Rolling Metal 2019

Finnish BM that draws on the ravings of trance-preacher and cult leader Maria Åkerblom:

https://werewolfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ilmestykset

Also Finnish and trance-like, a one-man death/doom act that really hits the spot:

https://xtreemmusic.bandcamp.com/album/towards-nebulae

Oh, and a new Esoteric album (one hour and thirty-eight minutes, obviously) will drop in November.

I've been immersed in the new Opeth album all week, and it is easily the best of their post-growly stuff. Massively heavy in that Purple/Heep sort of way, loads of jazzy excursions. Both the English and Swedish versions are cool, but the Swedish version is definitely the most cohesive seeing that there are Swedish interludes between tracks. That said, I have no complaints about the English lyrics. Oh, and "All Things Will Pass" has one of the best riffs I've ever heard Åkerfeldt write.

I've pre-ordered a copy but apparently don't rate a super-advance promo anymore. Just looking at the crudeness of the translations of the lyrics, though, I could tell that the English version was effectively an afterthought, and that he put his heart into the Swedish version.

Aaaaaaaaah @ new Esoteric!

Mostly unrelated to 2019 (albeit not entirely), but I've been revisiting old school Swedish DM and am impressed with Dismember's consistency from album to album, whereas Entombed still don't do much for me beyond Left Hand Path, which I ultimately like less than Like an Ever Flowing Stream on account of the latter's superior songwriting. With a bit of luck Dismember's reunion will result in a proper release.

(Apologies to the OG buzzsaw/death 'n' roll crew.)

LHP and Clandestine are all the Entombed anyone needs.

Yeah, I'll take Clandestine too.

Wolverine Blues is amazing too

Clandestine is firmly in my top 5 metal albums. I think it's largely flawless. Saw them a couple of times on that tour, though (Gods of Grind, with Carcass and Cathedral and supporting Napalm Death at the Marquee) and they just couldn't quite match that crunch. Nicke Andersson still one of finest drummers I've seen live, tho.

'Largely flawless' is an empty phrase. I'll go with 'it's fucking great'.

Clandestine is definitely good but I'm not a huge fan of the vocals (or at least I wasn't when it came out and I haven't so far been able to shake off this feeling of disappointment).

Completely agree with pomenitul, Dismember is much more consistent for the first few albums. Unleashed too, actually.

There's something about that crunch indeed. It really hit the scene like a ton of bricks, it was a total game changer. Everything else, the Morrisound bands, even Napalm Death and Carcass, instantly sounded weak as piss. It certainly felt that way among the metalheads in my social circle and from what I've read and heard since we were definitely not alone. Bands like Bolt Thrower, Pestilence and Asphyx immediately had to (and by and large did) catch up soundwise.

So it's worth going beyond Where No Life Dwells. Noted.

I feel like Grave doesn't get enough respect when the early Swedish scene is discussed. I like their old stuff a lot, and their comeback album, Back From The Grave, was great.

Also noted.

Oh yeah Unleashed all the way until Victory is more or less equally good. The whole viking thing makes it somewhat cheesy but the metal is strong.

Anybody going to Psycho Las Vegas Fri/Sat?

Oh we're talking Swe DM.

Like an Everflowing Stream is the best.

As is the first two Entombed.

And most Grave.

Speaking of Sweden, the finale to Mylingar's triptych of the dead (Döda vägar, Döda drömmar and now Döda själar) is as single-mindedly terrifying as the first two panels:

https://mylingar.bandcamp.com/album/d-da-sj-lar

(Do take note if you like Thantifaxath or relish the idea of a Portal-ized early Anaal Nathrakh.)

Along the same lines but exhibiting greater structural freedom, also on the heels of a 2018 highlight, I give you the unpronounceable HWWAUOCH:

https://hwwauoch.bandcamp.com

With apologies for spamming, looks like a new Mgła is also underway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0ryOwlXkP4

There's a 4CD box set coming in October with remasters of Ulver's first 3 albums and their demo.

Tracklisting CD 1 (Vargnatt)
1. I: Her begynner Mine Arr
2. II: Tragediens Trone
3. III: Trollskogen
4. IV: Ulverytternes Kamp
5. V: Nattens Madrigal
6. VI: Vargnatt

Tracklisting CD 2 (Bergtatt)
1. Capitel I: I Troldskog faren vild [Led astray in the Forest darke]
2. Capitel II: Soelen gaaer bag Aase need [Betwixt cragges a descending Sunne]
3. Capitel III: Graablick blev hun vaer [She senses Eyne of Grey]
4. Capitel IV: Een Stemme locker [A Voice Beckons Her]
5. Capitel V: Bergtatt – ind i Fjeldkamrene [Spellbound – Into the Mountaine]

Tracklisting CD 3 (Kveldssanger)
1. I: Østenfor Sol og vestenfor Maane [East of the Sunne and West of the Moone]
2. II: Ord [Wordes]
3. III: Høifjeldsbillde [The Mountainetops]
4. IV: Nattleite [Nighte Time]
5. V: Kveldssang [Twilight Song]
6. VI: Naturmystikk [Naturall Mystick]
7. VII: A Capella (Sielens Sang) [A Cappella (Song of the Soule)]
8. VIII: Hiertets Vee [The Heart's Woe]
9. IX: Klædt i Nattens farver [Cladde in Colours of the Nighte]
10. X: Halling [Halling]
11. XI: Utreise [Exodus]
12. XII: Søfn-ør paa Alfers Lund [Drowsieness on Fairie Mound]
13. XIII: Ulvsblakk [Wolfsgray]
14. XIV: Synen

Tracklisting CD 4 (Nattens Madrigal)
1. I
2. II
3. III
4. IV
5. V
6. VI
7. VII
8. VIII

Nice!

Ooooh

13. XIII: Ulvsblakk (Wolfsgray)

Missed an opportunity for “Wolfsgraye” there.

The Dayton shooter was in a pornogrind band. I can't wait for the Fox News Channel's thoughts on pornogrind. I CAN'T WAIT.

I don’t want to know what this “pornogrind” is. I could find out in a second. But my wilful ignorance is problematic, you know the old “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing” saying. Well who’s fighting pornogrind on 8ch* ? https://t.co/mt2p6jzVq3

— Sol 🇬🇧 (@SolWpolski) August 5, 2019

Germany-based Cock and Ball Torture,

Speaking of which, did we ever get to the bottom of that crossbow-wielding German medieval sex cult?

Terrible month for grindcore, first Rob Miller now this.

I like this. It is good:

https://www.nocleansinging.com/2019/08/08/an-ncs-premiere-weeping-sores-scars-whispering-secret-tongues/

ooh yeah that is nice

Debemur Morti posted the new Blut Aus Nord on Bandcamp but there are no streaming tracks. This is an uh interesting blurb

Hallucinogen begins a new era for BLUT AUS NORD, ending the cycle of clandestine industrialised dissonance that culminated with previous transmission Deus Salutis Meae and moving skyward into freshly melodic territories of progressive clarity.

Interweaving dreamlike choirs, inimitable harmonic developments, reflective clean guitars, palpable organic drumming and a welcome rock and roll swagger, Hallucinogen is a spacious, emotionally wide-ranging record that finds BLUT AUS NORD more open than ever, full of life and revelling in the element of surprise.

a welcome rock and roll swagger

Hmmm…

stoked

The new Slipknot album is really, really good.

.@suicidalangels
Years of Aggression
(@NoiseArtRecords)

Hellenic thrash reeking in authenticity from Ed Repka art to the dive-bomb solos to the harmonized, ragged riffs. The title implies a best of record but more impressively, it sounds like it too. #TwitterLPReview pic.twitter.com/0m8thWKgRw

— Brian O'Neill (@NYC__Native) August 9, 2019

Everything about this is just so fucking moronic and edgelord-y.

https://www.discogs.com/Gestapo-666-Satanic-Shariah/release/13517132

And to think these dumbfucks got started in 2000 – they're no longer in their teens.

Yeah, if my real name was Cyril I'd change it to k.NkTU too.

"A Rape in the Name of Peace"

saddest thing about that band (other than everything else) is that Noktu is the guy from the once-excellent Celestia and Mortifera and Willy from Mutiilation was an early member. Now Satanic Warmaster dude's a member which is unsurprising.

Noktu also runs the Drakkar label of course.

But yeah this designed-to-offend approach is not very in touch anymore with modern sensibilities. It all goes in cycles, Venom and Slayer were incredibly offensive at the time with authorities banning shows and many an oldschool metalhead loudly proclaiming they'd never support such outrageous bands, then this period where nobody really got offended even by stuff like Impaled Nazarene or Beherit and shock rockers like Marilyn Manson and Rammstein could become legit superstars, and now the cultural pendulum has swung firmly back to where this attitude is beyond the pale.

btw Suicidal Angels are an absolutely fantastic band with not one ounce of originality.

The new Destruction album is out today and it's really good. They've added a second guitar player — like Motörhead, they're meant to be a trio, but they work as a quartet.

There's also a new Pathology album out today, so if you like knuckle-walking death metal as much as I do... [everyone else in the thread looks away in embarrassment]

But yeah this designed-to-offend approach is not very in touch anymore with modern sensibilities.

Maybe I was too young at the time to really pay attention but the shock rock superstars of the 90s weren't overt fascists. Then again, when you're in a band called Gestapo 666 and you put out an album titled Satanic Shariah, it's fair to wonder whether it's just post-post-post-adolescent trolling. I wouldn't be surprised to discover they pulled that combination of words from an outdated algorithm.

Slayer were considered by many metalheads as too fascist in the 80s (Angel of Death etc) and Rammsteins whole imagery, well...

The cultural sensitivities in the 80s were mainly around Christianity, nuclear war, anarchism etc and that has shifted to other areas, and so have the shock-rockers.

Were it not for Phil and Brad, I would never have given the new Slipknot a minute of my time. It's one hell of a bold album.

I had the first Gestapo 666 album at one point and it's as weak musically as you'd expect btw

my initial thought on the new Immortal Bird was "not as good as the debut" but now I'm not so sure. they seem to be fairly unique in injecting a level of emotion (and concision!) into the blackened death racket