Rolling Metal 2018

Ophidian Forest have had a new album out for a while that I've just got round to, it's really impressive, possibly their best.

https://ophidianforest.bandcamp.com/album/votive

Incidentally they're 100% anti-Nazi/racist bullshit if that helps

I’ve been intrigued by that Forest of Stars record, I should try that - they always were a bit too formless/meandering/overlong to me but maybe I’m not listening enough.

Leaving 'yes, but is it metal?' aside, Holy Fawn sound like they've already achieved perfect mastery of the whole post-metal/blackgaze thing: https://holyfawn.bandcamp.com

extremely brave of a postblackgaze band to do a song literally called "yawning"

kind of a Deftones/Palms vibe, not bad!

Yeah, I immediately thought of Deftones. Guess I should check out Palms at some point.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/suffocation-gramercy-theatre-frank-mullen-final-show-review-758169/

I almost went to that show, but had a scheduling conflict. I got to see Suffocation a couple of years ago, though. They were awesome. Pyrexia opened; this was before their singer killed three people.

Have you ever thought that what synthwave needed was black metal vocals? Well, good news!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfsJrmJ-1Hs

SliderFury1
1 month ago
Like if Violet Cold and Mesarthim had a baby. Just awesome.
Metal can do anything.

Enjoying the Fluisteraars/Turia split album, which appears to be a concept album about two rivers. Not as good as the Fluisteraars debut but should scratch any itch that the Drudkh record left unscratched.

Is six AM too early to listen to the new Obliteration album? I don't think so, but others may disagree.

New Myrkur track:
https://myrkur.bandcamp.com/track/juniper

AV Club's alphabetical metal list:

Churchburn
High On Fire
Mammoth Grinder
Primal Rite
Skeletonwitch
Slugdge
Thou
Tomb Mold
Windhand
Zeal & Ardor

with Anicon, The Body and Bone Sickness as runner-ups

https://music.avclub.com/the-best-metal-albums-of-2018-1830646750

I listened to The Body's album yesterday on account of Lingua Ignota's involvement and found it oddly square, a little too indebted to industrial rhythms than would have suited their expansively transgressive aims. On the other hand, I had just played Imperial Triumphant's Vile Luxury, whose drummer has become a John Zorn staple in recent years, so the comparison was bound to be unfair. Speaking of which, I haven't seen the latter on any list so far.

I was just glad to see the love for Anicon and Slugdge. and of course always happy to see local heroes Tomb Mold.

I didn't know there was a new Bone Sickness this year, gah!

new Astronoid album out 2/1! new song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngpd38ruqxo

aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh (<----my reaction and presumably also a lyric)

they sound even more like a metal version of Mew than before!

oh boy that kicks ass

I'm not the biggest fan of the Quietus in general; a few good articles, lots of dross. This is one of the good ones. Important, even.

As far as I'm concerned, in 2018, black metal bands = Nazi until proven otherwise.

That Astronoid track sounds like an outtake from the last Vattnet. Same kind of riffs and all.

I liked the last one they did as Vattnet Viskar a lot, I should check that out.

The final Vattnet (no Viskar) record is great. Not metal at all; unlike Astronoid, they ditched the metal drumming, too.

Re that Quietus piece, Fort Evil Fruit (with whom I'm acquainted) posted a statement here.

I listened to The Body's album yesterday on account of Lingua Ignota's involvement and found it oddly square, a little too indebted to industrial rhythms than would have suited their expansively transgressive aims.

Somewhat related to that Quietus piece...

I enjoyed Bergdorf, the sophomore album by Nachteule, an atmospheric black metal band from Montreal. I pitched one of my outlets to review it and they told me they're staying away from Wolfspell Records, the band's label, because they previously released some sketchy stuff (most notably Gontyra Kry). I couldn't find anything about the band in particular online but another publication is letting me review it (I pitched them both at the same time and didn't get the negative feedback from the first before the second could check it out) and now I don't know what to do.

I saw a tweet today from a woman who's putting together a compilation and has to Google "(band name) + nazi + racist" every time she considers a band for inclusion. Seems like reviewers ought to be doing the same thing, and for labels as well.

I did that and didn't find anything for the band and didn't think to check the label once the band was clear though of course absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

I actually posted to the band's Facebook page and asked them pointed questions about it. We'll see what they say if they bother to respond at all...

US metal magazine Revolver released their 30 best albums of 2018 list.

30. At the Gates - To Drink From the Night Itself
29. The Black Queen - Infinite Games
28. Underoath - Erase Me
27. Tribulation - Down Below
26. City Morgue - City Morgue Vol. 1: Hell or High Water
25. Candy - Good to Feel
24. Horrendous - Idol
23. Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses
22. Old Wounds - Glow
21. Ghostemane - N/O/I/S/E
20. YOB - Our Raw Heart
19. Tomb Mold - Manor of Infinite Forms
18. Cane Hill - Too Far Gone
17. Harm's Way - Posthuman
16. Nothing - Dance on the Black Top
15. High on Fire - Electric Messiah
14. Kaelan Mikla - Nott eftir nott
13. Pig Destroyer - Head Cage
12. Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
11. Cult Leader - A Patient Man
10. A Perfect Circle - Eat the Elephant
9. Gouge Away - Burnt Sugar
8. Behemoth - I Loved You at Your Darkest
7. The Soft Moon - Criminal
6. Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
5. Sleep - The Sciences
4. Judas Priest - Firepower
3. Turnstile - Time & Space
2. Vein - errorzone
1. Ghost - Prequelle

Pretty solid list with a few more things on it that I don't know than I expected.

all these metal mags pretending the armed and rolo tomassi aren't metal are cute

Got my answer:

http://scontent.fphl2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/46800928_10161173561995597_3148038795484463104_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_ht=scontent.fphl2-1.fna&oh=6e5bd616c7231ad3ff7cf3f7d4d9dd49&oe=5CA7F1B8

I won't be reviewing the record because that's just not good enough for me but I am glad he attempted to be honest about it.

He added a third post: "If that bothers some people... So be it."

Man, that's like ten tells in three comments. Fuck that dude and fuck his band.

all these metal mags pretending the armed and rolo tomassi aren't metal are cute

Are all cores metal by default?

"I don't ALWAYS agree with SOME nsbm bands"

Jfc dude

I mean there are a few openly non-metal albums on that list anyway (Black Queen, Soft Moon, Emma Ruth Rundle, Nothing) so they wouldn't have been out of place in any case

Got some info from someone who knows him...

http://scontent.fewr1-3.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/46918722_10161175451425597_5319854850555510784_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-3.fna&oh=6dc22b15e7138a89e411d26ba409a1b1&oe=5C6C0D52
http://scontent.fewr1-3.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/47071627_10161175452030597_8213082917224579072_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-3.fna&oh=1b31c9df22752ed6e7bc8056e5c9dc79&oe=5C6EB148

Needless to say, I'm not feeling much remorse about my decision to not write about it. My editor understood and I thanked my other editor for being on top of this.

Atalante are 'pure' scum.

There's a new Rotting Christ song! And it's...OK. I've liked their last three albums a lot (AEALO is a masterpiece), but this song isn't their best work. Still, it makes me want to hear the album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4LDxWlveKE

disappeared in foggy dan?

"Foggy day." They picked a really terrible font for the lyric video.

Metallica's publicist sent me one of their $250 ...And Justice For All watches, for some reason. I haven't worn a watch in 20 years, and this thing weighs a fucking ton. I'll try it for a few days, and see if I can get used to this much extra metal hanging off my wrist.

Rotting Christ is a band who once released a song called "Fgmenth, Thy Gift," and for this I will forever be grateful

I'm pretty pleased that some of my work at Spotify is why we have this as an official thing:

https://open.spotify.com/user/spotify/playlist/37i9dQZF1DZ06evO4xvbnh?si=0zEXW5CdS9i2E1qdu3ciJA

Get yr deathgrind right here:

https://infernalcoil.bandcamp.com/album/within-a-world-forgotten

I remember checking out some of that Infernal Coil, making a note to return to it and buy it, then I forgot. Seemed promising, thanks for reminding me.

In terrible news, however, Erik Lindmark of Deeds of Flesh and Unique Leader Records, has died.
http://www.metalinjection.net/this-is-just-a-tribute/unique-leader-records-founder-deeds-of-flesh-guitarist-erik-lindmark-has-passed-away-r-i-p

I really REALLY love Deeds of Flesh, not just because of the music itself, but because they were one of the most important gateway bands between the "normal" brutal death I was into in the late 90s/early 00s (Suffo, Cryptopsy, Nile, etc), and all the bonkers under the underground stuff like Disgorge, Brodequin, Cinerary, Devourment, and on and on. I listen to DoF like once a week, was just blasting Mark of the Legion the night before last. They always felt like "my" band, even though every fan of every not-as-big-as-the-big-bands band feels that way. One of those cases where it seems as though you hear a new language for the first time and somehow totally understand it. Their last two albums, Of What's to Come and Portals to Canaan, were stellar, too.

And even though Unique Leader has gone off into areas I'm not too keen on, their output in the 2000s was ridiculous.

If you don't object to Dissection worship (I most certainly do not), Wormlight do a better job than most: https://wormlightsweblacklion.bandcamp.com/album/wrath-of-the-wilds

very much enjoying the Sylvaine album posted above