Rolling 2020 Metal Thread

i hope it's the best time ever, given what I paid for it. getting to see Emperor is a bit of a dream

As in years past, I think it's gonna be up to me to pollute this thread with knuckle-dragging bullshit. Here's "Ex Inferis," a track from Phoenix, AZ blackened death metal act Deadspawn's independently released debut album Pestilence Reborn, which comes out this week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcfNmm2HOEg

I dunno, that's pretty far from lunkheaded brutality to my ears (which is not a value judgement, love that shit too) - definitely will check out their album.

Recent current events had me reminiscing about 80s and 90s anti-war metal songs. I started putting together a playlist and am looking for suggestions. I have obvious stuff like War Ensemble, Mandatory Suicide, Disposable Heroes, War Pigs, The Trooper, Refuse/Resist (kinda?), World War Whatever (by dead horse - a personal favorite)... I could probably Google for more, but thought it might be more fun to solicit favorites from Rolling Metal.

Asphyx - Asphyx (Forgotten War)

Bolt Thrower - For Victory

Gorefest - The Glorious Dead

Dead Horse's Army Surplus from their Death Rides A Dead Horse is also great (Life is army surplus/200,000 die/The US Army claims us/For its filthy fucking lies)

https://adrasteia777.bandcamp.com/album/demo-ii

experimental "winter synth" black metal, released last week

Lingua Ignota, Dylan Walker and Lee Buford ARE.....The Screaming Wilburys Sightless Pit!

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/lingua-ignota-full-of-hell-the-body-members-form-sightless-pit-share-song-off-debut-lp/

Getting on the boat... tonight's sched for me is Vio-Lence, Exodus, Devin Townsend, Emperor, and late add Soilwork. Maybe Atheist if I decide not to eat

very excited for that Sightless Pit album. thank you for bringing this to my attention. love all 3 of them

the adrasteia sounding cool & intriguing ty

keep the updates coming N

plot twist: nuclear war breaks out, all the land of the world is destroyed, and only 70,000 Tons Of Metal survives. this, the dystopian debut nov

more of a concept album tbf

That's very Battlestar Galactica!

Day 1

Vio-Lence: sound was abysmal but i still enjoyed it

Exodus: fantastic. Since they're doing Bonded in its entirety in two days they focused on later material and it was great

Devin Townsend: in awe. He was amazing. He also played "All Hail the New Flesh" and "Detox"!

Emperor: outright life changing. I cried.

Ihsahn looks like a big fuckin nerd

Emperor: outright life changing. I cried.

<3

Keep up the shipping news!

Like the tide, shadows flow towards the shore of light.
The night comes whirling like a maelstrom.
Warring waves of crackling clouds embrace this nightside landscape.
The heavens bleed, through open wounds, the dim light of the Moon.
The winds are crying mournfully and tears fly with the gusts.
They whip my clenched faces freezing skin with ice-cold burning cuts.

Did anybody have crack at a My Heart Will Go On cover?

I might have to do that at karaoke

with growly vocals obv

Obv.

Two Dutch dorks made a death metal album, and roped John McEntee in to do vocals. It's awesome.

Beast of Revelation, The Ancient Ritual of Death, out in March.

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

https://adrasteia777.bandcamp.com/album/demo-ii

experimental "winter synth" black metal, released last week

― idgaf (roxymuzak), Tuesday, January 7, 2020 7:34 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

TY for this!

My day... getting a Possessed setlist, meeting Emperor

https://i.ibb.co/Q9kx8N5/IMG-20200108-161012.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/Wgz9f6v/IMG-20200108-123430.jpg

Also Suffocation were loud and disgusting...ly amazing

Daaaaaaaaaaaamn son

Your cruise is ridiculously sublime.

Seriously timewarping to my teams

Next are

Carach Angren and

CANDLEMASS

*teens

With Johan Längqvist, I hope.

Yes!

Fuck yeah!

Who was singing for Suffocation? Wondering if Frank was willing to come out of retirement for a free cruise...

Not Frank sadly. Ricky Myers.

I was hoping the cruise would entice Frank, esp since he's doing a few shows in Czechoslovakia this year

And just hugged Terrence Hobbs of Suffo.

The negative elements of the scene just aren't here.

\m/

The forthcoming album by Japanese slam/death act Gorevent is doomier than their previous work; it reminded me of Coffins, so now I'm on a major Coffins kick. Buried Death is such a disgustingly awesome record.

Me and Suffo

https://i.ibb.co/c3BtFNT/IMG-20200108-184757.jpg

Xpost you had me at Coffins

Day 2

Possessed - I had no idea Jeff Becerra is paralyzed. He gave every ounce of energy out there and constantly kept saying how awesome it was to be there. At one point there was a fan in the crowd in a wheelchair and everybody lifted him up in his chair so that he could lock eyes with Jeff. Amazing moment. Great set.

Suffocation - the loudest I've ever heard them. I was pretty drunk and they ended with "Infecting the Crypts", my fav Suffo tune. Amazing.

Carach Angren - boring. Left one song in.

Candlemass - good set, though lots of expected Doomicus songs omitted, except "Solitude". Be interesting to see if they pull them out during next set.

Venom - again, loudest I've heard them. Cronos was in a good mood for once. "Warheads" always gets me.

I was too tired to do any more

more stuff that came out in the last few days:

Grimah - Intricacies of Bowed Wisdom
triumphant nihilistic bm from Spain
https://grimah.bandcamp.com/album/intricacies-of-bowed-wisdom

Locator - Sounds End
crusty black/death from Indiana
https://locator.bandcamp.com/releases

Svrm - Занепад
one man (but huge sounding) raw, sometimes folky bm project from Ukraine
https://svrm.bandcamp.com/album/--9

Saw Devvy again. Mostly same setlist but outdoors and I just have chills.

"Detox" is the song that helped me realize I wasn't alone. 19 year old me cried and threw fists

Day 3: Shore day

We went to Cozumel. It's very...touristy. all I did was drink.

Only a half day of shows but a great crop.

Flotsam and Jetsam: so glad i caught them. They mixed some of their last two albs in with Doomsday and No Place for Disgrace songs. Amazing set.

Atheist: about as good as the Orlando set in November. Very Piece of Time and Unquestionable Presence heavy.

Devin Townsend: the wind had gotten out of hand. Ihsahn's solo set was stopped three songs in. There were doubts Devy would get to play. But he persevered. He was very jocular as the wind kept fuckin' with his click track computer. He talked to ne at one point. He was chugging water and I screamed "Drink that fuckin' water!" and he said "I'M DRINKING IT, I'M DRINKING IT!". Setlist was much the same, but it was so communal and awesome. Lots of people hugging. Highlight for sure. Can't wait to hear more varied material in March!

At the Gates: The weather became untenable. Banners started to tumble from the rafters. We were evacuated to inside. The set was delayed an hour, til about 1:30 am. They broke into their Slaughter of the Soul set and it was just beautiful. Tomas was so excited up there. Wonderful set,band I caught an At the Gates pick.

After three days of getting blitzed, I am digging deep today. Orphaned Land into Suffocation up next.

Day 4

Fatigue was starting to set in. Fighting a third straight hangover, I decided the only way I would wake up a little is to....drink heavily again. More on that.

Skipped the rest of Orphaned Land after a few songs. I like them, but they were gravitating towards material I was less favorable of.

Archon Angel: Wasn't intending to see them, I was on my way to breakfast. Fronted by Zak Stevens, ex-Savatage vocalist (1993 - 2001). I came up as they were ripping through a cover of Savatage's "Power of the Night", and stayed to the end as they played two songs from Edge of Thorns, which brought me back to age 17, when I first discovered that album.

Suffocation: I was pretty toasted by this point, and this time, the sound was perfect. Switched up the setlist and gave us "Jesus Wept" this time. Absolute cracker of a set.

Brujeria: By some miracle, I missed only two minutes of this set. These guys are such incredible fun live. I moshed briefly with a guy who was dressed up as a banana as well as people dressed as sharks (it was costume day). Of course they ended with "Marijuana".

I headed to see Possessed again and on the way, actually ran into Zak Stevens, and took a pic with him. And then heard the news that Neal Peart died.

Possessed: The news about Neal Peart somewhat overshadowed the set, as my excitement as largely gone after such fucked news. It was an enjoyable set, but not quite as much fun as the one from Day 2. Too many Eyes of Horror songs, and honestly, I was just bummed out.

Soilwork: Sat on a lawn chair and fell asleep for the entire set. It was at this point that I realized I needed to stop drinking for the day, as my energy was gone. Just ate dinner and drank tons of water.

Candlemass: Now THIS was awesome. Kept dozing now and then, due to fatigue, but this was a Doomicus heavy set, with "Crystal Ball", "Under the Oak", and "Demon's Gate" all getting played, in addition to "Solitude". Johan Längqvist sounded phenomenal!

At this point, I could only bring myself to see two more sets, as I was gassed.

Emperor: Not quite as awe-inducing as first show, mostly because you never beat your first, but a phenomenal set regardless. Setlist somewhat changed up, with "Curse Ye All Men!" and "Majesty of the Nightsky" thrown in. It was on the pool deck in front of a fierce windstorm, which felt appropriate. At the end of the set, "My Heart Will Go On" played over the loudspeakers as the band took selfies in front of the stage.

Exodus: Now this was cool. Bonded by Blood front to back Souza's microphone was extra-layered with reverb this night to approximate Baloff sound, and everything was played at a much higher speed than on disc. I was started to get aggravated by Exodus fans rudely elbowing and shoving people and could tell my transition back to an old man yelling at a cloud was complete. one more Toxic Waltz ended things, with the band jokingly covering verse 1 of "Hair of the Dog" by Nazareth first.

amazing experience. I was sated. Exhausted now and recharging.

the new Rage album is fun.

damn, you make me wanna go on this cruise

The Darkspace bass player lady has a new project and the only time she mentions Darkspace it's in the past tense

http://www.invisibleoranges.com/apokryphon-interview-premiere/

Thanks for the in-depth report, Neanderthal.

As for Zorgh/Ophis, I hope Darkspace's next project is merely being kept on Alpine ice, but in the meantime I'm very curious to hear what Apokryphon has to offer.

Love the Cénotaphe write-up in all its over-the-top glory tbh

2. SWEVEN – The Eternal Resonance (Ván Records)

My man!

Shit. Look at this oldschool 1985 metal gig ft Slayer, Venom and Exodus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybgS5OshcuY

Relapse Records turned 30 this year, and to celebrate they've put a 241-track sampler up on Bandcamp for name-your-price.

hot shitting batankles, staphman, the Coffin Curse album mentioned in Grizzly Butts is my kinda death metal. rifftastic, 90s-ish uptempo thrashy riffs, with the occasional atonal batfuckery.

bats.

Just a friendly reminder that you've got till Jan 8th to nom your faves:

2020 Metal ’n’ Heavy Rock Poll: NOMINATIONS Thread (open until the 8th of January 2021)

AMG staff top 10 bonanza:

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dubious-decisions-in-the-age-of-covid-the-amg-staff-pick-the-top-tenish-records-o-2020/

it's kind of amazing how many reviews they publish in a year and yet there's a major chunk of those that don't have reviews. there's so much metal!

Half of that AMG list goes back to the '80s (well, Body Count's debut was in '92 but still), which I find pretty funny actually.

It kind of cracks me up how stingy AMG is with their ratings. A 3.5 on their 5.0 scale is basically the equivalent of a 9.0 on the Pitchfork scale. Case in point, one of the reviewers listed the Duma record his album of the year, which was given a 3.5 in his own review. I mean, I know the intention is a corrective to like the MOJO/Uncut model where almost any record gets a 7 or better out of 10, but it makes me laugh when the best of their year end lists all get 3.0s and 3.5s.

the new Wombbath album is ok (not a patch on their 90s stuff) but production is enough to give me a sinus headache. hollowed out the classic Swedish guitar sound to where it's nauseatingly full of mids and sounds like teeth chattering.

the riffs being second tier don't help.

I feel like weirdly sculpted death metal guitar tones are getting more and more common and I'd really rather listen to some bedroom 4 track demos any day of the week.

Can't remember the band but I bought some OSDM album a couple years back where the HM2 was so overdone you couldn't really hear the notes or chords, just a loud buzzing rumble.

that's exactly what it was. it was the aural equivalent of riding an old rickety wooden rollercoaster while having a sinus headache

More AMG lists:

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/l-saunders-and-mark-z-s-top-tenish-of-2020/

While browsing RYM I came across this list of albums we can expect in 2021 and it's more exciting than I expected:

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/Bagauda/-my-top-metal-2021-/

Dordeduh's second LP is also bound to come out in 2021.

(Gotta copy/paste that link; it's not ILX-friendly.)

Scald??? finally a follow up to the truly brilliant Will of Gods Is a Great Power?

Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer part of the Capitol riots today? Fuck that guy.

yup, he was, and yup, fuck him hard

read this, interesting! (title is a bit of hyperbole tbh compared to a lot of bands)

listening to Fire Down Under, really good hard rock/metal

https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-of-riot-the-unluckiest-band-in-the-world

what the fuck were they thinking with that dumb-ass seal?? such a weird decision.

As much as it pains me to say it (again), Romanian metal mostly sucks balls, but this is actually good:

https://daius.bandcamp.com/album/ascuns

Forgot to provide a brief description: folky, neo-Romantic quasi blackgaze with passionate vocals, some lovely melodies and a uniquely prominent nai (pan flute) part that manages to keep cheese at bay (Gheorghe Zamfir this is not). Daniel Neagoe is way too prolific for his own good so it's nice to hear him hit the bull's eye for once.

lol look at the title of the thread

Ffffuuuu

(FYI: 'tis a truncated 'fuck' rather than an 'f u'.)