Rolling Metal 2019

btw Suicidal Angels are an absolutely fantastic band with not one ounce of originality.

The new Destruction album is out today and it's really good. They've added a second guitar player — like Motörhead, they're meant to be a trio, but they work as a quartet.

There's also a new Pathology album out today, so if you like knuckle-walking death metal as much as I do... [everyone else in the thread looks away in embarrassment]

But yeah this designed-to-offend approach is not very in touch anymore with modern sensibilities.

Maybe I was too young at the time to really pay attention but the shock rock superstars of the 90s weren't overt fascists. Then again, when you're in a band called Gestapo 666 and you put out an album titled Satanic Shariah, it's fair to wonder whether it's just post-post-post-adolescent trolling. I wouldn't be surprised to discover they pulled that combination of words from an outdated algorithm.

Slayer were considered by many metalheads as too fascist in the 80s (Angel of Death etc) and Rammsteins whole imagery, well...

The cultural sensitivities in the 80s were mainly around Christianity, nuclear war, anarchism etc and that has shifted to other areas, and so have the shock-rockers.

Were it not for Phil and Brad, I would never have given the new Slipknot a minute of my time. It's one hell of a bold album.

I had the first Gestapo 666 album at one point and it's as weak musically as you'd expect btw

my initial thought on the new Immortal Bird was "not as good as the debut" but now I'm not so sure. they seem to be fairly unique in injecting a level of emotion (and concision!) into the blackened death racket

question to pomenitul: what is your thinking about fascist/racist metal? you posted a link above to FÖRGJORD which is on Satanic Warmaster's label and Lauri (SW) is a member of Gestapo 666, who you condemn. i have no moral high ground as i listen to bad metal and noise/PE. i'm just curious where the line is for you and others on this board.

A fair question. We briefly discussed it upthread in relation to Deus Mortem and Deathspell Omega, but I don't think I've ever 'formalized' my stance.

I hadn't made the connection between Förgjord and Gestapo 666 as I know very little about the former (or Satanic Warmaster, for that matter). I usually draw the line (i.e. 'I won't be returning to this') at hate speech that targets specific communities (unless it's a mere mise en scène of evil or an assault on organized religion of any kind, in which case I don't care), but the fash needs to be audible in the music itself. That said, there are plenty of notable exceptions, such as the Vikernes-penned, race-baiting 'Over fjell og gjennom torner' from Transilvanian Hunger, an album that is routinely praised as one of the best ever by ILM metalheads. As a general rule, however, I a) won't pay for anything made by a demonstrably neo-nazi contemporary metal musician, even if their political beliefs don't explicitly seep into their records; b) will invariably think less of the music they make, even if it happens to be superlative (to my mind, there is a clear barrier between politics and aesthetics, but that doesn't mean it isn't shot through with holes).

When the (racist) lyrics are easy to make out and in a language I understand, I'm also likelier to feel disgust, Peste Noire and Nécropole being two prime examples. Like Siegbran said, the timeline matters, as well. I wasn't into metal in the late 90s but I probably wouldn't have given much of a fuck back then, not least because I was too young and edgy to care about politics, but also because white supremacy seemed like less of a pressing problem in my neck of the woods. It's also just easier to tune out that dross when it comes from a bygone era as one can safely (albeit not infallibly) assume that most of it was provocative posturing.

Anyway, re: Förgjord, if a band puts out an ostensibly 'unobjectionable' record on a label run by a notorious neo-nazi, I don't have enough of a bone to pick with the band itself, but I won't give them a cent, either.

Speaking of which (?), new Mayhem dropping in October, Daemon.

i appreciate your thoughtful response, pomenitul. yours is a good policy to have when it comes to material support of questionable artists, though it's difficult to know where blanket hatred/misanthropy ends and a targeted philosophy begins. i guess bands like Gestapo 666 make it clear but most don't. i own several Satanic Warmaster CDs and can't glean from the lyrics or art anything that would set its politics apart from, say, Morbid Angel or Slayer. a friend of mine is involved in the Finnish BM scene and says that some of those guys' race attitudes which are, let's say, regressive, are not informed by any direct contact with 'others.' so much of it is posturing and it's probably a waste of time to parse it beyond what it purports to be. that said, the english lyric sheet with the recent Nécropole album is unambiguous in its anti-semitism and disappointing as i love it musically.

Is there a link to anything more about the Pr0f0und L0re dude? I keep seeing vague allegations and insinuations pop up on Twitter and in other corners, but I'm not sure I've ever fully understood what was going on there. It's just surprising that Lingua Ingnota would work with the label if there was a lot there, genuinely curious.

I don’t think there have been any accusations against the label head himself, it’s just that he works with and supports Craig Pillard, who’s a Nazi, and Jef Whitehead, who’s a woman-beating piece of shit, so theoretically, you could find a better label to associate yourself with.

Okay, I knew about those two, didn't know if there was more. I thought he had finally, albeit way too late to matter much, cut ties with Pillard though.

I have now heard the new Opeth album. It's definitely the heaviest of the "prog Opeth" records, but it's not in any way a return to death metal, sorry saddos. It kinda reminds me of present-day Uriah Heep at times, though, which is a very good thing (if you haven't heard the last 3-4 Heep albums, you're missing out). Also, fair warning, there's one track with scat singing at the end.

I haven't listened to the English-language version yet, btw, only the Swedish one (which is the one Åkerfeldt prefers).

It's quickly become my favourite of Opeth's albums from this decade.

Yeah, after one listen I'd rank them In Cauda Venenum > Pale Communion > Sorceress > Heritage. (I like them all, of course.)

Well now I'm suitably excited for the Opeth.

I haven't listened to any of their albums post-Blackwater Park, so this should be interesting.

Tomb Mold just killed it at Psycho Las Vegas. Sweet young kids withban oppressive sound.

Good goddamn death metal from California

https://reek-of-putrescine.bandcamp.com/album/the-one-reborn

Avowedly antifascist as well.

a friend of mine is involved in the Finnish BM scene and says that some of those guys' race attitudes which are, let's say, regressive, are not informed by any direct contact with 'others.'

was just in helsinki and stopped into a BM shop (kvlt) and I was 100% expecting them to stock some sketchy records from the minimal research I had done beforehand but was def taken back by the very open display of swastika, anti-islam, etc. patches lovingly arranged next to a large finnish flag. pretty much right in your face when you walk into a tiny shop. charming!

lol at the tasteful (black) patio furniture in front of nazi hot topic:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DpbS9_TXgAAXvJX.jpg

Much of Eastern Europe (and Finland, an ex-Russian Grand Duchy, sort of counts) takes 'both-siding' to the next level: due to the pervasive influence communist Russia has exerted on its neighbours throughout much of the 20th century, there's a tendency not only to argue that fascism was ultimately just as bad but also, more often than not, to argue that it has something positive to teach us. Putin's Russia is on board with it as well, provided it remains an expression of 'patriotism'. Given how ethnically and culturally homogenous Finland is (and American 14 worders speak of it with infinite longing), there's unfortunately nothing surprising about this.

Profound Lore update: They've just released the new Diocletian album. Diocletian's main dude is a hardcore racist and general piece of shit.

Kinda like emperor Diocletian

Metal moodz unto fathomless infinity:

https://orisonwrethe.bandcamp.com

Courtesy of the Dutch BM scene that spawned Turia, Iskandr, Nusquama, etc.:

https://amorfatiproductions.bandcamp.com/album/imperial-cult-spasm-of-light

There's a new Facelift Deformation album, Cybernetic Organism Atrocities, out this week. They've got a live drummer now!

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1131995627_10.jpg

https://realityfaderecords.bandcamp.com/album/cybernetic-organism-atrocities

I like the Witch Vomit

It's fucking great.

Even the new Entombed AD is fun

The new Sacred Reich is good but the Witch Vomit is the only thing i want to listen to.

Also gott good call on the Putrescine

Are the left/right guitars being out of tune an aesthetic choice?

Doesn't matter. It rocks

Also I like the new Cerebral Rot. The rhythm guitar isn't exactly setting the world on fire, but the leads are reverb drenched nightmares that feel like they are played by the Loch Ness Monster

the true vintage here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSwI4PUuTZk&fbclid=IwAR1cutCp1kbyC6XoBFsQpdCK4M6bDekq7LQ9pgyqGUbBDw9AqYAO4MlPHjM

let's try that again

https://youtu.be/VSwI4PUuTZk

Adding to the Cerebral Rot praise. My metal AOTY. Particularly love the vocal approach. Spare, buried, reverbed to hell and phasing at times. They hit my reptile brain deeper than say Blood Incantation or Tomb Mold who tend to pack in too many riffs per song than I can handle. Man, from Portland up to Vancouver/Victoria, the PNW has an incredible metal scene.

Also love that new Holocausto track though heads up to the unaware - the recent reissue of the 30 year old debut, "Campo de Extermínio", might suggest ongoing nazi sympathies.

I had to look it up to make sure that wasn't just a crass joke

xp Due to general subject matter or is there something else?

Metal-Archives.com says "In the beginning of their career, they incorporated a Nazi aesthetic, though they only did that in order to shock people (much like Sepultura, Escola Alemã, and others)." Oh, OK then. Boys will be boys, right? Though I gotta say I don't remember Sepultura's Nazi phase.

Oh, OK then. Boys will be boys, right?

Not at all meant as a joke. Check the insert from the OG press of the album. https://www.discogs.com/Holocausto-Campo-De-Exterm%C3%ADnio/release/5838017

Lovely.

yikes. only ever had a cd that didn't feature that unpleasantness.

the lyrics on that record are explicitly anti-nazi. metal had a lot of "expose the brutality of this shit world" philosophy going on back then, which imo eventually attracted people who reveled in said shiftiness.

Speaking of which, stoked to pirate the new Mgla record

I mean like here's the song "III Reich":

O CAMPO MENOR SE ENCONTRA EM CHAMAS
DE FOGO E DESTRUIÇÃO
NA FORRE DE VIGIA
SENTINELAS DEIXAM METRALHADORAS DESGUARNECIDAS
AS SIRENES GRITAM ALTO
ANUNCIANDO MAIS UM BOMBARDEIO
O CHÃO ESTREMECE PELAS ATIRADAS
CAUSANDO DOR NO CEREBRO
AWSCHWITZ, CONCENTRAÇÃO DA MORTE
CREMATÓRIOS, ALIMENTAM-SE DE JUDEUS
III REICH, O MAIOR DOS MASSACRES
HITLER, FUHRER DO IMPÉRIO NAZISTA
III REICH

which google translate gives as:

THE LOWER FIELD IS IN FLAMES
FIRE AND DESTRUCTION
ON THE WATCH
SIGNALS LEAVE MACHINERY MISSED
SIRENS CRY HIGH
ANNOUNCING ONE MORE BOMBARDMENT
CAUSING PAIN IN BRAIN
AWSCHWITZ, DEATH CONCENTRATION
CREMATORIES, FEED FROM JEWS
III REICH, THE GREATEST MASSACRE
HITLER, FUHRER OF THE NAZI EMPIRE
III REICH

this is basic-issue thrash "these are the horrors of war" stuff. it's a fair q to ask "why are you so fascinated by nazi shit?" but Holocausto's response, back when they were new, was exactly the "documenting the horrors of war" standard-issue post-Slayer thing which, while not exactly the most intellectually persuasive argument of all time, doesn't automatically read as "they're literal nazis" for me.

(also, finally, per Allmusic: "[Campo de Extermínio's CD reissue in 2003 added the bonus track "Massacre," from the Lost Tapes of Cogumelo compilation, and boasted a prominent front cover disclaimer attempting to renounce any anti-Semitic intentions once and for all.]"