Rolling Metal Thread 2014

Well, shit.

Revolver.

Nachtmystium was never good, but

An artist doesn't have a moral obligation to be a good person or a role model.

says who?

artists lol

WRT to the Dragonforce thing....I got on an argument with some random dude on EZ Snappin's facebook page and random dude turned out to be the singer of Primordial haha

EZ Snappin: I don't assume anything about critics. I go by the evidence of their words. And a certain percentage of them seem to struggle with the separation of church and state, so to speak. I'm definitely not talking about anyone on this forum, by the way. Y'all are consistently fuckin' awesome.

Aero: Says me. I wasn't claiming anyone else's opinions but my own. Do you have a point? (I'm playing devil's advocate here.) To me, an artist's obligation is to make art. I don't see an artist as having any more obligation to be a good person than anyone else on this planet. If a plumber is known to be a racist, I'm not going to hire that plumber. But I'm certainly not going to publicly claim that he's a terrible plumber.

I don't understand the inherent cognitive dissonance of wanting to say extremely offensive things to piss people off but not having to deal with the consequences that come with pissing people off

well, the first one involves getting something you want, and the second one involves avoiding something you don't want, if you can swing it it works out pretty sweet

jfc that interview with the singer w/the disma/incantation guy (linked from the chaos in teja article linked from the dragonforce one). super gross. somehow missed this one :-/

Yeah, that is disappointing. He's on some great albums. :(

Separating "church and state" is fine if that's how you view art. It's also okay to view art as the expression of an individual or individuals, and what is known about them is part of the context of the art. The wall between them is arbitrary; ignoring what you know in order to "address the art" is a game many critics - myself included - have no interest in playing.

In totally unrelated news ('cause I don't think any of the surviving members have ever said/written anything horrible, and by all accounts Mike Scaccia was just an incredibly nice dude), I am listening to the new/final Rigor Mortis album and it fucking rules.

I only met Mike once and he was a sweetheart. I'm really excited to hear it; Harden said he thinks it's the best record they ever made.

His playing on it is pretty incredible, and there's tons of layered guitars and stuff. The production is great, too, and the mix is really clear, not brick-walled at all. That was what disappointed me a few years ago when Hallows Eve did a reunion album; the songs were fine, but the mix was painful, digital clipping all over the place.

Earth are on their Euro tour right now, so I interviewed Dylan Carlson and Adrienne Davies before their Dublin gig next week.

Also, the new Earth album is great stuff; Mark Lanegan's voice is a perfect fit.

Oh shit really? I love Lanegan

Aero: Says me. I wasn't claiming anyone else's opinions but my own. Do you have a point? (I'm playing devil's advocate here.)

well, you made the claim with heavy truth-claim airs - "An artist doesn't have a moral obligation to be a good person" is a different statement from "I don't care what kind of person an artist is." Personally, I think everybody, artists included, have an obligation to at minimum not be pieces of shit. If an artist turns out to be a piece of shit, I find it really rewarding to say "I don't need your music in my life any more" - I have plenty of other good music, there's not really a shortage. For me, taking the art and the artist as a single package is more rewarding than imagining the art as some magic Athena that's not related to the forehead from which it sprung.

I guess I'll have to be more careful about throwing around "heavy truth-claim airs." Maybe Athena can help me figure out what that even means next time she visits. Could it be related to how "Nachtmystium was never good" is a different statement from "I've never really enjoyed Nachtmystium's music"? Or do our artists not have to live by their own rules when it comes to social media etiquette? That would be very convenient for said artists.

Anyway, can we all just agree that the announcement of a new Darkspace album on the near horizon is phenomenal news?

it's just kinda funny to me how much energy is expelled in metal circled defending the "right" of someone to say really shitty and horrible things rather than like i dunno, championing ppl who aren't

If an artist turns out to be a piece of shit, I find it really rewarding to say "I don't need your music in my life any more" - I have plenty of other good music, there's not really a shortage.

But just as Shakespeare's villains were never entirely evil, most people are not completely reprehensible and I (and I would submit you too) have a greater tolerance towards things when the art is really good.

We make excuses for the lesser evils in order to defend them and the placement of their art in our esteem and I don't think that there's anything wrong with that.

Anyway, can we all just agree that the announcement of a new Darkspace album on the near horizon is phenomenal news?

The label warns: "The coldest and the darkest of them all four."

B-)

Eagerly awaiting the non limited edition preorder, if there will be one. The 500 (?) expensive package deals are long gone already, but Avantgarde promised it would be made available for us regular mortals later on.

Can't wait to hear the new Earth.

Didn't intend to really stir shit up over Nachtmystium and disappear yesterday, but I had to drive four hours for a bid opening downstate. Anyway, I wasn't trying to really get into the debate about separating art from the artists, I was just struck at the disconnect I sensed between what I heard on the album and the extreme thrashing it seems to be getting in reviews. Grayson's (he and Kim are they only two reasons I still have the site bookmarked) review at Pitchfork was just the kicker for me, I just don't hear a 3.9 album or what he's hearing. I also saw references on Twitter to it being "embarassing", "an abortion", "godawful". I was preparing for a trainwreck, but it's just a decent Nachtystium record, except maybe the closing track, which is kinda silly.

Granting that the Pitchfork review is sincere, I do wonder if Pitchfork would have bothered to review the album if Blake Judd's dickishness hadn't licensed them to do it. They don't normally pan metal albums, probably because there are limited opportunities to review metal and there isn't much point in heaping hurt on an album that's only going to sell a thousand copies anyway. If someone's an asshole, though, you don't need to feel as bad about attacking their album.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for calling Judd out as a thief and asshole. I just think its better accomplished directly (like Kim did) than just by trashing the band's latest record.

Considering it's the fourth Nachtmystium album they've reviewed, I think they probably thought it worth covering regardless of Blake's issues.

Was gonna say.

Anyway, bummed to read that Disma dude interview.

Holy fuck, the first wave of Temples announcements for next year.

CONVERGE
PIG DESTROYER
TRIPTYKON
GOATSNAKE
NAILS
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME
BONGZILLA
TORCHE
MAGRUDERGRIND
TODAY IS THE DAY
PORTAL
TRAP THEM
WILL HAVEN
BOLZER
IMPETUOUS RITUAL
GOATWHORE
CELESTE
LENG T'CHE

I say again, holy fuck.

nice! Better than MDF.

goddamn I'm sick with envy when I see these amazing European festival bills

Speaking of festivals, in october there's a small festival locally with an all-Swiss lineup, Darkspace and Bölzer headlining. On the off chance that anyone here is going, let me know.

Eggs of Gomorrh goes directly to the all-time band names list

A few months ago there was talk of a Montreal dissonant/cavernous dm band called Phobocosm. Their album comes out Sep 30 on Dark Descent. Refresher: http://youtu.be/2gSVoTNYRLY

Speaking of DD, the new Horrendous is beginning promisingly. Their album The Chills was one of the standouts of the osdm revivalism thing, and the new stuff, judging from this, is adding some flair here and there. As the track is on dB I'm assuming many have already heard it but in case not:
http://www.decibelmagazine.com/featured/streaming-horrendous-nepenthe/

Overkill, Rigor Mortis, Obituary, the Num Skull reissue -- what a lovely time o'year.

Hey, this is a really weird question, but -- the original version of Megadeth's "Hook in Mouth" had a track time of 4:40 or 4:41 depending on what source you consult. The 2004 remaster has a track time of 4:48. Was there ever some extended version somewhere with a track time in the 5:33-5:39 range?

Devilock I will admit to never being the hugest Overkill fan (I mean I have Horrorscope and The Years of Decay and love them but haven't spun in years) but your post made me curious and...damn. I'm surprised to hear how full of life and energized it sounds. Bobby "Blitz" sounds amazing!

have similar feelings about em. always found them to be very inconsistent and hadn't paid much attention for at least a decade but ironbound was the one that got me interested again. love that album.

So a dear friend told me yesterday the new Mastodon record is the best of 2014... I haven't heard it yet, but he is a huge Sammy Hagar fan. I need new friends?

It's a good record, and I'm saying this as a non-fan. Works best if you leave all the "metal" baggage behind and approach it as a hardcore-meets-modern-rock record.

So we can start the "they're not metal" complaints early, here's a new track from the forthcoming GOAT disc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z-CNxLeItw#t=18

Just as awesome as anything on the amazing "World Music," methinks. Disc is out on 9/23 via Sub-Pop!

I don't know Greek all female black metal band Astarte, but bass player Tristessa has died from leukemia apparently : http://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Tristessa/5188

I do know them - I have to admit they were never as good as some of the better known names from the Greek underground, but Tristessa was more than just the bass player, she did vocals and wrote all lyrics and most of the music.

I thought Astarte was pretty good, actually... I turned Vincent Crowley from Acheron onto them when I worked at an indie record store in Columbus, Ohio. That sucks.

that new Godflesh track someone posted is great, I'm stoked for the new album

just copped the Coffinworm album from this year & I'm digging it a lot on first listen... still need to pick up the Triptykon but I'm saving that until I get some decent new headphones, because I know that otherwise I'm gonna want to crank it to neighbor-waking levels

Well, yeah.

i was not feeling the lead pallbearer single 'ghost' from the new one, but now that i'm hearing the whole album, fukkkk this shit jams

http://pitchfork.com/advance/510-foundations-of-burden/

damn. I'm surprised to hear how full of life and energized it sounds. Bobby "Blitz" sounds amazing!
― Neanderthal, Tuesday, August 12, 2014 9:11 AM (10 hours ago)

If you're saying you dig the new one but haven't heard Ironbound then good lord yes speed thee to Ironbound.

Also. Incoming.
http://i.imgur.com/64So1uk.jpg

that Goat track is really cool stuff, obviously not metal at all but really lovely. it's going to be a huge fucking drag when people write their IS METAL EVOLVING? BECAUSE THIS ONE RECORD HAS ITS LOGO IN OLD SCHOOL GOTHIC pieces about it but fuckin whatever, thinkpiecers gonna piece, I'll jam that record for sure

HOLY FUCK THAT TOUR.

not coming anywhere near me but I am totally gonna have to road trip.

Hoping to catch Obituary on the tour they're doing before that one. (Saw the dates the other day; forget who they're going out with.)

Just got the promo for the new Wolf album. I always want to like them more than I end up actually liking them, but I'll give it a listen tomorrow.

Virus are playing a couple of days in New York with every Colin Marston/Mick Barr band and I wish I was that side of the Atlantic fuuuuck