Rolling 2020 Metal Thread

Psycho Vegas moved to 2021, with they claim almost the exact same lineup. if Mercyful Fate stays on, I'll keep my ticket.

it's the right move, but this effectively has cancelled the last thing I gave a shit about this year.

all that means is I'm all in on this motherfuckin' lockdown

That RYM list is great, but it definitely has a certain...bias. If you're interested in some other metal from the year so far, here's a playlist with an intentionally different bias, produced by math from Spotify listening patterns:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6eyQHP5r9jxSjqhIsMw41X

1. Fourth Circle "Survive"
2. Tomorrow Is Lost "Hideaway"
3. Semblant "Mere Shadow"
4. Stitched Up Heart "My Demon"
5. Ad Infinitum "See You in Hell"
6. Memoremains "Pounding Heart"
7. September Mourning "Overdose"
8. Skarlett Riot "Human"
9. MoonSun "Wanted and Wild"
10. Lena Scissorhands "All The Things She Said"
11. Temperance "The Cult Of Mystery"
12. Diabulus in Musica "The Misfit's Swing"
13. Blackbriar "Madwoman in the Attic"
14. Beyond The Black "Golden Pariahs"
15. Evereal "When You're Gone"
16. Leaves' Eyes "Black Butterfly"
17. Ravenword "Blue Roses"
18. Amberian Dawn "Butterfly"
19. Circus of Fools "Eris (To the Fairest One)"
20. Clio Cadence "Drive"
21. Ardours "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes"
22. Dark Sarah "Melancholia"
23. セヴン・スパイアーズ "ドラウナー・オブ・ワールズ"
24. ILLUMISHADE "World's End"
25. Future Palace "Illusionist"
26. Liv Kristine "Skylight"
27. Her Chariot Awaits "Dead & Gone"
28. Mezmerized "Shutdown"
29. Kalidia "To the Darkness I Belong - Orchestral Version"
30. Metalite "Hunting High and Low"
31. BASEMENT PROPHECY "The Silence of the Tide"
32. Ignea "Jinnslammer"
33. The Murder of My Sweet "Hit the Ground"
34. Berserkyd "Axe (Unofficial Dota Theme)"
35. Scarlett Breaks "Hide & Seek"
36. Nemesea "New Year's Day"
37. Exlibris "Megiddo"
38. Crimson Sun "Virtual Reality"
39. Devilskin "Corrode"
40. Volturian "Broken"
41. Ember Falls "We Are Become Fire"
42. Daimonic "Might Concealed"
43. Helion Prime "Mr. Torture"
44. DIAMANTE "Serves You Right"
45. Killus "Vortex"
46. The Dirty Youth "Shut Your Mouth"
47. Oliver Tray "Shotokan - Radio Edit"
48. Rise of Insanity "Dark Figure"
49. GAUPA "Vakuum"
50. Sertraline "Inside Out"
51. Skar "Face My Fears"
52. Omnimar "You & I"
53. Burning Witches "Sea of Lies"
54. SCARLET "Beauty & Beast"
55. Fallcie "Parasites"
56. Blues Pills "Proud Woman - Radio Edit"
57. Kamara "Tämäkin vielä"
58. Secret Rule "Purgatory"
59. METALHAWK "Dance Monkey - Metal Version"
60. Нуки "Пищевая цепочка"
61. Ravenscry "Maybe"
62. Ауткаст "Пустота"
63. Smackbound "Run"
64. Eluveitie "Ambiramus"
65. Diztord "Follow Me"
66. Flowerleaf "All My Life"
67. Psycho Choke "Obey"
68. Morphide "Queen of Blame"
69. Silentium "Unchained"
70. Lock The Basement "No Revolt"
71. Nicumo "Same Blood"
72. Dead End Scene "Gates of Heaven"
73. Cryoshell "Creeping in My Soul - Classical Version"
74. Krashkarma "Girl with a Hammer"
75. Fairyland "Heralds of the Green Lands"
76. Rob Lundgren "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher - Metal Version"
77. Hemina "In Technicolour"
78. The Silenced "Death on the Rise"
79. Unzucht "Sonnentod"
80. Argion "Sobre el Mar"
81. Wake up Frankie "Afterlifestyle"
82. My Favourite Nemesis "Wake"
83. Velvet Ocean "It's So Hard"
84. A Life Divided "Confronted"
85. Rainover "Lumina Omnia"
86. Halflives "One Bad Day"
87. Rainbowdragoneyes "Dragons"
88. Royal Deceit "Bite the Curb"
89. I Revolt "$uicide Watch"
90. Chronoform "The Paradox"
91. Apron "Kaleidoskop"
92. Detset "Graves"
93. Not One of Us "Mission: Undertaker"
94. Ends With A Bullet "Who You Are"
95. Night Fiends "Death Lead the Way"
96. The Great Discord "Breathe"
97. TreBell08 "Kingdom Animalia"
98. Paralydium "Finding the Paragon"
99. Ten Second Songs "Hello of Broken Dreams"
100. The Hellfreaks "Witches Heal"

The problem I have with these streaming charts is that it’s essentially a circular metric - whatever music gets pushed onto the listeners playlists, gets fed back into the “this is what they’re actually listening to” lists. You’re back to the old model of radio play-based charts.

RYM may have its defects (downvoting mobs) but at least its general bias is towards music its users actually care enough about to rate.

I recognize, I think, two bands on that top 100 lol

is that a Spotify playlist or an AI generated list of fake metal releases

one for the freaks

https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ons

Belgium's NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM (aka NNMM) is a community of “cultural engineers” with a variable line-up, mixing drone metal with spiritual free jazz and psychedelic music.

By exploring the evolution of the human species, NEPTUNIAN MAXMALISM question the future of the living on Earth, propitiating a feeling of acceptance for the conclusion of the so called "anthropocene" era and preparing us for the incoming “probocene” era, imagining our planet ruled by superior intelligent elephants after the end of humanity. As Guillaume Cazalet explains, “for certain scientists, if we hadn't rule the Earth, elephants were supposed to be at the top of the pyramid of terrestrial life.”

The ambitious album trilogy of “Éons” is a musical experience of gargantuan proportions where each chapter is part of a fascinating ritual, a cosmic mass of light and darkness recalling the works of SUNN O))), EARTH, ALUK TODOLO, ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, SWANS, MOTORPSYCHO, SUN RA and the late JOHN COLTRANE.

joining Botanist in the 'who will rule Earth when we're gone' speculative metal bracket

personally I'm rooting for the ravens #oldschool

or maybe the seagulls

a seagull-themed metal band would be sick

anyway this NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM preview track is sounding incredible so far

'Lyrics from Pierre Lanchantin’s Imaginary proto-languages' – sold.

The climax of this track is an amplified sitar being madly plucked over amplified baritone sax and two drummers. It is perhaps even more awesome than that sounds

xp Beat me to it! :)

Yeah this sounds great.

this really is the year of marathon album lengths huh

anyway this track is unreal so I'm not complaining

Mere appetizers before next year’s mammoth one-man sextuple quarantine albums start dropping. Morton Feldman’s 2nd String Quartet is about to get dwarfed.

Expecting nothing less than an eight weeks long Jute Gyte lockdown album

tbf he did just release a 90-minute ambient piece

Baby steps. Next up I want him to do an uninterrupted soundtrack to accompany screenings of Sátántangó.

I ordered that Paysage d'Hiver album and got a free download included from The Vision Bleak - it's kinda like Ghost but even more fun, I'm enjoying this :-)

I interviewed the drummer from Ulcerate for Bandcamp Daily.

Yeah, that NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM is pretty awesome...

Thanks for that Saint Merat interview - Ulcerate are so awesome - I caught the shrines US tour & I'm really looking forward to seein em again someday.

Century media is having a free Isolation Fest on May 14 streaming on YouTube - line up looks great - Voivod!

xp Yeah, nice interview. It took a few listens to open up for me but this album is really delivering.

The Dola record is indeed quite tasty!

who was that Southeast Asian drone-metal band everyone loved last year? i'm blanking on the name

Senyawa?

Always going to confuse them with afro-rock band Edzayawa and there's nothing to be done about it

xpost YES! thanks a ton. was drivin' me nuts.

anyone know who the editor is at Stereogum that would handle a metal pitch?

Just send it to pitches at stereogum dot com.

Thanks!

Not really feel the new Cirith Ungol – my introduction to the band, incidentally. Beyond the dilapidated vocals, the playing is too noncommittal to justify such slow tempos throughout – maybe doom metal isn't for them? There are some appropriately compelling retro guitar solos here and there, and 'Stormbringer' is a standout track, but I can't say I'm too impressed overall. How does it compare to their previous material?

As far as this year's trad doom contingent is concerned, I prefer King Witch's Body of Light: bluesy, female-fronted Sabbath-esque slow burners buoyed by impassioned singing and more memorable songwriting. To wit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56FIteIsSnQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyaPy-Ug6dA

Okay, I might be the only one, but I'm really excited for Inter Arma's covers album, Garbers Days Revisited:

https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2020/05/Inter-Arma-Garbers-Day-Revisited-1589384677-640x640.jpg

1. Scarecrow (Ministry Cover)
2. Southern Man (Neil Young Cover)
3. Hard Times (Cro-Mags Cover)
4. March Of The Pigs (Nine Inch Nails Cover)
5. The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill (Hüsker Dü Cover)
6. In League With Satan (Venom Cover)
7. Runnin Down A Dream (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Cover)
8. Purple Rain (Prince Cover)

I actually came to post about it, Jon, so count me in for beingh excited!

If brutal tech death is your thing, the new Defeated Sanity delivers in spades:

https://defeatedsanity.bandcamp.com/album/the-sanguinary-impetus

Just added this to my Wish List. Their CD was limited and sold out but they have reasonably priced vinyl in July...

"Dola" by Dola --- Polish trio repurposes Caspar Brötzmann Massaker's skronk and Stephen O'Malley's drone as ambient black metal. Adventurous sheets of doom cascade from the speakers with repeated listens revealing new textures every time. https://t.co/1NRFE8IXFd #NowPlaying

— Brian O'Neill (@NYC__Native) May 14, 2020

Nice!

I like Defeated Sanity but hated the last thing they put out. but i'll pick it up when it's released

oh shit the Triptykon roadburn thing is out tonight?

Thanks for that NYCNative, that Dola album is pretty fascinating. So much going on here it sounds like a mixtape at times! :)

I am glad that some people like the Dola!

Earlier today Oranssi Pazuzu did a Livestream of their new album.
You can watch it in its entirety on YouTube even though it'sover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfANRKPnC8M

Pretty fucking amazing, actually; well worth an hour of your time if you're into the band.

Admittedly, openly folksy pagan-esque meloblack is pure pap to my ears, but the new Horn is phenomenal. I didn’t get much out of Retrograd so this comes as a complete surprise.

the new Okkultokrati is more metal than I was expecting on first listen

enjoying the new Mekong Delta. the riffs definitely fit in the "staccato prog thrash" mode, but they rock out now and then, lots of tempo changes. some moments feel James Horner-y.

though it does seem funny that this is basically the same place "prog thrash" has been stuck in for years.

It’s hardly as if there’s a million bands mining this territory tbf.

True.

I also like Artillery

A few things that just came out that I wrote about within Twitter character lengths...

"Mohngang" by Horn (@BoneheadIron) --- There are bigger bands in the genre but not many that embrace all the trappings and don't come off as cheesy. Don't get me wrong; I love Amon Amarth! But Horn is almost as anthemic and way more authentic. https://t.co/O4wTzHT9h8 #NowPlaying

— Brian O'Neill (@NYC__Native) May 17, 2020

"Obsidian" by @OfficialPL (@nuclearblastusa) --- Probably the most Sisters of Mercy album, at least sonically, though still using the band's patented melancholic doom blueprint. It peters out a little at the end but there's still a lot to like. https://t.co/4dC48eCsnG #NowPlaying

— Brian O'Neill (@NYC__Native) May 17, 2020

I really loved the album before this one. gonna have to get around to this one.