Rolling Metal 2016

The new one is really good, as is the one before, Occult Rock. They have no bad records, but those two are definitely orders of magnitude better than what came before.

I'd love to see them live.

looking forward to this:

Novembre - Ursa
http://peaceville.com/novembre-release-new-studio-album-ursa-in-april/
URSA is the seventh and latest album from Italy’s atmospheric death/doom metal purveyors, Novembre, and is set for release on 1st April on Peaceville Records on CD and vinyl.

New Witchcraft is streaming on Spotify. I like it quite a bit but it's not particularly metallic.

I mean, the band was never full-on metal, but there's a lot more soft psychedelia and folk infusions and less loud psych-rock and churning doom riffs.

There's a 14 minute track and a nearly 16 minute track, the rest of the album is more standard but it causes the album to come out at nearly an hour and a quarter.

It's mournful as always, and that's always good.

I can't imagine anybody here digging it - it's super-dramatic Mars Volta/Coheed-y esp in the vocals which are zero-growl, super I'M THE SINGER singing - but the Moon Tooth album is grabbing me tonight, the guitarist is really good and the production sounds really nice - great separation, really great tones - I don't know enough about recording electric guitars to know if these are direct or amped but they sound great

https://moontoothny.bandcamp.com/album/chromaparagon

maybe I'm wrong though anyway I really like this

ok though but like its influences, the album becomes a bit much after six tracks

I can't imagine anybody here digging it - it's super-dramatic Mars Volta/Coheed-y esp in the vocals which are zero-growl, super I'M THE SINGER singing - but the Moon Tooth album is grabbing me tonight, the guitarist is really good and the production sounds really nice - great separation, really great tones - I don't know enough about recording electric guitars to know if these are direct or amped but they sound great

*raises hand*

I love the "Huh!" the vocalist lets out at about 1:30 into "Queen Wolf" (and by the way, the first song streaming on Bandcamp is called "Queen Wolf," Smith forgot to mention that crucial bit of info). I would say the vocals are late '80s/early '90s pre-grunge AOR-prog more than Mars Volta/Coheed post-emo prog. Either way, awesome.

another really interesting record from Avantgarde - this one credited to "two individuals who prefer to remain anonymous," they're from Oz, probably not the Berzerker or disEMBOWELMENT but maybe somebody from Portal? anyway, I guess this came out last year but it's pretty interesting - keyboard melodies that could be nicked from a Summoning record over some sorta-doomy epic rolling-drum scenarios...good stuff imo

http://avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/isolate

name-your-price bm, members of Misþyrming involved

http://nadra.bandcamp.com/album/allir-vegir-til-gl-tunar-3

I think I need this Abbath album. At least based on the first track I'm listening to right now. Why is this dude so fucking good at riffs?

he is just unstoppable

just went looking for an update from Morbus Chron on their next album, and turns out they broke up in September. sad!

I thought their last album was the most interesting of that little cohort they formed with Tribulation and Horrendous

ahh man that really sucks. I listened to that album more than any one album in a long time, it was just a pleasure

Just released, on Friday January 22nd:

LATITUDES - Old Sunlight
http://dmp666.bandcamp.com/album/old-sunlight

Influenced by such varied Artists as NEUROSIS, RUSH, KING CRIMSON, BLUT AUS NORD, IMMOLATION, CONVERGE or MASTODON, the incredible UK-based band LATITUDES proudly deliver, with "Old Sunlight", their deepest, most expansive and forward-thinking work to date.

on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7nOCBGfhCrZhTxoaNQq5E3

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): LATITUDES — “OLD SUNLIGHT”
http://www.nocleansinging.com/2016/01/22/an-ncs-album-premiere-and-a-review-latitudes-old-sunlight/

Almost boundlessly imaginative, ever-changing, and beautifully performed, Old Sunlight is an utterly intoxicating experience, the kind that makes most progressive and post-metal seem drab by comparison. We’re barely into 2016, and already we have one of the year’s highlights.

http://www.slugmag.com/soundwaves/episode-228-subrosa/

podcast interview with SubRosa wherein they discuss their upcoming dystopian sci fi doom album inspired by the novel "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin

I saw Latitudes at Desertfest a couple of years ago and loved them. Weirdly, I was only thinking about them last night.

upcoming dystopian sci fi doom album inspired by the novel "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Holy shit, it's like they made an album just for me.

I'm listening to the Abbath album today and it's really fun. So far I like every track. I think this will my first album purchase of the year.

I was kind of marveling at how much the RYM metal people seem to dislike the Abbath album. I don't know that it's earth-shattering or anything but it is a fucking blast. And "Winterbane" is a genuine monster.

sounds good to me

Listened to it tonight on the train. Wanted to like it, but...didn't. The riffs are super-generic, almost groove metal. If they were a little slower they could have appeared on an U.D.O. album. And he sounds more like Popeye than ever.

On the other hand, I'm liking this quite a bit:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZnH3rfWYAMVRFp.jpg

Listened to the debut album by Oceans of Slumber this morning. It's called Winter, and it's semi-proggy doom(ish) metal with "beauty-and-the-beast" male-female vocals. Think In This Moment + Swallow The Sun + Gwen Stefani (the female singer reminds me of her quite a bit). There's a cover of the Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin" on the album, and they also covered Candlemass's "Solitude" last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e91SnsQS1O8

I'm late to the party it seems, but Batushka!

If you like those bands that stay in a second wave black metal comfort zone, Belgians Cult of Erinyes have a new EP for free download. There's even a "Pagan Fears" cover, which is sort of redundant in light of the other two tracks' clear inspiration.
https://cavernaabismal.bandcamp.com/album/cult-of-erinyes-transcendence-tape

Their previous albums are also good if not revolutionary. Kinda remind me of Glorior Belli before the latter went all bluesy.

I bought the new Megadeth at Target last night because I couldn't remember the last time I bought a metal cd in a Target. Felt weird.

And the album is surprisingly listenable! Main problem is I can almost hear Dave saying, "ok now let's do that part from 'Hangar 18 / Wake Up Dead / whatever" rather than "hey check out these new riffs I wrote." Can't say I ever had any emotional investment in Megadeth though.

Oh and that new Borknagar has amazing vocals throughout but damned if I can remember any guitar-centric moments. I suspect I'll be giving it more listens. I don't mind losing riffing if it's in favor of hearing Vintersorg/ICS Vortex/Garm/the other guy.

this Obscura album is pretty wild. not often drawn to this kinda techy grandiose death metal but it's also somewhat proggy and there's a choir on one track. feeling it. its 'radio impact date' is tomorrow so somewhere'll prob stream it?

Finally picked up last years' Rippikoulu "Musta Seremonia" reissue. Finnish doomy death circa 1993, great stuff if you're into that sound.

I don't know if more than two people care about this including myself but Ehnahre's new one is out:

https://kathexis.bandcamp.com/album/douve

That Rippikoulu is great, almost perfect really for that sound, and for the last quarter of 2015, was a big part of my metal listening, along with Abhorrence, Convulse and Disgrace.

Thoughts on the latest Phil Anselmo incident? I think I'm this thread's loudest Pantera defender, but I'm pretty fucking disappointed by this, on several levels: 1) the salute and shout itself; 2) the attempt to claim it was a joke about white wine; 3) his asshole fans trying to carry that pathetic lie across the finish line; 4) the broader metal community basically turning their backs out of careerism (as the linked MetalSucks editorial says, pretty much every writer or editor you or I know has interviewed Anselmo in the past, or wants to interview him in the future - I've talked to him at least twice that I recall).

Conspicuous, gutless silence in favour of careerism, absolutely. Why upset the apple cart when you can get a media pass to Housecore fest?

A ton of respect to Machine Head's Robb Flynn for posting this video, though (disclaimer: I worked with Robb for 2-3 years while we were both still at Roadrunner):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCBKzWg4WYo

Agreed. I understand there's a discrete difference between 'being racist' and 'being a racist', and this latest Anselmo bullshit (that I have to qualify that with a 'latest', well...) slots him into the latter camp in my book.

There's a whole Anselmo thread:

so I guess we can stop playing the "is he/isn't he game" about Phil Anselmo from Pantera wrt to racism

This MetalSucks article is a bit odd with its assumptions, is there really anyone who thinks Anselmo is a respectable dude? Of course there's the commercial angle, but those people would happily talk to and write about Mustaine and Vikernes if they would be commercially viable artists. Never in history has being a despicable asshole been a hindrance to a commercially succesful career.

For a minute I thought it was Ned Ragget on the artwork for The Body a few posts into this thread

*Raggett

woah this new Oranssi Pazuzu is fucking GOOD

I am enjoying Le Dernier Crépuscule by Chthe'ilist on Spotify.
I generally like Profound Lore stuff but this is my first exposure to this band.

Lyrical themes: Horror, Dark Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda

Well they do have a song called "Tales of the Majora Mythos Part 1"

Yeah, I really like this Chthe'ilist. It has a swing to it that is different from most of the DM I hear in this murky atmospheric vein.

I've been hooked on the new Mesarthim single the last couple of days. Black Metal with some icy/cheesy/new-agy synths on top.

https://mesarthim.bandcamp.com/album/suffocate-single

the album is fantastic. only 1 euro on bandcamp but loved it so much I ordered the vinyl. The few people I have recommended it to since Smithy told me about it love it too.

One of the reviews sums it up nicely

"Summoning in space on LSD with guitar solos. I think that's good."

^^^^^ yeah i am hugely enthusiastic about that mesarthim record, even though it came out last year apparently

but vinyl and cd arent out til end of feb so it will count for metal poll!

Also time for you guys to review it elsewhere!

This new Avantasia album is fantastic. If you like melodic overkill. I like melodic overkill. A lot. Magnum + Blind Guardian?

Yeah, I really like this Chthe'ilist. It has a swing to it that is different from most of the DM I hear in this murky atmospheric vein

Listening to this now, and the first thing that stands out is the Demilich influence. The murky production actually kind of hurts this record to me a bit, but as OSDM revival-ish records go, you could do a lot worse than bringing back this sound!

playlist is up to date.

ILM's Rolling Metal Thread 2016 Spotify Playlist

Zealotry album from last year really deserved more att'n/love. Crowded marketplace & novelty's always gonna rule over known quantities but it's a thoughtful, focused, beautifully played death metal album with some Roger Patterson-endebted workouts in the breaks here and there and some really cool little decorative touches -- choral vocals on one track, an acoustic interlude on another (they did that on their previous too iirc and it's something I always like in DM albums).

Yes to all of that

just got caveman cult savage war is destiny which is some wild bestial shit featuring the drummer from torche (!) https://cavemancult.bandcamp.com/ highly recommended

dig this zealotry too

Since this thread popped up, here is my too-late-for-polls and unranked list of my favorite metal albums of 2016, in alphabetical order:

Abbath - Abbath
Airbourne - Breakin' Outta Hell
Alcest - Kodama
Aluk Todolo - Voix
Anaal Nathrakh - The Whole of the Law
Ash Borer - Irrepassable Gate
Asphyx - Incoming Death
Astronoid - Air
Babymetal - Metal Resistance
Brant Bjork - Tao of the Devil
Black Tusk - Pillars of Ash
Blood Ceremony - Lord of Misrule
Bloody Hammers - Lovely Sort Of Death
Blues Pills - Lady In Gold
The Body - No One Deserves Happiness
The Body and Full of Hell - One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache
Bolzer - Hero
Cadavarice - I: Exhumation
Charred Walls Of The Damned - Creatures Watching Over the Dead
Cobalt - Slow Forever
Comet Control - Center Of The Maze
Cough - Still They Pray
Crematory - Monument
Crippled Black Phoenix - Bronze
Crowbar - The Serpent Only Lies
Cult of Luna - Mariner
Cultes des Ghoules - Coven
Dark Funeral - Where Shadows Forever Reign
Darkestrah - Turan
Darkthrone - Arctic Thunder
Destroyer 666 - Wildfire
Deviant Process - Paroxysm
Diamond Head - Diamond Head
Discharge - End of Days
Eight Bells - Landless
Entropia - Ufonaut
Esben and the Witch - Older Terrors
Exmortus - Ride Forth
Eye - Vision and Ageless Light
Falaise - As Time Goes By
Furia - Księżyc milczy luty
Gatecreeper - Sonoran Depravation
Ghost BC - Popestar
Ghoul - Dungeon Bastards
Goatess - Purgatory Under New Management
Grand Magus - Sword Songs
Hail Spirit Noir - Mayhem in Blue
If These Trees Could Talk - The Bones of a Dying World
Ihsahn - Arktis
Inquisition - Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith
Inter Arma - Paradise Gallows
Inverloch - Distance | Collapsed
Krallice - Hyperion
Krallice - Prelapsarian
Krypts - Remnants of Expansion
Kuolemanlaakso - M.Laakso - The Gothic Tapes Vol 1
Lord Vicar - Gates of Flesh
Lotus Thief - Gramarye
Magrudergrind - II
Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard - Y Proffwyd Dwyll
Memoirs of a Secret Empire - Vertigo
Mesarthim - Isolate
Metallica - Hardwired...To Self Destruct
Mithras - On Strange Loops
Moonsorrow - Jumalten Aika
Mortiis - The Great Deceiver
Mourning Beloveth - Rust & Bone
Myrkur - Mausoleum
Nervosa - Agony
Netherbird - Grander Voyage
Neurosis - Fires Within Fires
Oathbreaker - Rheia
Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä
Otep - Generation Doom
Panopticon - Revisions of the Past
Prong - X - No Absolutes
Running Wild - Rapid Foray
Russian Circles - Guidance
Schammasch - Triangle
Skeletonwitch - The Apothic Gloom
Sodom - Decision Day
Spire - Entropy
Subrosa - For This We Fought The Battle of Ages
Surgical Meth Machine - Surgical Meth Machine
Testament - Brotherhood Of The Snake
Thy Catafalque - Meta
Trap Them - Crown Feral
Urfaust - Empty Space Meditation
Vektor - Terminal Redux
Voivod - Post Society EP
Volur - Disir
The Wakedead Gathering - Fuscus: Strings of the Black Lyre
Wardruna - Runaljod Ragnarok
Whores. - Gold.
Witchcraft - Nucleus
Worm Couroboros - What Graceless Dawn
Wormrot - Voices
The Wounded Kings - Visions In Bone
Wovenhand - Star Treatment
Wretch - Wretch
Wyrd - Death Of The Sun
Yidhra - Cult Of Bathory