As a unit, the band members seem to be attuned to each other in a borderline preternatural way.

I wanted to like that Beth Gibbons-sings-Black Sabbath thing, but as I said on Twitter, I bailed as soon as she sang the phrase "Oh no" in this sort of weary descending sigh, like she'd accidentally spilled her tea on the antique sofa. Totally missing the gut-level medieval-Christian horror of the original.

It's all a bit winnie the pooh. Oh bother.

As a unit, the band members seem to be attuned to each other

yep, this was a big draw for me as well. there's a give-and-take to the playing and the way that the songs unfold.

Xandria! This is fun. Too bad the new singer isn't as strong as the last one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGTAmmTiD_Y

getting a late pass on the now-disbanded Ava Inferi, who I first heard when I was in a long anti-goth-metal phase and wrote off. this band has/had some of the best guitar lines around imo

New Judas Priest song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhkoNQ-7uRw

Yeah, the new Priest song rules. I even like that Halford's VOX sound a little weathered and natural.

welcome, Jonathan!

The state of metal criticism in 2014:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8QZFdh8-7k

new Floor album..... anyone heard??