Rolling 2020 Metal Thread

A new Converge song too, apparently!

hey thanks again for the recommendations, unperson Spirit Adrift is like exactly what I was looking for

also Huntsmen and Aktor are really cool too, Aktor is interesting almost a weird Devo energy at times

i really like the Of Feather and Bone so far, but between this and Endless Curse, is it a new death metal trend now to record the albums to sound as if you're in a noisey cave? occasionally the riffs become hard to discern in the fracas.

Spelunking good not bad imo.

caverncore 4ever

Like Tomb Mold, I prefer my death metal to be recorded in a mildewed crypt.

I've been listening to some recent DM and really liked Undeath and Necrot. Both nail the production.

Agreed, both rule.

yeah both are ace. the Undeath gets progressively better as it goes.

the Of Feather and Bone is a killer headphones listen.

my biggest complaint is there being too little death metal that goes this hard, as the brutal acts have kinda settled into this congealed soup sound and the riffs often aren't there, but fuck, they're here in droves. the kinda energy Cryptopsy used to bring to the table, but they don't sound like Cryptopsy.....

plus they have a name that isn't Pissgrave.

Like Tomb Mold, I prefer my death metal to be recorded in a mildewed crypt.

― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, November 19, 2020 10:35 AM bookmarkflaglink

Tomb Mold's production seems uniquely awesome to me in that it feels like you're on another planet wearing a spacesuit and not knowing how you got there or who that green guy is talking to you

i friggin' love Aktor's weird Devo energy.

i actually kinda think it ruined High Spirits for me. (i'm overstating it, but it's not *too* far from true.)

the melodic sensibility and mood of the Fuck the Facts album is fucking fantastic so far

Feminazgul is some hard shit! It’s a girl band!

Feel like I'm still catching up on albums that this thread was all over earlier this year, but: FLUISTERAARS

Such nice atmosphere and songwriting on this album.

Glad ppl are coming around to the Aktor. That album is sorta like what I wish Ghost B.C. sounded like

The new Wytch Hazel is some damn solid 70s trad metal revival shit.

Lamp of Murmuur have a really nice sound. Icy and raw but with enough low-end to nod along to.

That much is true, but upon revisiting it I found myself bored with its songwriting.

there's a new Inquisition on the way and the fact that the special editions are already sold out illustrates that there are a good amount of metal guys who not only don't care about politics but also don't care if their heroes are probably pedos

What's it called, "Securing an Enlargement of the Undraped Stripling's Likeness"?

Shockingly, the label that was willing to release it appears to be run by dumbfucks.

I mean... 😬 Fuck all the way off guys, seriously pic.twitter.com/XkGWVTh9bF

— Kez Whelan (@kez_whelan) November 21, 2020

Won't anybody think of the poor black metal musician

Glad you guys brought up Aktor again. Listening to it again now, and the more I listen the more I like it. Reminds me a bit of synthy 80s Christian hard rock bands like Petra.

Something like this is a bit Aktor-y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTWTYCpKU7Q

lol man. I will admit to liking their Not of This World album, from back when I was a thumper

They had a few good tunes!

"Bema Seat", horrifying lyrics aside, is a bop.

if Aktor's similar to that, might have to give em another whirl. think I bought something of theirs five years ago and didn't return to it much.

never spun them before, but very into the Contrarian album that just dropped. "prog death metal" in 2020 sends me scampering because it usually means paper thin guitars playing boring as fuck riffs. this is more from the Death-school of prog death (though I wouldn't say they sound LIKE Death, just share more in common with that kind of prog death).

How did Tombs put out another album in 2020?

I don't like Under Sullen Skies quite as much as Monarchy of Shadows but it's still very good. I get a Celtic Frost/Triptykon vibe on some of the tracks here which is not a bad thing.

I only listen to 3-4 power metal albums a year, tops, but Decibel wasn't kidding when they gave Eternal Champion their #2 EOY spot. I wouldn't go that far, but it's pretty good.

Listening to the new Botanist quite a lot, love the dynamics, lots of tempo changes. Sludgy black shoegaze for the win!

ps. Otrebor (aka Roberto Martinelli aka Botanist) might be one of the few extreme metal dudes with a Linkedin profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberto-martinelli-sf/

lol that's quite funny

Couldn't help it and pre-ordered the mega deluxe Among the Living graphic novel package which includes picture disc vinyl, engraved plaque, t shirt, graphic novel, etc.

I just love that alb what can i say

Going through older issues of Decibel and playing this I didn't get to.

Man, this Uada album is great! Funny that the only mention of the band above was their exceedingly tenuous allegations of being semi-closeted Nazis.

I thought it was a real step down from their first two albums musically and that the mopey anti-SJW lyrical content of the track "No Place Here" belied their previous claims of being "apolitical" and made it pretty clear that their stance is much more right wing and reactionary than anything else.

I had no idea that large chunks of The Devil's Blood had reformed as Molassess, but better late than never, I like this quite a bit. Really obnoxious that they needed to break an album that was barely longer than an hour into two CDs though.

(xp) While I disagree it's a step down musically, checking out the lyrics of that song do tell a tale that the Decibel cover story did not.

Being "cancelled" due to tenuous connections (a la Woe, who seemed to suffer the same repercussions for the same reason) bothers me, but Woe didn't write anything like that, nor would they. I don't know if they are right wing but that track reeks of the kind of bothsiderism that I am pretty much done with. So thanks.

I'm not gonna listen to that Uada song but the lyrics as reproduced make me think the last section might be...a rap? Please tell me it is.

What's the deal with Woe getting "cancelled"? Nearest I can find is because they were sharing a bill with Inquisition?

And then I checked out Twitter to see what ws being said about the band.

Hahahahaha I'm sorry but Uada choosing this particular moment in time to release merch featuring "a battlte torn and bloodied American flag" is objectively more embarassing than every hammy corpse-paint photo combined.

— Kez Whelan (@kez_whelan) November 7, 2020

LOL pic.twitter.com/fy7gU858TQ

— EXTINCTION (eco-slam) (@Capt_Grapefruit) November 7, 2020

Uada are being fcken ridiculous. Today of all days is NOT the time to be ‘ambivalent’. And of course it was timed for release. pic.twitter.com/5sTNet11ym

— JayKeeley (@doomedparade) November 7, 2020

Yikes.

Gunning for that opening slot on the next Five Finger Death Punch tour (whenever that might be), I see.

like i dunno has there ever been a metal band who got accused of suspect political shit that didn't ultimately prove to be true? like it seems like it happens every 2 weeks

looks like their twitter is gone

The new Wytch Hazel is some damn solid 70s trad metal revival shit.

― pomenitul, Saturday, November 21, 2020 12:53 PM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

thanks! i got into II: Sojurn from the metal thread a couple years ago and I could never remember the name of the band I just kept think Wishbone Ash

xposts to unperson

calling it a rap might be a stretch, but if I recall, it is effectively a slightly distorted spoken word rant versus the rest of the song and album which is all standard unintelligible growls, so it seems they wanted to words from that last part to come across more clearly for the listener for some reason.

I thought the music was mediocre and I’m a sucker for this style.

woah
i just had a crazy musical moment

the youtube of that petra song was playing over that controversial uada song on spotify

got pretty trippy

Re: Wytch Hazel, I haven't heard the first couple, but they're on my list now. Quality Christian rock is a rare bird.

I really liked the second Wytch Hazel, this is a good reminder to grab it along with the most recent two Brown Acid releases from Riding Easy.

Nobody posted this so I may as well - Decibel's Top 40 albums of 2020

40. Dark Fortress, Spectres from the Old World, Century Media
39. Fawn Limbs, Sleeper Vessels, Roman Numeral
38. Exgenesis, Solve et Coagula, Rain Without End
37. Megaton Sword, Blood Hails Steel – Steel Hails Fire, Dying Victims
36. Oranssi Pazuzu, Mestarin Kynsi, Nuclear Blast
35. Svalbard, When I Die, Will I Get Better, Translation Loss
34. Enslaved, Utgard, Nuclear Blast
33. In the Company of Serpents, Lux, Self-released
32. Xibalba, Años En Infierno, Southern Lord
31. Wake, Devouring Ruin, Translation Loss
30. Cirith Ungol, Forever Black, Metal Blade
29. Proscription, Conduit, Dark Descent
28. Celestial Season, The Secret Teachings, Burning World
27. Midnight, Rebirth by Blasphemy, Metal Blade
26. Krallice, Mass Cathexis, Self-released
25. ACxDC, Satan is King, Prosthetic
24. Temple of Void, The World That Was, Shadow Kingdom
23. Atramentus, Stygian, 20 Buck Spin
22. Tombs, Under Sullen Skies, Season of Mist
21. Haunt, Flashback, Church
20. Kirk Windstein, Dream in Motion, eOne
19. Pallbearer, Forgotten Days, Nuclear Blast
18. Lamp of Murmuur, Heir of Ecliptical Romanticism, Self-released
17. Godthrymm, Reflections, Profound Lore
16. Dropdead, Dropdead, Armageddon
15. Ripped to Shreds 亂 (Luan), Pulverized
14. Vile Creature, Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!, Prosthetic
13. Of Feather & Bone, Sulfuric Disintegration, Profound Lore
12. Armored Saint, Punching the Sky, Metal Blade
11. Incantation, Sect of Vile Divinities, Relapse
10. Goden, Beyond Darkness, Svart
9. Paradise Lost, Obsidian, Nuclear Blast
8. Uada, Djinn, Eisenwald
7. Sweven, The Eternal Resonance, Van
6. Necrot, Mortal, Tankcrimes
5. Spirit Adrift, Enlightened in Eternity, 20 Buck Spin
4. Paysage d’Hiver, Im Wald, Kunsthall Produktionen
3. Imperial Triumphant, Alphaville, Century Media
2. Eternal Champion, Ravening Iron, No Remorse
1. Napalm Death, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, Century Media

Some have decried the inclusion of so many old bands but it makes sense in this year of uncertainty that people would gravitate to known quantities.

I have checked out most of these albums. The ones that made my purchase list are Napalm Death, Imperial Triumphant, Paysage d’Hiver, Paradise Lost, Of Feather & Bone, Vile Creature, Haunt, Tombs, Krallice, Cirith Ungol, and Oranssi Pazuzu, nearly a third of the list.

A lot of the rest I liked but not quite enough to pull the trigger on buying the album. In the past I might have seen these bands on tour and picked them up from the bands so the pandemic was responsible for me consuming less music this year.

There are a handful of things I didn't get to check out so far and I will spend the next few days doing that, starting with the Eternal Champion.