What grabbed me about Colored Sands, and why I can't compare it to anything else, is that Gorguts wrote and played like a death metal chamber orchestra, rather than, like just about every band to ever try something "symphonic," imitate things they'd heard orchestras do (or worse, plop an actual orchestra atop their metal). People have always said, "x or y band sounds like if Wagner/Beethoven/Stravinksy had access to distorted guitars" and maybe with the exception of some of Ihsahn's work in Emperor, this feels like the first time I've heard metal live up to that.
Pestilence is cool, and Obsideo was a step up from their last two, but I'm pretty sure Colored Sands did something that, like Obscura, other bands might only be able to start weakly emulating several years down the road. I'm sticking it in the same category as Mayhem's Ordo ad Chao, which is "stuff I can't even categorize yet." Totally transcends metal.
― Devilock, Friday, 17 January 2014 21:52 (ten years ago) link
also dig all the lyrics about tibet, buddhism, meditation, etc. across the gorguts discog. has lemay ever expanded on this in interviews? don't meditate but I often find dense, noisy music like his own often puts me in a calm state. can feel the anxiety dissipating. curious if there's a relationship there for him as well.
― original bgm, Friday, 17 January 2014 21:56 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, I agree – similar on the outside, maybe, but a big difference in ambition and execution.
― J3ff T., Friday, 17 January 2014 21:57 (ten years ago) link
I voted for these
1 carcass - surgical steel 1121.0 27 8 2 in solitude - sister 831.0 21 2
Need to get the rest of the Top 10 for sure! But especially:
5 subrosa - more constant than the gods 741.0 19 2 7 uncle acid and the deadbeats - mind control 707.0 20 2 8 melt-banana - fetch 686.0 18 1 matt10 deafheaven - sunbather 666.0 18 3
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Friday, 17 January 2014 22:06 (ten years ago) link
Uncle Acid is a grower; on first listen it may seem underwhelming, especially compared to the immediacy of Blood Lust, but subsequent spins prove otherwise.
― J3ff T., Friday, 17 January 2014 22:10 (ten years ago) link
Too low: Vattnet Viskar
― alpine static, Friday, 17 January 2014 22:13 (ten years ago) link
"It's a whole concept album, so I've been reading books for a year a year and a half for the lyrics to know what I'm going to talk about."The lyrics process is very hard for me. First, I'm French, and then I need to educate myself on the topic I'm going to talk about. I'm not going to educate myself on the Chinese invasion of Tibet with a Wikipedia thing."I bought piles of books. I feel the same way I did at the conservatory when I was writing classical pieces. It takes months and months, the pieces you just can't get it out of your system. You need to become a sponge, you need to get soaked with the topic. So far so good I'm very very happy with what we've done."In the first place I wanted to write the whole album about the rituals of mandalas made with sand. One day my girlfriend's little daughter colored in a coloring book a mandala for me and I wondered what a mandala was, I liked the word. I searched on the Internet and found out this is a Tibetan thing and then it clicked, this is gonna be it, but I didn't have any clue, I wasn't very educated on the Tibetan culture. This mandala thing gets so complex, you could study it for 25-30 years before you know exactly what you're talking about, so I said, 'Okay, I'll take it from a different angle.' It's not a National Geographic documentary either. It's very poetic and very epic. This is my vision. I have no pretension about telling 'truth'; it's how I feel about these people."Read more at http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/gorguts-new-video-message-from-luc-lemay/#FMHofTvaQviw8UoH.99
"The lyrics process is very hard for me. First, I'm French, and then I need to educate myself on the topic I'm going to talk about. I'm not going to educate myself on the Chinese invasion of Tibet with a Wikipedia thing.
"I bought piles of books. I feel the same way I did at the conservatory when I was writing classical pieces. It takes months and months, the pieces you just can't get it out of your system. You need to become a sponge, you need to get soaked with the topic. So far so good I'm very very happy with what we've done.
"In the first place I wanted to write the whole album about the rituals of mandalas made with sand. One day my girlfriend's little daughter colored in a coloring book a mandala for me and I wondered what a mandala was, I liked the word. I searched on the Internet and found out this is a Tibetan thing and then it clicked, this is gonna be it, but I didn't have any clue, I wasn't very educated on the Tibetan culture. This mandala thing gets so complex, you could study it for 25-30 years before you know exactly what you're talking about, so I said, 'Okay, I'll take it from a different angle.' It's not a National Geographic documentary either. It's very poetic and very epic. This is my vision. I have no pretension about telling 'truth'; it's how I feel about these people."
Read more at http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/gorguts-new-video-message-from-luc-lemay/#FMHofTvaQviw8UoH.99
― Fastnbulbous, Friday, 17 January 2014 22:17 (ten years ago) link
This countdown drew me to finally check out Melt Banana and while my brain is still trying to process it I think I like. It sounds like the kind of music that sci-fi films of the past imagined our future music to sound like.
Also I think Hurdle got Lemay into all the Buddhist stuff, though I'm sure he's developed his own relationship with it over the years.
― Devilock, Friday, 17 January 2014 22:25 (ten years ago) link
I too can relate to the weird tranquility that is derived from noisy but steady music drowning out my mental chatter. I think the first time I noticed this was Transilvanian Hunger. A lot of minimal black metal does it, actually, as long as it doesn't have that "sizzling" guitar tone, e.g.: Under a Funeral Moon.
― Devilock, Friday, 17 January 2014 22:28 (ten years ago) link
my list with stuff that didn't place in bold:
Paysage d'Hiver - Das TorSummoning - Old Mornings DawnOranssi Pazuzu - ValonieluSuffocation - Pinnacle of BedlamCarcass - Surgical SteelErang - Another World Another TimeGorguts - Colored SandsPower Trip - Manifest DecimationGris - À l'âme enflammée, l'äme constellée...Satan - Life SentenceLustre - WonderBölzer - AuraNonexistence - AntarcticaProgenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A.Ulcerate - VermisInquisition - Obscure Verses for the MultiverseAeternus - ...And The Seventh His Soul DetestethAutopsy - The Headless RitualCathedral - The Last SpireAbandoned Places - Giantlands
erang and abandonded places are both 'dungeon synth' records. more like entire albums of black metal intros that actual metal records. if you have a weakness for keyboard presets, vangelis, the golden axe ost, or wish summoning were even less of a trad guitar band, these come highly recommended. the erang in particular really captures a depressive atmosphere and the guy has songwriting chops for sure. whole thing is on bandcamp: http://erang.bandcamp.com/album/another-world-another-time
― original bgm, Friday, 17 January 2014 22:30 (ten years ago) link
thanks, fnb! will read! (x-posts)
suffocation was way too low. it 100% shreds.
― original bgm, Friday, 17 January 2014 22:37 (ten years ago) link
Colored sands' organic flow, complex structure and unorthodox riffing always made me think of it as like the bass-ier death metal counterpart to deathspell omega's paracletus
― a chance to cross is a chance to score (anonanon), Friday, 17 January 2014 22:45 (ten years ago) link
yes, definitely
― original bgm, Friday, 17 January 2014 22:54 (ten years ago) link
Oh, the listy thing. Only did a top 10.
1) Gorguts - Colored Sands2) Progenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A.3) Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance4) Cathedral - The Last Spire5) Voivod - Target Earth6) Bölzer - Aura7) Grave Miasma - Odori Sepulcrorum8) Beyond - Fatal Power of Death9) Rotting Christ - Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy10) Mammoth Grinder - Underworlds
My disappointment of the year was Haeresiarchs of Dis' Thirty-Eighth Sermon of the Unborn, a one man black metal deal that in 2010 put out Denuntiatus Cinis, which sounded like In the Nightside Eclipse if it had been envisioned and executed by Wrest of Leviathan. I'm still waiting for a worthy successor to that total hallucination of an album.
― Devilock, Friday, 17 January 2014 23:00 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, I was disappointed that I couldn't get people into the Beyond record. I love that thing.
― J3ff T., Friday, 17 January 2014 23:06 (ten years ago) link
Here's my ballot. Bold stuff didn't make the Hot Hundred And One:
1 Iceage - You're Nothing2 Paysage d'Hiver - Das Tor3 Gris - À l'âme enflammée, l'äme constellée...4 Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance5 Skeletonwitch - Serpents Unleashed6 The Body - Master, We Perish (EP)7 Watain - The Wild Hunt8 Voivod - Target Earth9 Ghost - Infestissumam10 Shining - One One One11 In Solitude - Sister12 Full of Hell - Rudiments of Mutilation13 Zodiac - A Hiding Place14 Holy Grail - Ride Into The Void15 White Wizzard - The Devil's Cut16 Cloud Rat - Moksha17 Church Of Void - Dead Rising18 Black Sabbath - 1319 Carcass - Surgical Steel20 Tribulation - The Formulas of Death21 Queens Of The Stone Age - Like Clockwork22 Newsted - Heavy Metal Music23 Kvelertak - Meir24 Blood Ceremony - the Eldritch Dark25 Anciients - Heart Of Oak26 Intronaut - Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)27 Joel Grind - The Yellowgoat Sessions
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Friday, 17 January 2014 23:08 (ten years ago) link
I would post my ballot but I did it directly into the Google form so I don't have a record.
― J3ff T., Friday, 17 January 2014 23:09 (ten years ago) link
01 Mammoth Grinder - Underworlds02 Beyond - Fatal Power of Death03 Obliteration - Black Death Horizon04 Cultes Des Ghoules - Henbane05 oVo - Abisso06 Vista Chino - Peace07 Baptists - Bushcraft08 Immolation - Kigdom of Conspiracy09 Ulcerate - Vermis10 The Body - Christs, Redeemers11 Windhand - Soma12 Autopsy - The Headless Ritual13 Goatess - Goatess14 Nails - Abandon All Life15 Portal - Vexovoid16 Earthless - From the Ages17 Pinkish Black - Razed to the Ground18 Vastum - Patricidal Lust19 Primitive Man - Scorn20 Cathedral - The Last Spire21 Convulse - Evil Prevails22 Carcass - Surgical Steel23 Gnaw - Horrible Chamber24 Jesu - Everyday I Get Closer To The Light25 Toxic Holocaust - Chemistry Of Consciousness26 Noisem - Agony Defined27 Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury28 Monster Magnet - Last Patrol29 Suffocation - Pinnacle of Bedlam30 Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Mind Control
― ostras y cataplana (gaudio), Saturday, 18 January 2014 00:58 (ten years ago) link
ooh Devilock, yr top 2 are my 2 favourite discoveries from this list (so far) - I must check out the rest
― lovely cuddly fluffy dope (imago), Saturday, 18 January 2014 01:24 (ten years ago) link
The string quartet thing on Colored Sands. That is all.
― Skrot Montague, Saturday, 18 January 2014 02:00 (ten years ago) link
xxxp BTW, "heavy metal-leaden shit rock" was not a Xgau-ism, but rather from Metal Mike Saunders' November 1970 review of Humble Pie's As Safe As Yesterday Is. I was trying to get the actual article, but RS deleted it from their archives, possibly a deal with Rocksbackpages. It's historically significant as the VERY FIRST mention of "heavy metal" in print in the context of describing our music, and also Saunders' very first review for RS at the ripe age of 16. He next used the term in his review of Sir Lord Baltimore's Kingdom Come in CREEM where he described them as having possessing all the “heavy metal tricks in the book.”
I complained to them repeatedly about their ridiculously high prices and they said they make their money from academic subscriptions, so fuck off. Fair enough, they should milk it the last couple years as long as they're able to I guess. If anyone happens to have a subscription, we'd be much obliged to see the actual context for the quote!
http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/humble-pie-town-and-country-as-safe-as-yesterday-is-humble-pie
― Fastnbulbous, Saturday, 18 January 2014 02:41 (ten years ago) link
Good job Kerr, and everyone who helped out..
I was the other vote for the Sofy Major EZ... I've always dug the post hardcore shit..
Stoked the Nails record placed so high
I had a good number of stuff that only I voted for.. interesting
― SeanWayne, Saturday, 18 January 2014 05:04 (ten years ago) link
Cheers everyone. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it
Jeff this is yours"Carcass - Surgical SteelWindhand - SomaBlood Ceremony - the Eldritch DarkPinkish Black - Razed to the GroundKadavar - Abra KadavarIn Solitude - SisterSatan - Life SentenceGerm - GriefColiseum - Sister FaithBeyond - Fatal Power of DeathPower Trip - Manifest DecimationEarthless - From the AgesGorguts - Colored SandsClutch - Earth RockerMammoth Grinder - UnderworldsTribulation - The Formulas of DeathJucifer - The Russian AlbumPurson - The Circle and the Blue Door SubRosa - More Constant Than the GodsKylesa - UltravioletDarkthrone - The Underground ResistanceThe Ocean - Pelegial Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Mind ControlCathedral - the Last SpireSummoning - Old Mornings DawnVoivod - Target EarthKvelertak - MeirSatan's Wrath - Aeons of Satan's ReignInquisition - Obscure Verses for the MultiverseToxic Holocaust - Chemistry of ConsciousnessSeremonia - IhminenCult Of Fire - मृत्युकावीभत्सनृत्य Obliteration - Black Death HorizonGhost - InfestissumamSkeletonwitch - Serpents UnleashedAmon Amarth - Deceiver of the GodsHell - Curse & ChapterASG - Blood DriveMonster Magnet - Last PatrolYidhra - HexedPortal - VexovoidVaura - The MissingRotting Christ - Kata Ton Daimona EaytoyAvatarium - AvatariumWhite Wizzard - The Devil's CutAnciients - Heart Of OakDark Tranquility - ConstructChurch Of Misery - Thy Kingdom ScumAmaranthe - the NexusJeff Treppel & Ozzy Hamster Sings/Sqeaks - The Best of Nightwish"
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Saturday, 18 January 2014 08:14 (ten years ago) link
Who is this Amaranthe Jeff always speaks of?
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Saturday, 18 January 2014 10:20 (ten years ago) link
fastnbulbous provided these
Other metal albums on Pazz & Jop:
64 Black Sabbath - 1369 Ka - The Night's Gambit81 Kvelertak - Meir98 Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories)167 Russian Circles - Memorial173 Inter Arma - Sky Burial187 Fuzz - Fuzz247 Agrimonia - Rites of Separation247 Inquisition - Obscure Verses for the Multiverse247 Oranssi Pazuzu - Valonielu271 Skeletonwitch - Serpents Unleashed
I have no idea if seandalai has any stats to post (he usually does though)
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Saturday, 18 January 2014 10:24 (ten years ago) link
approximation of my small ballot
stara rzeka - cien chmury nad ukrytym polemacid mothers temple and the melting paraiso ufo - in search of the lost divine arcpinkish black - razed to the groundjute gyte - discontinuitiesvaura - the missingbardo pond - peace on venusfollakzoid - iisungod - contaktmelt-banana - fetchqueens of the stone age - like clockworkshooting guns - brotherhood of the ramampacity - encounter onehawkeyes - poison slows you downred fang - whales and leechesblood ceremony - the eldritch darktentacle - ingot eyenaam - vowearthless - from the agesuncle acid and the deadbeats - mind controlshooting guns - spectral laundromatwindhand - soma
― the legend of rapper chance (Drugs A. Money), Saturday, 18 January 2014 11:48 (ten years ago) link
good ballot imo
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Saturday, 18 January 2014 12:08 (ten years ago) link
I shdve probably given ASG more of a chance tbh
― stop ingesting (Drugs A. Money), Saturday, 18 January 2014 12:28 (ten years ago) link
nice one guys, lots of interesting-sounding records to check out here!
― Kim Wrong-un (Neil S), Saturday, 18 January 2014 13:35 (ten years ago) link
69 Ka - The Night's Gambit
ha, not a metal record, though I can see how someone would make that mistake.
― Simon H., Saturday, 18 January 2014 15:16 (ten years ago) link
Dunno it. fnb did the blurbs n stuff
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Saturday, 18 January 2014 15:19 (ten years ago) link
I wish I had campaigned on a thread for the Beastmilk album cuz it would have got some ilxors into it who may have got it into the big poll. Made a thread on it - but votings closed hahaFor fans of post-punk or goth or that 80s thang.... Beastmilk - Climax
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Saturday, 18 January 2014 15:21 (ten years ago) link
That's a good list, AG.
― J3ff T., Saturday, 18 January 2014 15:27 (ten years ago) link
I don't know if "mark e" will be checking into this thread again, but I meant to recommend, based on his interest in more occult rock types of metal, Zemial's Nykta. Lots of Mercyful Fate in its sound, and the vox sound more like Killing Joke than Cookie Monster. The spacey guitar parts are a nice bonus.http://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/album/nykta
― Devilock, Saturday, 18 January 2014 15:33 (ten years ago) link
will definitely give that a listen ..ta for the pointer.
― mark e, Saturday, 18 January 2014 15:35 (ten years ago) link
think i've checked this out before following a nudge somewhere ..
not too bad, but dont think i could handle a whole album !!
― mark e, Saturday, 18 January 2014 15:40 (ten years ago) link
I probably should've mentioned the, uh, rather heavy Celtic Frost influence as well. Kind of a tense album.
― Devilock, Saturday, 18 January 2014 16:02 (ten years ago) link
you just sold me on it
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Saturday, 18 January 2014 16:03 (ten years ago) link
ah, crud. I forgot to add that by zemial album to my list. there's a bit of absu in there too, which I dig. very enjoyable album.
forgot about deeds of flesh - portals to canaan as well, whoopso
― original bgm, Saturday, 18 January 2014 18:49 (ten years ago) link
ALBUMS BALLOT:
Carcass - Surgical SteelASG - Blood DriveIn Solitude - SisterSubRosa - More Constant Than the GodsHell - Curse & ChapterUncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Mind ControlAvatarium - AvatariumWindhand - SomaGhost - InfestissumamBlack Sabbath - 13Gris - À l'âme enflammée, l'äme constellée...Orchid - The Mouths Of MadnessBlood Ceremony - the Eldritch DarkPurson - The Circle and the Blue DoorGorguts - Colored SandsBatillus- Concrete StainFalkenbach - AsaKvelertak - MeirKadavar - Abra KadavarSahg - Delusions Of GrandeurDeafheaven - SunbatherColiseum - Sister FaithAltar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and InjuryPaysage d'Hiver - Das TorMagister Templi - Lucifer Leviathan LogosJesu - Everyday I Get Closer To The LightAltaar - AltaarCsejthe - RéminiscenceCoffins - The FleshlandDevil - Gather The SinnersEarthen Grave - Earthen GraveSummoning - Old Mornings DawnDream Death - Somnium ExcessumDarkthrone - The Underground ResistanceShining - 8 1/2 Feberdrommar I Vaket TillstanRotting Christ - Kata Ton Daimona EaytoyToxic Holocaust - Chemistry Of ConsciousnessExhumed -NecrocracySpace Witch - The Alchemy Paradox EPCathedral - The Last SpireAge Of Taurus - Desperate Souls Of Tortured TimesWeekend Nachos - StillEarthless - From the AgesAutopsy - The Headless RitualTrouble - The Distortion FieldJex Thoth - Blood Moon RiseAnciients - Heart Of OakFen - DustwalkerBardo Pond - Peace on VenusBrainbombs - Disposal Of A Dead Body
TRACKS BALLOT:
Jess and the Ancient Ones - Astral SabbatASG - AvalancheBlack Sabbath - God Is Dead?Carcass - The Granulating Dark Satanic MillsNoothgrush - ThothIn Solitude - SisterGhost - Monstrance ClockPurson - Well Spoiled MachineUncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Mind ControlDarkthrone - Leave No Cross Unturned
― Viceroy, Saturday, 18 January 2014 23:26 (ten years ago) link
i forgot about the tracks ballots
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Sunday, 19 January 2014 00:11 (ten years ago) link
I dont get how they sound like a pisstake? the musics genuine its triple H's bullshit that annoys everyone!
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Friday, January 17, 2014 11:50 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
second this, but with the caveat that i like hendrix's "bullshit" and think he says interesting stuff from a theory standpoint. also, the fact that he has this very wide eyed, affirmative attitude to the bleakest and grimmest of genres is if nothing else touching. deafheaven also rule. they are probably a more enjoyable listen than liturgy.
― tɹi.ʃɪp (Treeship), Sunday, 19 January 2014 05:40 (ten years ago) link
well, i dont mind his bullshit. I bought his manifesto after roxy recommended it. One day i might read it haha.
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Sunday, 19 January 2014 15:42 (ten years ago) link
sweet. i've read the manifesto but don't own it and it's sort of overwrought but interesting, especially (iirc) in its discussion of the ideological differences between the punk and metal traditions. liturgy's haters are for the most part repellant to me because they are coming from a place of small-mindedness and cultishness.
― tɹi.ʃɪp (Treeship), Sunday, 19 January 2014 15:47 (ten years ago) link
My Ballot - think I meant to switch Gorguts and Carcass, but my bad. Thanks for posting the blabbermouth link - very cool to learn a bit more about how the record came about.
Magic Circle - S/TVoivod - Target EarthEarthless - From the AgesCarcass - Surgical SteelGorguts - Colored SandsSatan - Life SentenceMotörhead - AftershockClutch - Earth RockerAvatarium - AvatariumPissed Jeans - HoneysQueens Of The Stone Age - Like ClockworkBlack Sabbath - 13Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the GodsUncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Mind ControlIn Solitude - SisterDarkthrone - The Underground ResistanceBardo Pond - Peace on VenusHavok - Unnatural SelectionGris - À l'âme enflammée, l'äme constellée...ASG - Blood DriveDeafheaven - SunbatherJex Thoth - Blood Moon RiseAltar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and InjuryTrouble - The Distortion FieldRed Fang - Whales And LeechesVista Chino - PeaceBlood Ceremony - the Eldritch DarkBatillus- Concrete SustainKylesa - UltravioletIntronaut - Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)Spiritual Beggars - Earth Blues
― BlackIronPrison, Sunday, 19 January 2014 16:25 (ten years ago) link
new Liturgy album this year btw
― wilful brony (DJ Mencap), Sunday, 19 January 2014 17:11 (ten years ago) link
i thought they dissolved?
― j., Sunday, 19 January 2014 17:57 (ten years ago) link
me too but someone from Thrill Jockey said one was on the way
― wilful brony (DJ Mencap), Sunday, 19 January 2014 20:52 (ten years ago) link
didn't the drummer quit? Wonder if he's involved
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Sunday, 19 January 2014 20:54 (ten years ago) link