http://landoftreason.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/electric-wizards.jpg
Anybody read this book yet? Thinking of buying because, of course. I've seen a lot of mixed reviews, though most of the negative ones come down to more grousing about who or who is not included, not so much about the actual quality of the writing. I don't think any book of this sort is going to hit on every important band.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 2 November 2021 13:47 (two years ago) link
There's a savage review on Amazon:
Neatly sidesteps having to have any knowledge of music or writing ability by getting the exceedingly well worn and trite "heaviness is objective" spiel in as early as possible. Just about as misinformed and lazy as a music writer could get. Continues with a statement that "very nearly" negates the influence and achievements of every stream of jazz,blues, rock & roll, classical music and every other genre pre 1961 in favour of the man who wrote The Frog Chorus. Riddled with mistakes, omissions and line after line of over trodden tedium, there is barely an original thought or statement in nearly 450 pages. I would heartily recommend avoiding this book as strenuously as is possible. Get everything said here the same way this author did - just skim through a few hundred Google search results and read the first line. If you are tempted, pop down to my local Oxfam where I deposited my copy within two days of receipt.
That makes it sound kinda like that drone book, Monolithic Undertow, which had some decent stuff but was absolutely jammed with typos and factual errors (band names misspelled, musicians credited with the wrong instruments, real basic shit like that).
― but also fuck you (unperson), Tuesday, 2 November 2021 14:10 (two years ago) link
Wow, yeah, that's some review.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 2 November 2021 14:17 (two years ago) link
The best book I've ever read on metal is probably Albert Mudrian's Choosing Death, with Daniel Ekeroth's Swedish Death Metal (though it's more narrowly focused, obviously) in second place. I wanted to like Ian Christe's Sound of the Beast more than I did, and the recent oral history, Louder Than Hell, probably sucks just 'cause it's an oral history.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Tuesday, 2 November 2021 15:33 (two years ago) link
Going back to the 1914 discussion from a few days ago, this 2018 interview from Echoes & Dust with the lead singer seems to be a pretty clear statement about it:
E&D: You’ve recently released the single ‘Stormtrupp 1917’. Can you tell a bit about that? Maybe what its about and what it signifies to you? And is it related to the 1934 movie?Dmytro: This a first single from our upcoming album. About this song, we received different feedbacks, but mostly positive. The song is about German assault troops, and it’s neither about their glorifications, nor about propaganda or ode to Stormtrupp. No, it’s just a story from the first person, German’s soldier who loved to kill peoples and war. Because at the Western front this Stormtrupp were the most horrible and successful assault brigades. The same we have about Italian, British, Ottoman, Ukrainian troops. And yes, I wrote this song with a strong influence of this propagandist movie and book Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger, he was a German’s assault trooper, he was fought on the Western Front during the Great War.I even receive a letter with words like this – song about German soldiers with iron crosses, why? Are you a Nazi band? What could I say? Just no, it`s about human nature, Homo sapiens behavior, history, and war. And – fuck Nazis and all kind of totalitarian shitheads.
Dmytro: This a first single from our upcoming album. About this song, we received different feedbacks, but mostly positive. The song is about German assault troops, and it’s neither about their glorifications, nor about propaganda or ode to Stormtrupp. No, it’s just a story from the first person, German’s soldier who loved to kill peoples and war. Because at the Western front this Stormtrupp were the most horrible and successful assault brigades. The same we have about Italian, British, Ottoman, Ukrainian troops. And yes, I wrote this song with a strong influence of this propagandist movie and book Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger, he was a German’s assault trooper, he was fought on the Western Front during the Great War.
I even receive a letter with words like this – song about German soldiers with iron crosses, why? Are you a Nazi band? What could I say? Just no, it`s about human nature, Homo sapiens behavior, history, and war. And – fuck Nazis and all kind of totalitarian shitheads.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 2 November 2021 21:20 (two years ago) link
New Moon Tooth single: https://smarturl.it/MoonToothMusic sounds pretty epic, hopefully a new album coming soon.
― No Xmas For Jonchaies (Tom Violence), Tuesday, 2 November 2021 23:00 (two years ago) link
Ugh.
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/exodus-singer-rails-against-socialist-vaccine-mandates-defends-his-support-of-donald-trump
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Friday, 5 November 2021 02:47 (two years ago) link
Putting aside whether I want to give that guy any of my money, if they're going to be stirring up anti-vax/anti-mask sentiment in their audiences, I'm not sure how safe I'd feel going to their upcoming show.
― beard papa, Friday, 5 November 2021 06:04 (two years ago) link
new Mortiferum is sounding great
― gman59, Friday, 5 November 2021 18:03 (two years ago) link
xpost not as worried about the money part, but I have had legit fear that i'd wear a mask to a show and someone in the band would put a 'bounty' on me for being a sheep, though thath asn't happened at the shows I've been to yet.
― Cool Im An Situation (Neanderthal), Friday, 5 November 2021 18:30 (two years ago) link
Yeah, I could see something like that in some crowds. I'm in the Bay Area, so it's probably more likely they'd be boo'd off the stage, but who knows at a metal show.
― beard papa, Friday, 5 November 2021 18:40 (two years ago) link
here, they'd be cheered and worshipped as gods
― Cool Im An Situation (Neanderthal), Friday, 5 November 2021 18:45 (two years ago) link
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Friday, 5 November 2021 19:44 (two years ago) link
Ah, I did not realize it had been postponed. I never really cared much for the other two bands, so I would have gone mostly for Exodus anyway.
― beard papa, Friday, 5 November 2021 19:56 (two years ago) link
Screw all that, listen to the new Mystras. Ayloss' songwriting makes all the bad stuff not matter
― imago, Friday, 5 November 2021 20:54 (two years ago) link
new Archspire is extremely good
― Judi Dench's Human Hand (methanietanner), Friday, 5 November 2021 21:11 (two years ago) link
Metal albums I purchased this Bandcamp Friday:
Pyrexia, Gravitas Maximus (veteran slam metal chuds; they have a new lead singer because the old one is doing life for a triple murder) (pre-order, out in December)Intestinal Pestilence, Rotten Cadaver Forsaken (broooootal death metal from Mexico) (pre-order, out November 15)Alaridos, Horca (D-beat-ish grind from Chile)Biomorphic Engulfment, Incubation in the Parallel Dimension (broooootal death metal duo from Thailand)
― but also fuck you (unperson), Saturday, 6 November 2021 02:01 (two years ago) link
Don't make your EOY lists too early, folks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_hKC-q6SXo
― imago, Sunday, 7 November 2021 22:07 (two years ago) link
There's an excerpt from the Electric Wizards book mentioned upthread on The Wire's website. It's about TAD, and it's...fine. The language is relatively un-hyperbolic, there are good quotes from the man himself...if I needed a book like this in my life at the moment, I would probably find this to be a good one.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Monday, 8 November 2021 12:57 (two years ago) link
Thanks for sharing that, the excerpt definitely doesn't seem all that bad.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 8 November 2021 14:38 (two years ago) link
I have been apprised of Baazlvaat.
https://baazlvaat.bandcamp.com/album/the-higher-power-2
It's...I don't even know if I can sum it up. Lo-fi 70's funk-prog gone to war, or something. They're from Michigan
― imago, Monday, 8 November 2021 15:56 (two years ago) link
I've been a big fan of Blackwater Holylight for some time, I really dug their approach to the stoner stuff that RidingEasy does, but I think they are growing into something really special with the new one, Silence/Motion. Hell, there's a song that sounds like Slint.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 9 November 2021 20:59 (two years ago) link
Decibel's year-end list is out. The ones I've heard are in bold.
40. Rivers of Nihil, The Work, Metal Blade39. Darkthrone, Eternal Hails……, Peaceville38. Body Void, Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth, Prosthetic37. Frozen Soul, Crypt of Ice, Century Media36. Mare Cognitum, Solar Paroxysm, I, Voidhanger35. Silver Talon, Decadence and Decay, M-Theory34. Spectral Wound, A Diabolic Thirst, Profound Lore33. The Ruins of Beverast, The Thule Grimoires, Van32. Enforced, Kill Grid, Century Media31. Knoll, Interstice, Self-released30. Archspire, Bleed the Future, Season of Mist29. Dungeon Serpent, World of Sorrows, Nameless Grave28. Exodus, Persona Non Grata, Nuclear Blast27. Hulder, Godslastering Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry, Iron Bonehead26. Craven Idol, Forked Tongues, Dark Descent25. Deafheaven, Infinite Granite, Sargent House24. Rudimentary Peni, The Great War, Sealed23. Stormkeep, Tales of Othertime, Van22. Genghis Tron, Dream Weapon, Relapse21. Gatecreeper, An Unexpected Reality, Closed Casket Activities20. Cannibal Corpse, Violence Unimagined, Metal Blade19. Worm, Foreverglade, 20 Buck Spin18. Unto Others, Strength, Roadrunner17. Full of Hell, Garden of Burning Apparitions, Relapse16. Cerebral Rot, Excretion of Mortality, 20 Buck Spin15. Amenra, De doorn, Relapse14. Lingua Ignota, Sinner Get Ready, Sargent House13. The Silver, Ward of Roses, Gilead Media12. Skepticism, Companion, Svart11. Fucked Up, Year of the Horse, Tankcrimes10. Wolves in the Throne Room, Primordial Arcana, Relapse9. Iron Maiden, Senjutsu, BMG8. Lamp of Murmuur, Submission and Slavery, Self-released7. Converge, Bloodmoon: I, Epitaph/Deathwish Inc6. Hooded Menace, The Tritonus Bell, Season of Mist5. Panopticon, …And Again into the Light, Bindrune4. Apparition, Feel, Profound Lore3. Tribulation, Where the Gloom Becomes Sound, Metal Blade2. Khemmis, Deceiver, Nuclear Blast1. Carcass, Torn Arteries, Nuclear Blast
― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, 18 November 2021 16:13 (two years ago) link
Definitely has me stoked for the Converge and Khemmis albums to show up this weekend.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 18 November 2021 16:25 (two years ago) link
The Bloodmoon advance tracks have been very promising.
― jmm, Thursday, 18 November 2021 16:26 (two years ago) link
Glad to see love for that incredible Fucked Up record too.
Lack of Thy Catafalque though.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 18 November 2021 16:28 (two years ago) link
No Ulcerate was the big surprise for me. But I feel like I don't live on Planet Metal anymore. (Hating Carcass has always kept me on the outside of the pack, anyway.)
― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, 18 November 2021 16:37 (two years ago) link
depressing that this year's been so nuts that I forgot we had a Darkthrone release despite loving it.
― Cool Im An Situation (Neanderthal), Thursday, 18 November 2021 16:47 (two years ago) link
ulcerate record was from 2020
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 18 November 2021 16:50 (two years ago) link
good enough to be album of the year two years running though
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 18 November 2021 16:52 (two years ago) link
Surprisingly it also didn't make last year's Decibel list, though.
― jmm, Thursday, 18 November 2021 16:54 (two years ago) link
Lingua Ignota: the non-dude metal it's still OK for dudes to like.
― glenn mcdonald, Thursday, 18 November 2021 18:52 (two years ago) link
LI album wasn't remotely metal, lol
― imago, Thursday, 18 November 2021 19:01 (two years ago) link
I mean, metal af but
The Pit has taken the position that if you have a problem with Brass Against frontwoman Sophia Urista peeing on a willing fan onstage, you suck at being metal.
http://www.wearethepit.com/2021/11/opinion-if-a-little-pee-upsets-you-get-the-fk-out-of-metal
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Thursday, 18 November 2021 22:10 (two years ago) link
otm
― Cool Im An Situation (Neanderthal), Thursday, 18 November 2021 22:11 (two years ago) link
I mean, sure it's metal and it was consensual for the willing fan, but I'd possibly take the very uncool position of saying that people in the audience for a more general music festival didn't get a chance to consent to watching it.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 18 November 2021 22:30 (two years ago) link
Okay I guess the festival in question is even more metal and rock leaning than I understood, still though, I halfheartedly stand behind my definitely unmetal position. I think I'd feel differently if it was a Brass Against headlining show or something though.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 18 November 2021 22:46 (two years ago) link
my radical position is that the frontperson of an all-brass covers band peeing on someone onstage is in all senses an aesthetic affront
― imago, Thursday, 18 November 2021 22:49 (two years ago) link
lol
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 18 November 2021 22:52 (two years ago) link
The Pit must have a very righteous glow about itself after publishing that, though. It must feel like it's on the right side of piss story.
― imago, Thursday, 18 November 2021 22:56 (two years ago) link
woah I had no idea Rudimentary Peni was still a band
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 18 November 2021 22:58 (two years ago) link
oh I bought that on Bandcamp and haven't listened to it yet lol
― imago, Thursday, 18 November 2021 23:02 (two years ago) link
their latest is really good, you wouldn't know how many years separated it and like...Death Church
― Cool Im An Situation (Neanderthal), Friday, 19 November 2021 01:08 (two years ago) link
Really baffled by the Pitchfork pan of the Converge record. The main thrust seems to be that it's Converge sticking too close to their formula (as if that in and of itself is a bad thing), but also that the formula sounds too much like Evanescence and Breaking Benjamin?
Bloodmoon suffers from two problems that seem as though they should preclude one another: It is thin on fresh ideas and unexpected twists. Its hard rock-meets-hardcore permutations are familiar to anyone who has ever heard, say, Evanescence and Breaking Benjamin. Despite those predictable modes, the sounds are so overdone and unfocused that listening in one sitting is exhausting.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 19 November 2021 05:44 (two years ago) link
I dunno, I usually really like Currin's writing, which is why this surprised me even more. Feels like an obligatory Pitchfork slaying of the idols type piece than a thoughtful critique on the album itself. But I haven't heard the whole thing yet, so who know.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 19 November 2021 05:51 (two years ago) link
new Exodus is really good but there are some inane, ignorant lyrics on it (see upthread for cluez re: Souza), and I couldn't stomach that with my current mood so I put on the new Khemmis, which is really good and not full of that nonsense.
― Cool Im An Situation (Neanderthal), Friday, 19 November 2021 05:58 (two years ago) link
fortunately most of the Exodus songs arej ust your typical garden variety violence and I can skip the ones that aggravate me
― Cool Im An Situation (Neanderthal), Friday, 19 November 2021 05:59 (two years ago) link
Evanescence and BB are...weird reference points, even though I know he's not saying they *sound* like those bands.
― Cool Im An Situation (Neanderthal), Friday, 19 November 2021 06:02 (two years ago) link
xxpost