Rolling 2021 Metal Thread

new Desaster is fun which is to say it sounds like all other Desaster and is completely unremarkable but I still like listening to it

(will that fit on a sticker d'ya think?)

Alternate version:

This album rules! (RIYL Desaster)

got the CD of the Thy Catafalque album and jammed in the car on a drive to and from the next town over

album of the fuckin year.tremendous

Desaster is a great band, I always thought their secret ingredient was their drummer Stefan Hüskens who brings a really great groove to it all, but apparently he left for Asphyx and Sodom, and there's now a new dude?

Uh, I can't be the only one itt absolutely thrilled to hear about a The Body / Big|Brave collaborative album coming out on Thrill Jockey, can I?

https://thrilljockey.com/products/leaving-none-but-small-birds

― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0)

I file The Body under "bands I keep trying to like but can't get into", but I love Big|Brave and wasn't expecting this collaboration to sound like the track that dropped today. Am now excited!

The new Helloween is glorious

got the CD of the Thy Catafalque album and jammed in the car on a drive to and from the next town over

album of the fuckin year.tremendous

Albums by bands of note out today:
Fear Factory
Heavy Temple (yaasssss!)
Helloween
Tom Morello & The Bloody Beetroots

new Witch Vomit EP out today. I think there was another fan here

production is mega thick on this one, like a combo of NYDM and Swe DM (the style is 100% American DM tho)

I tried that Helloween record; I made it four and a half minutes into the first song (which is seven and a half minutes long, FTR). I am generally more power metal-friendly than other posters but that dude's voice doesn't really do it for me, and the riffs weren't soaring or majestic enough to hook me. People who like Helloween, what do you like about them? Should I keep listening, and what should I listen for if/when I do?

did you like old Helloween, by chance, or no?

in their hey-day, I was into their infectious choruses and their speedy power chord chugging riffs, as well as the harmonized, melodic guitar leads.

considering the metal I normally like, it's very 'happy' sounding, but not in a way that makes me feel sick like Dragonforce.

I pretty much hated almost the entire Andi Deris of Helloween, this album isn't necessarily Keeper Part 3 but it brings back some of the anthemic choruses which were pretty boring on later releases and some of the more fun guitar work they had eschewed for boring power chord strums in recent years.

did you like old Helloween, by chance, or no?

I'm almost totally ignorant of Helloween. I might have heard one song somewhere along the line. And I actually like Dragonforce (I liked them even before I worked for their label, but then that happened and they turned out to be really good dudes without exception, especially their bassist, Fred). I'm much more into Rhapsody of Fire and their various offshoots, but big happy raving power metal is OK by me.

So if I'm gonna investigate Helloween for real, where should I start?

I'd start with Walls of Jericho, then Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part I

I thought it didn't come out until next week?

when you preorder you get early treats! it is seriously fucking fantastic.

I'd rank keeper of the seven keys 2 over 1 myself. give "eagle fly free" a shot at least. it rules.

also, definitely not where to start but I have a real soft spot for the helloween goes saw 2000s track "mr. torture"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ocvm63GCGE

also legitimately prob one of the most fun shows I've seen. just this huge, enveloping feeling of joy and excitement all around when I saw em. from the stage and the fans.

I love Helloween and rep for Walls (I still have a shirt from that album) and both Keeper records are keepers.
The new album was okay but lacked a "Ride the Sky" or "Future World" to be in the same realm of those albums of my youth.

Yeah, noob here but Walls rules

Saturday I was in an actual (metal leaning) record store browsing in person for the first time in over a year and four different people came in while I was there asking for the new Helloween, but dude behind the counter said it sold out halfway through Friday. Seems like a lot of buzz around them, good on them. Haven't heard it yet.

Got the new issue of Decibel in the mail today and was surprised to see they dug up whatever rock Bl@ke Judd's been hiding under for a Nachtmystium HOF feature (Instinct: Decay).

Really liking the new Heavy Temple, Desaster LPs & Witch Vomit EP - thanks for the recs. But dang, I'm kinda shocked at how fun this new Flotsam & Jetsam record is - Eric AK still killing on vocals. Fun guitar parts too.

Yea Flotsam is still killing it

full album stream:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6D4pAukKys

^^ friggin' rules

Amenra tomorrow (leaked but I've got the preorder coming, I'll wait)

thy catafalque is so rad

I am really late to this one, but how did I miss out on the 2019 Lord Dying album? I thought their first two were just fine, if unexciting, sludge metal, but Mysterium Tremendum is really fantastic. The swerve to incorporate more of a prog sounds worked wonders for them.

I've been avoiding hearing anything from Amenra and Darkthrone so far, stoked to finally hear both soon.

The new Cerebral Rot is called Excretion of Mortality.

Does that mean when we die,we shit out our souls?

lol probably, given those guys. i love that their metal archives lyrical themes tag is literally: "Death, Decomposition, Feces"

Haha

I do love their sound. Weird, spectral leads over swampy riffs.

Didn't know a new one was due out

Yeah, that's one band I'm glad I heard before I really looked any deeper into their "theme", such as it is. Killer sound for sure.

definitely nobody check out the band Gutalax. gross without the good sound

Darkthrone spin time!

new Pestilence is interesting. it's definitely NOT Hadeon, which was a more stripped-down attempt to sound like their pre-Testimony material (I liked it, lots of people didn't).

this has a lot of keyboards, atmosphere, dissonance, some of the jazzy leads, but feels a little more like a mixture of different eras of Pestilence. I think I like it, even though it's yet again...another lineup.

ok, yes, this is definitely doing it for me. fuck the purists

peters out a bit as it goes though.

The Cerebral Rot is an improvement on the last one. The same sound but with tighter writing.

Almost Demilichy in atmosphere, though without their technical rhythmic proclivity

New Cerebral Rot was a wow death metal experience. I really love how so many new OSDM bands have been mining the good parts of the 90s & putting their own spin/nasea inducing touches on modern production techniques.

Possibly my favourite death metal album of 2021 so far. There’s life in the cavern yet!

It's a pretty stunning leap forward from what was already a good album

did nobody mention last year's Draconian's Under A Godless Veil album? it's pretty great (if you're into that kind of doom/gothic thing)

It was pretty solid, yeah. If you enjoy Heike Langhans's vocals, check out her LP with Light Field Reverie, also from last year and treading similar ground.

In other news, this board is sorely lacking in love for Ungfell, the only band that sounds like The Seventh Seal and even more so on their latest album:

https://ungfell.bandcamp.com/album/es-grauet

Pretty good week for metal releases: Amenra, Darkthrone, Pestilence, Thy Catafalque, a White Ward EP, Withered... Working my way through them now.

Thought the Pestilence was good but kinda petered out as it went along.
Playing Amenra now and it's more arty than I expected for some reason, though that's not a pejorative at all!

The Amenra is quite good but I suspect I'd get far more out of it if I knew Dutch. Bits of it border on straight-up spoken word.

also loving the new cerebral rot and thy catafalque records everyone else seems to be into

thought this 4-way doom/death split was quite good too, esp the blood spore track it opens with:
https://bloodharvestrecords.bandcamp.com/album/4-dimensions-of-auditory-terror

thought burning banners... ripped but finding the new warmoon lord record pretty dull. the sense of grandeur the other one nailed seems to be missing here. maybe it'll open up if I try again when it isn't brutally hot outside.

oh and, not metal, but if you're into primitive & nasty grind, this new gall record is a fun ride:
https://gallviolence.bandcamp.com/album/17-21-min

Brouillard's 3rd album this year (after Brouillard and Sphere's π) : a collaboration with Déhà. Harsh+atmospheric black metal. https://transcendance-bm.bandcamp.com/album/transcending-rites-enthronement-of-the-third

Cheers for that Gall tip; I can always use new grind or PV in my life.

the Cerebral Rot, on three or four listens, I really feel like could be a gateway for people wanting to get into DM, it's really accessible in terms of the simple arrangements, which isn't to say it's "watered down", but the atmosphere is easy to grasp and get sucked in by. i can't get over how murky and Loch Ness monstery the lead guitar sounds. the last album was good but this one is just like....a step beyond.

this is a band I'd love to see on tour.

the Darkthrone is sticking with me a lot too. the atmosphere is so garage-y.