De Mysteriis is a classic. Funeral Fog/Freezing Moon is a great 1-2 punch
― angel of debt!!! monarch to the kingdom of the Fed... (San Te), Monday, 21 February 2011 20:52 (thirteen years ago) link
"one rode to asa bay" is 100% amazing
― original bgm, Monday, 21 February 2011 20:56 (thirteen years ago) link
hammerheart - also 100% amazing
― original bgm, Monday, 21 February 2011 20:57 (thirteen years ago) link
Just d/led "A Blaze in the Northern Sky". Looking forward to hearing some classic BM!
― Neil S, Monday, 21 February 2011 21:33 (thirteen years ago) link
man i envy you getting to hear that for the first time
― angel of debt!!! monarch to the kingdom of the Fed... (San Te), Monday, 21 February 2011 21:35 (thirteen years ago) link
I like the cover, band name and album title, so the omens are good...
― Neil S, Monday, 21 February 2011 21:36 (thirteen years ago) link
really one of a kind in their collection as it blends their old death metal and new black metal sound and the results....well just sit back and listen and love it.
― angel of debt!!! monarch to the kingdom of the Fed... (San Te), Monday, 21 February 2011 21:38 (thirteen years ago) link
(obv I mean "new at the time" black metal)
arent they on spotify, neil?
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Tuesday, 22 February 2011 00:54 (thirteen years ago) link
first thing i remember actively hearing (other than venom which a)i didnt like and b)kinda didnt count imo) was def anthems to the welkin etc
― O_o-O_0-o_O (jjjusten), Tuesday, 22 February 2011 01:02 (thirteen years ago) link
Big horns up for Bathory - Hammerheart. I bought that cassette and wore it out.
― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 22 February 2011 01:17 (thirteen years ago) link
Taake are v good too
― angel of debt!!! monarch to the kingdom of the Fed... (San Te), Tuesday, 22 February 2011 01:28 (thirteen years ago) link
I like how defensive you guys are of bathory. i didn't even slag them off
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Tuesday, 22 February 2011 16:03 (thirteen years ago) link
Bathory fans very sensitive.
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 22 February 2011 16:18 (thirteen years ago) link
It's all that chafing chainmail.
xp to AG don't think the earlier ones are on Spotify, they are however on eMusic.
― Neil S, Tuesday, 22 February 2011 16:57 (thirteen years ago) link
don't have emusic
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Tuesday, 22 February 2011 21:41 (thirteen years ago) link
it appears i missed wittr in glasgow recently :(
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Wednesday, 23 February 2011 02:30 (thirteen years ago) link
damn man
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 23 February 2011 02:51 (thirteen years ago) link
really like new Enslaved
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 26 February 2011 03:17 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2010/12/bullpen-bulletins-3-metal-hardcore-regurging-the-merging/
Out of the merging of metal and punk (or hardcore), we ended up with stuff like nu-metal (of course, the merging of rap and metal is partially responsible for this as well, something I have not the time, patience, nor thankfully the knowledge to expound upon——but I will admit that the inception of this merger was a good thing in theory as well) and grindcore (sorry, guys, but you know how I feel about this….). I’d hate to blame Henry Rollins for the tough-guy Pantera/Machine Head vocal style that became so popular in the ’90s, but I suppose he’s ostensibly one of the biggest influences on it—–although I’m sure he’d try to disclaim it—–and understandably so (but then Jesus Christ did say, “By their fruits ye shall know them”, not by their disclaimers….).
...
In the late ’80s and ’90s, I thought hardcore was partially to blame for the lack of songwriting and imagination developing in metal—–bands like Anthrax (after the first two albums) became the standard for goateed, shorts-wearing thrashers by playing cookie-cutter riffs with unimaginative lyrics, and eventually Machine Head and contemporaries brought “metal” to its lowest point with the whole “urban metal” hard-guy approach. Although these styles took a lot from rap and hip-hop, I think hardcore was an equal if not larger contributor to their origins. But these are just the negative examples.
Thoughts? I assume all the black metal bands hated that style of 90s american tough guy metal and I know there was always a mistrust of each other by BM & DM bands.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 26 February 2011 22:16 (thirteen years ago) link
was and eventually Machine Head and contemporaries brought “metal” to its lowest point with the whole “urban metal” hard-guy approach. a low point for metal or keeping the metal flame burning as it's fans like to proclaim?
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 26 February 2011 22:17 (thirteen years ago) link
I'd say, MH dropped the flag during that time but now has picked it back up...
I was in a band that was managed by their same guy, and I saw them influenced by a lot of surrounding things, including my band at the time. I'm glad they are doing some quality Metal now, but it was pretty hurting for awhile..
― SeanWayne, Saturday, 26 February 2011 23:57 (thirteen years ago) link
Isn't Scalzi talking about all MH though? esp the 1st album
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Sunday, 27 February 2011 00:01 (thirteen years ago) link
funnily enough i didn't mind machine head at the time.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Sunday, 27 February 2011 00:02 (thirteen years ago) link
I would rather listen to any Machine Head album than any Slough Feg album.
― that's not funny. (unperson), Sunday, 27 February 2011 00:56 (thirteen years ago) link
you sound like bill magill!
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Sunday, 27 February 2011 01:36 (thirteen years ago) link
i just keep playing that new inquisition album. man, i cannot get enough of that.― scott seward, Saturday, February 19, 2011 6:28 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark
― scott seward, Saturday, February 19, 2011 6:28 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark
man, these guys ARE really good!
― original bgm, Tuesday, 1 March 2011 22:45 (thirteen years ago) link
Theyve probably been mentioned but Agalloch are really amazing, and not just for a local (Portland) band. I love how their songs begin with lovely, shimmering appregios that'd catch Johnny Marr's attention.....and then the vocals kick in
― Franklin_The_Turtle, Tuesday, 1 March 2011 23:06 (thirteen years ago) link
I bet Inquisition are great live. There's no way that guy can keep up that croak in a live setting.
― Jim Profit, Tuesday, 1 March 2011 23:11 (thirteen years ago) link
Bike Snob NYC@bikesnobnyc
Just read a Sasha Frere-Jones article about black metal in the New Yorker. Ugh. Feel like I just ate a gallon of artisanal mayo.8 hours ago
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:19 (twelve years ago) link
Liturgy have done a masterful job of having journalists posit them as the only American black metal band to exist.
― Ryan, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 16:00 (twelve years ago) link
not sure I've seen a single piece that gives off that impression, which ones were you thinking of?
― the green manalishi (with the big boobies) (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 16:12 (twelve years ago) link
Just got sent a new album by Venom ...
― Viva Brother Beyond (ithappens), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 16:12 (twelve years ago) link
Used to be huuuuge into black metal back in the 90s. All this talk about Liturgy got me into reexploring it ... kinda forgot about it as a bad memory of teen angst. Liturgy's alright, music's not bad... has the sound of black metal but lacks the spirit, I guess.
Used to really like this album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wxLD5vULaI
Kinda got out of it when I realized a lot of the bands I liked were fascists/nazis ... but it's not a surprise since some of this stuff sounds like watching Conan the Barbarian. I remember being recruited by some white supremacist group back in the day, it was weird learning some of your friends were actually part of these hate groups. I think that's around when I started leaving it behind and got into bands like Stereolab and Soul Coughing.
― Spectrum, Monday, 30 January 2012 19:14 (twelve years ago) link
Of course, now all the Stereolab and Soul Coughing fans back then are into black metal now. (I might lie.)
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 30 January 2012 19:14 (twelve years ago) link
that's not inaccurate
― the 500 gats of bartholomew thuggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 30 January 2012 19:16 (twelve years ago) link
I'm admittedly a pretty serious metal n00b, and while I've spent the past year or so digging into classic stuff--Maiden, Mercyful Fate, Venom, Celtic Frost, Megadeth, etc--to supplement the very limited stuff I already knew and loved (Slayer, Priest, Motorhead, a few other obvious suspects), I hadn't up until this past week even begun to dip my toes into the waters of Black Metal. I'm actually sort of embarrassed to say this, but I picked up last year's Wolves in the Throne Room record since it struck me after reading various things that it might be a good "gateway drug"... Well, I was so put off by its frilliness and what I felt to be this sort of overwarmed hippie vibe that I spent all of yesteday (and well into the after-midnight hours) reading this thread and listening to Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky several times through on Spotify. Okay, now THAT'S more like it... I'm ready to keep exploring now! (I should know at this point in my listening life that I usually hate "gateway drugs"!)
― Clarke B., Wednesday, 29 February 2012 15:30 (twelve years ago) link
Listen to more Darkthrone. Mayhem are great too. Agalloch are kind of proggy but have BM influences. Liturgy, if you don't care about "authenticity" (I don't, personally).
― good luck in your pyramid (Neil S), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 15:44 (twelve years ago) link
Thanks for the rec's... I've actually heard a few Liturgy tracks. I loved one I recall that was sans-vocals; it actually reminded me more of a sort of mathy Glenn Branca, super cyclical and rocking. I had a hard time getting with the dude's voice, though, which I know is such a cliche Stumbling Block for BM n00bs, but still. It struck me as both far too strident yet totally and completely mannered, lacking a certain roughness or rawness even though it was "raw"--it's hard to explain. It seemed to be wearing its Will to Catharsis too obviously and openly, the same way Wolves in the Throne Room was wearing its woodland mysticism-y vibe. I've been wrestling with the whole importance-of-authenticity thing a lot lately, as I've always hated the idea of being hung up on it but I'm slowly realizing that it actually is something that matters to me on some level... I'm still working it out.
― Clarke B., Wednesday, 29 February 2012 17:24 (twelve years ago) link
clarke do you have spotify? if so set up a collaborative playlist, give us the link and we can add albums.
here's a wee playlist of tracks i havehttp://open.spotify.com/user/pfunkboy/playlist/1FSwZilfF39V0nBjcLwSx7
― fuck deathcore and metalcore (Algerian Goalkeeper), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 18:04 (twelve years ago) link
Thanks, AG; I'll figure this out and set it up when I'm back at my proper computer... I'm also looking forward to checking out Immortal and Abus (based on ILM enthusiasm).
― Clarke B., Wednesday, 29 February 2012 18:49 (twelve years ago) link
I had a hard time getting with the dude's voice, though, which I know is such a cliche Stumbling Block for BM n00bs, but still. It struck me as both far too strident yet totally and completely mannered, lacking a certain roughness or rawness even though it was "raw"--it's hard to explain.
Compare w/ Darkthrone 94/95 (Transilvanian Hunger/Panzerfaust) where the vocal track is mixed loud, no FX, right up front and you can feel the blood and bile coming off the vocal chords splattering on yr eardrums.
― Siegbran, Wednesday, 29 February 2012 21:50 (twelve years ago) link
That's what I like to hear... It almost sounds like the guy from Liturgy is *inhaling* when he wails; it sounds like this thing I do when I "imitate a dinosaur" where I breathe in and kind of screech at the same time. I will check out Transilvanian Hunger tonight; from what I've read, it sounds like it's less crisply produced and less deathy than A Blaze... Is there much in the genre that combines the sort of suffocating rushing wash with more overtly technical playing (with solos and stuff)? I'm not even sure those things would mesh well together, but I think it's easier for me on a basic level to appreciate hyper-technical brutality like Death, etc, than yer standard (or what I perceive to be standard) BM tropes.
― Clarke B., Wednesday, 29 February 2012 23:33 (twelve years ago) link
sort of overwarmed hippie vibe
yeah. i have been kind of wondering lately if 'cascadian black metal' etc. picked up listeners that would have been digging on godspeed you black emperor!!!!! a decade ago.
― j., Wednesday, 29 February 2012 23:40 (twelve years ago) link
They actually came to mind almost immediately, j! I used to like them quite a bit a decade ago, but my tastes and priorities have changed so much since then--and even then I got the sense they were a bit much.
― Clarke B., Wednesday, 29 February 2012 23:44 (twelve years ago) link
oh man you need to listen to Ulver - Bergtatt and Nattens Madrigal
― Thu'um gang (jjjusten), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 23:54 (twelve years ago) link
Also Nifelheim.
― Big Drug Dan (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Thursday, 1 March 2012 03:44 (twelve years ago) link
I will check out Transilvanian Hunger tonight
shit yes, you must do this. so great, by far my favorite darkthrone.
if you like it, and i hate to be this guy, there are a few early albums by a certain "important figure" that you probably ought to check out...
― Little GTFO (contenderizer), Thursday, 1 March 2012 05:07 (twelve years ago) link
after some back and forthing, i too have come to the conclusion that i have no use for the likes of agalloch and wolves ittr
― Little GTFO (contenderizer), Thursday, 1 March 2012 05:09 (twelve years ago) link