Rolling 2021 Metal Thread

If the Melvins/Big Business quartet ever reforms, I'll be thrilled, but nothing they've done post that incarnation has held my interest.

Yeah, that's why they are on my "cautiously optimistic" list. They haven't inspired me much lately, but I've liked to much of their overall catalog that I don't know if I'd ever be able to completely write them off.

Totally spaced on seeing Converge, totally on my stoked list.

Photoshoppers, do your worst.

https://img.discogs.com/p1W_7iifr5YQ9jPAqGkbNtgmwao=/fit-in/600x608/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1872663-1492278331-9406.jpeg.jpg

Holy shit, the Dee Dee King album is on Spotify.

lol who hotly anticipates a new Anthrax album in 2021?

I wouldn't even say I'm "mildly" anticipating it, but I remember Worship Music being pretty decent.

Worship Music was dope. the one after, not so much.

they could still have some surprises in em

who is the vocalist these days?

Unless I missed something, still Joey Belladonna. He's been back since 2010 and their last two albums.

yup it's Joey

I am genuinely anticipating: Amenra, Baroness, Carcass, Crowbar, Cult of Luna, Deafheaven, Ghost, High on Fire, Judas Priest, King Woman, Mastodon, Melvins, Emma Ruth Rundle, Tomahawk, Venom Prison, Youth Code x King Yosef

I am not expecting much: Anthrax, Arch Enemy, At the Gates, Exodus, Eyehategod, GWAR, King Diamond, Megadeth, Metallica, Ministry, Ozzy Osbourne

I know it's 2020, but my copy of Ravening Iron finally showed up. Holy hell, yeah, this is as good as the buzz indicates. In addition to everything else, they've got a killer rhythm section.

Also, I did not learn until today that artist Ken Kelly is Frank Franzetta's nephew. Makes sense, but I had no idea.

my only frustration with the Eternal Champion is that I wish the vocalist were more charismatic. he's effective but at times gets stuck in a monotony.

the songwriting is ace though. this is the kind of power/heavy I wish was in greater prevalence, cos it has teeth.

Oh yeah, I'd be way more into power metal if it sounded like this more often.

my only frustration with the Eternal Champion is that I wish the vocalist were more charismatic. he's effective but at times gets stuck in a monotony.

This is exactly why this album didn't click with me. Riffs galore, but the singer - meh. That's why the Spirit Adrift album was my power metal pick for the year. (I wish Visigoth would put out more music soon.)

Yeah I still think the Spirit Adrift record is slightly better, but I was really impressed with the bassist for Eternal Champion. It's not often with this kind of metal that I find myself gravitating towards the bass player.

one of todays trump insurrectionists

https://i.imgur.com/7fchcWA.jpg

you fucking kidding me

I knew he was a bit of a loony politically but....goddammit.

welp, bye Iced Earth...for now, until things blow over.

I think Tribulation has a new album out 1/29, right? Surprised that's not on the list of anticipated up there.

New Ghost album would be sweeeeeeeeeeet. I'm like 65/35 "he's had some time off to work on it and thus it will be amazing" vs. "they're about due for diminishing returns"

http://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/136975071_4061043350592028_3120396240289924417_o.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=2&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=o-83QSxRsmcAX_0e_qF&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=95151fbdf069efa01eed00cb5be03f97&oe=601E0B6F

🙄

sad thing is unlike the other two bands, I think IE's lunacy is mostly concentrated in Schaffer (though ex-singer Barlow was a cop soooo...). but that's cos his bandmates seem to change every album.

I bet they break up as a result (or he replaces the current lineup after they quit)

These guys, dubbed ‘Cold Thrower’ in the comments (which I think is both funny and accurate) are about to drop their first LP tomorrow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EKV1O7gJDU

I listened to some of it this morning. It's fine. If you need one more record that sounds like that, get it. They're from Texas, though, so don't be surprised to find yourself deleting it in a month when they turn out to be Trumpoid revanchists or something.

re: Frozen Soul, am a big fan of their Maggot Stomp demo, but haven't had a chance to listen to the full length yet, but I'd say it's pretty unlikely they are right-wing Trumpists since they donated a few hundred bucks to BLM over the summer (more than Exhumed and other bigger bands did if I recall correctly) and have also mocked anti-maskers on their socials.

Those who listen to post-Udo Accept (i.e. not me) may be disappointed to hear that their upcoming album Too Mean to Die has been postponed from January 15 to January 29.

https://metalinjection.net/metal-crimes/iced-earths-jon-schaffer-now-listed-on-fbis-most-wanted

Jose Mangin, idiot:

Common ground = Heavy music.
Let’s focus on what we all hold close to our heart, and for us Metalheads, it’s our music.
What happens when someone falls in a mosh pit?
Do we ask them who they favor politically?
Or do we just automatically pick them up & continue rocking?
🤘🏽🙏🏽🤘🏽

— Jose Mangin (@josemangin) January 8, 2021

"favor politically" vs "showing up to an armed insurrection"

nail his ass

kinda wanna watch him getting perp walked and holding up an Oontz speaker playing "Reaching the End"...quiet tune but fitting

Guys, checking back a few days but I contributed to the Ramones Museum fundraiser/make space appeal during the summer (hoodie and some shirts for something stupid like €30) and one of the shirts they sent me was a Dee Dee King one. Lockdown means I haven't been anywhere to bust it out yet but it's just waiting.

Toilet Ov Hell was prompted by the insipid Jose Mangin tweet referenced above to publish 'Metal Alone Cannot Unite Us':

While that sentiment may be nice on the surface, it doesn’t hold much weight in reality.

Punk fought Nazis and kicked them out. Hardcore fought Nazis and kicked them out. Metal, in general, just kind of shrugged and allowed them to stick around. By doing so, these people have learned to tone down their rhetoric enough to start or join other bands, get signed to better known labels, and subtly reach a much larger audience. It is one of many blind spots in metal that continues to fester and push us apart rather than bring us together.

His desire to find commonality rather than focus on differences may be well-intentioned but chooses to ignore ongoing and underlying issues. It asks us to ignore the real world and put our arms around the sweaty person next to you at the show when “Raining Blood” plays over the PA. This is the equivalent of Marge Simpson saying “Now let’s forget our troubles with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream!” Ignore the difficult stuff, listen to music, and everything will be better. While a common interest in a specific genre of music may bring us together, it does not bind us together. We live in the real world where real things happen and they do not magically go away because of a shared love of a riff or lyrics.

Schaffer and Graves found more in common with seditionists and bigots. No riff was too great and no solo was too incredible to stop them from befriending and supporting the worst of the worst. That cannot be ignored, cannot be forgiven, and can never be forgotten.

Commonality is not good enough, especially after the events of last week.

evil bathroom otm

v well-said

Very much so, yes.

That said, I will continue enjoying unproblematic art made by problematic people, without slipping a single penny into their pocket.

reminds me a lot of the bullshit I used to read about "gamers" as if liking video games was some sort of coherent political orientation

Yes, this band's name is POUNDER and yes, they know EXACTLY what they're doing with this album cover.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Erfkg1nXAAIkNhu.jpg

one for the Yawnsomely Literal Cover Art thread

I don't want to link to it to give it any extra eyeballs, but there's a flyer flying around twitter for a fascist metal fest coming to an "undisclosed location" in New Jersey this summer.

Biggest thing on it appears to be Disma completely undermining their redemption narrative by appearing at this thing even after they ditched the Nazi vocalist.

Yeah, from what I've read not every band on that bill is explicitly Nazi, but...why would the non-Nazi bands agree to play that show?

That’s where I am, seems like something you wouldn’t want to be associated with, especially now. There are enough sketchy bands on that flyer to raise eyebrows.

DISMA (NJ)
ENGORGE (CA,NJ)
ABHOMINE (FL)
GODLESS NORTH
INTOLITARIAN (IL)
MANTICORE (OH)
BLOOD STAINED DUSK (AL)
CULTUS PROFANO (CA)
TRENCH WARFARE (TX)
FEVER (MO)
BERATOR (IL)
APOCRYPHAL REVELATION (KY)
ANCIENT MESSIAH (PA)
WITCH TOMB (MA)

How many of these bands are sketch?

Intolitarian and Fever for sure. Disma had a Nazi former lead singer, but supposedly cut ties with him because of it. Haven’t investigated all the rest yet.

I mean...

Gee, I wonder why bands like this are so upset about the existence of people who oppose fascism. pic.twitter.com/cAamXjgRYM

— Kim Kelly (@GrimKim) January 12, 2021

ABHOMINE (FL)

Been sad watching Helmkamp go from weakness to weakness in his late career chasing the edgy extreme. He recently added the drummer from Grand Belial's Key to Abhomine and there's a song called "Gogamgoz" (ZOG Magog backwards get it?) on their recent EP, among some other outright dumb fash shit. Oh well.

Huh, I see Hell’s Headbangers is still comfortable releasing this sketchy and fash shit.

I’m not sure I get the non-biblical reference, re: that title.

just google ZOG

I see… ugh.

Nothing to do with King Zog of Albania then?

You know what I love that is usually not in my wheelhouse these days?
The new Pyrexia.

It's brutal Suffocation gas mask death metal (I call it that because the vocalist sounds like he's wearing one) really well done.

Yea it's really good. Ironically the death metal band improved after replacing its murderer vocalist.

Yeah, I pre-ordered that a while ago and liked it a lot.

If you like your metal florid and melodic, I recommend the new Temperance album, Diamanti, which I'm pretty sure will be my album of the year after hearing it all the way through just once.

Liking this a lot actually. Kind of like Ghost meets Andrew Lloyd Weber.

First you had me.... then you completely lost me.

Listening to the upcoming second album by Nite (it'll be out in March) and...I wish I liked it better. I almost do. It's got really good galloping old school riffs (very Iron Maiden, very Slough Feg, very Cirith Ungol) but instead of the clean, soaring vocals the material demands, the singer is a hoarse growler who sounds almost exactly like Rob "Just Asking Questions" Miller (Amebix, Tau Cross, dude who shouts out Holocaust deniers in his liner notes). Oh, well.

ta daaa

https://funeralmist.bandcamp.com/album/deiform

It's bonkers, as usual.

Blood Incantation are putting out an ambient record, Timewave Zero, in February.

Cosmic Death Metal band BLOOD INCANTATION have just announced the release of their first Ambient record, 'Timewave Zero', coming February 25, 2022. Recorded at World Famous Studio in Denver, Colorado, 'Timewave Zero' will be available as 180g Gatefold LP+CD, Ltd. CD+Blu-ray Digipak and on all digital platforms.

The Ltd. 2CD Digipak version will feature an additional 27-minute-long bonus track (“Chronophagia”) and contains a blu-ray with the full album as a 5.1 mix + over 40 minutes of visuals directed by Wayne Joyner (https://www.waynejoyner.com/).

The band comments: “An astute listening to our previous recordings reveals a gradual and deliberate increase of Experimental, Progressive and Psychedelic components. ‘Timewave Zero’ is the distillation of these elements into a concentrated piece; stripping away the Metal and emphasizing the Dark, Cinematic and exceedingly Cosmic atmosphere our music is known for.”

ta daaa

https://funeralmist.bandcamp.com/album/deiform

It's bonkers, as usual.

― Devilock, Friday, December 17, 2021 2:14 AM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

i was just coming in here to ask if anyone heard the new funeral mist

new fucking funeral mist!!!!!!

So this came out today...

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0267/8122/0924/products/846193ef4af36ae1b9e6fe4f2b37c483_500x.jpg?v=1635864754

Cirith Ungol "Frost and Fire (40th Anniversary Edition - Deluxe Artbook)" Boxset

Disc 1: CD - 40th Anniversary Remix
01. Frost and Fire (40th Anniversary Remix)
02. I'm Alive (40th Anniversary Remix)
03. A Little Fire (40th Anniversary Remix)
04. What Does It Take (40th Anniversary Remix) [Goldmine Mix]
05. Edge of a Knife (40th Anniversary Remix)
06. Better Off Dead (40th Anniversary Remix) [Goldmine Mix]
07. Maybe That's Why (40th Anniversary Remix)

Disc 2: CD - 2021 Remaster
01. Frost and Fire (2021 Remaster)
02. I'm Alive (2021 Remaster)
03. A Little Fire (2021 Remaster)
04. What Does It Take (2021 Remaster)
05. Edge of a Knife (2021 Remaster)
06. Better Off Dead (2021 Remaster)
07. Maybe That's Why (2021 Remaster)

Disc 3: CD - Demos
01. I'm Alive (Demo - April 23rd, 1977)
02. A Little Fire (Take 2 - April 23rd, 1977)
03. Edge of a Knife (Take 2 - April 23rd, 1977)
04. I'm Alive (Demo - Sept 1980)
05. A Little Fire (Demo - Sept 1980)
06. Edge of a Knife Demo - Sept 1980)
07. Maybe That's Why (Demo - Full Band - Sept 1980)
08. Frost and Fire (Demo - Unknown Date)
09. A Little Fire (Gtr Demo)
10. What Does It Take (Demo - Unknown Date)
11. Better Off Dead (Demo - Unknown Date)
12. Maybe That's Why (Demo - Unknown Date)

Disc 4: CD - Rare Interviews and Fan Tapes
01. KKBZ Radio Interview - Ventura, CA
02. KLOS Radio Local Show - Los Angeles, CA
03. Rock Punto 7 Radio Interview - CDMX, Mexico
04. Answering Machine Fan Messages

Frost Blue / Fire Orange Marbled Vinyl:
=================
SIDE A
01. Frost and Fire (40th Anniversary Remix)
02. I'm Alive (40th Anniversary Remix)
03. A Little Fire (40th Anniversary Remix)
04. What Does It Take (40th Anniversary Remix) [Goldmine Mix]

SIDE B
05. Edge of a Knife (40th Anniversary Remix)
06. Better Off Dead (40th Anniversary Remix) [Goldmine Mix]
07. Maybe That's Why (40th Anniversary Remix)

SIDE C
08. Frost and Fire (2021 Remaster)
09. I'm Alive (2021 Remaster)
10. A Little Fire (2021 Remaster)
11. What Does It Take (2021 Remaster)

SIDE D
12. Edge of a Knife (2021 Remaster)
13. Better Off Dead (2021 Remaster)
14. Maybe That's Why (2021 Remaster)

Deluxe Artbook Features:
+ 50-Page Hardcover Book (12" x 12")
+ 4 Compact Discs
+ Frost Blue / Fire Orange Marbled Vinyl
+ Artbook Contents: rare photos, flyers, memorabilia, as well as detailed liner notes and essays by the band
+ European Import

I am not one who gets vinyl but the only way to get the extra CDs is in this package (the standard CD is a double-disc set with both versions of the album and no bonus material) so I think I may have to bite the bullet here.

That looks fantastic, but I don't think I can spring for the full thing - I hate when the dialed down 2xCD edition excises the good stuff, though I suppose that's the point.

Okay, I bought it. I was able to use a 10% off offer plus I qualified for four payments two weeks apart with no interest so that's not a big hit!

omg why didn't anybody tell me about this release this year

https://lavadome.bandcamp.com/album/conflagrate-the-celestial-refugium

they claim to sound like Morbid Angel and Angel Corpse, which isn't far off the mark, though I don't find them as occult and mysterious sounding as MA. it's just intense and rifftastic.

drumming is Krisiun like with basically blast beats just covering the music

from earlier this year: https://inoculation-maggotstomp.bandcamp.com/album/celestial-putridity

was described as similar to Deicide by the person who told me about it, but I don't hear it. very creative, catchy riffs. nothing new under the sun, but infectious af, and heavy.

I am doing last-minute albums of the year that I missed from the last Decibel Magazine.
I am glad I discovered the Alda record and plan on buying it when the Eisenwald store reopens after their holiday break.

http://open.spotify.com/album/1WX7fiFDOzSJceDvVnwQan?si=_9sMIsScSXSmHPMfjrxrag

They don't like the term "Cascadian black metal" but I like it as a descriptive term.

Also discovered in the Decibel year-end issue:

http://pan-amerikannativefront.bandcamp.com/album/little-turtles-war

Little Turtle's War by Pan-Amerikan Native Front
Pro-War, anti-Western imperialism Native American collective.
Solid black metal that sounds like the classic stuff but with flourishes unique to their passion and mission statement.

This was a "Record that tied for 41" incidentally.

Another one that I didn't check out is the Enforced record that Century Media put out in March.

http://open.spotify.com/album/7Ctn7LIvEDjR2etYrwsD3K?si=vXY2dlzlRnmQagbZEaOlTQ

Crispy thrash that reminds me at different times of classic Sepultura or mid-period Testament? Sign me up!

Possibly the last album of the year I am going to buy:

The new Pantheist album is the same quality ethereal Funeral Doom they have become known for, maybe with the added touch of desultory Ennio Morricone at times.

http://pantheistuk.bandcamp.com/album/closer-to-god

I'd never heard of <code> before, but "Flyblown Prince" is an agreeable slice of weird black metal with prog elements, recommended for fans of Khanus, apparently they have some kind of connection to that Finnish band:

https://codeblackmetal.bandcamp.com/album/flyblown-prince

The new Decapitated song is...kinda good. More tech-deathy than they've been in a while. Of course, it's called "Cancer Culture," so lots of dickheads are gunning for them on Twitter.

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

Necrom - All Parts Are Left Here (Osmose Records, 25 March 2022)

This is getting released tomorrow, Ukrainian Entombed-worshipping OSDM from Kharkiv.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuno6605Aks

(ah using the wrong rolling Metal thread it seems!)

I just received last year's Panopticon album finally - they didn't do a standalone CD release this time, instead including it in with the vinyl, and I slept on the first pressing that immediately sold out. The second pressing finally made it into my grubby hands which means I have officially purchased every 2021 release I wanted on CD, LP, Tape, or Digital Download if all else failed.

As such, here's my list. It's late to the game but that's Panopticon's fault as far as I am concerned.

My Favorite 2021 Metal(lic) Albums

Aduanten - Sullen Cadence
Alda - A Distant Fire
Animal Schoolbus - Going To Grammy's House!? 2021 Remix
Artillery - X
Big|Brave - Vital
Black Mass - Feast at the Forbidden Tree
Blasphemous Creation - Forsaken Dynasty
Bloody Hammers - Songs of Unspeakable Terror
The Body - I've Seen All I Need to See
The Body & Big|Brave - Leaving None But Small Birds
Bone Tower - We All Will Die Someday
Bongzilla - Weedsconsin
Carcass - Torn Arteries
Cirith Ungol - Half Past Human [EP]
Cirith Ungol - Frost and Fire (40th Anniversary Edition)
Cosmic Burial - …To The Past
Cradle of Filth - Existence is Futile
Craven Idol - Forked Tongues
The Crown - Royal Destroyer
Darkthrone - Eternal Hails…
Dead Neanderthals - Rat Licker
Deafheaven - Infinite Granite
Deceased - Thrash Times At Ridgemont High
Dola - Czasy
Dordeduh - Har
Dread Sovereign - Alchemical Warfare
Dusk in Silence - Beneath the Great Sky of Solitude
Enforced - Kill Grid
Evile - Hell Unleashed
Fiat Nox - In Contemptuous Defiance
The Flight of Sleipnir - Eventide
Fluisteraars - Gegrepen Door de Geest der Zielsontluiking
Full of Hell - Garden of Burning Apparitions
Gaunt Emperor - Femur
Graveyard Shifters - Head Turns First, Eyes Follow...
Haunt - Beautiful Distraction
Heavy Temple - Lupi Amoris
The HIRS Collective - The Third 100 Songs
Hot Breath - Rubbery Lips
Iceburn - Asclepius
Impaled Nazarene - Eight Headed Serpent
Iron Maiden - Senjutsu
Khemmis - Deceiver
King Woman - Celestial Blues
Knoll - Interstice
Korpiklaani - Jylhä
Krallice - Demonic Wealth
Lingua Ignota - Agnus Dei [EP]
Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready
Lucifer - IV
Lucifuge - Infernal Power
Lys - Silent Woods
Mastodon - Hushed and Grim
Melvins - Working With God
Mesarthim - Vacuum Solution [EP]
Mesarthim - CLG J02182–05102
Monster Magnet - A Better Dystopia
Mourners - Act I: Tragedies
Necromantical Invocation - Dogme el Rituel de la Haute Magie
Negură Bunget - Zău
Pan-Amerikan Native Front - Little Turtle's War
Panopticon - …And Again Into the Light
Pantheist - Closer to God
Paysage d'Hiver - Geister
The Pretty Reckless - Death By Rock And Roll
Pyrexia - Gravitas Maximus
Red Fang - Arrows
The Ruins Of Beverast - The Thule Grimoires
Sentinel Beast - Depths Of Death (Reissue)
S.H.I. - 4 死 Death
Skepticism - Companion
Sleep - The Clarity [12"]
Spectral Wound - A Diabolical Thirst
Steel Bearing Hand - Slay In Hell
Stone Deaf - Killers
Sur Austru - Obârșie
Throat - Smile Less
Thy Catafalque - Vadak
Thyrfing - Vanagandr
Towards Atlantis Lights - When the Ashes Devoured the Sun
Tribulation - Where the Gloom Becomes Sound
Wardruna - Kvitravn
Warish - Next to Pay
White Ward - Debemur Morti [EP]
Windfaerer - Breaths Of Elder Dawns
Wolves in the Throne Room - Primordial Arcana
Youth Code / King Yosef - A Skeleton Key In The Doors Of Depression
V/A (Sisters of Mercy Tribute) - Black Waves Of Adrenochrome

No Meshuggah? I think the new one is great! Agree with the criticisms above that they aren't reinventing the wheel at this point, but I feel they've earned the right to simply skate along on the wheel they've already invented. They've simply honed and refined over time their groovy battering ram vibe, and sound as immaculate and uncompromising as ever. I dunno, I can never have too much of that sound.

This ended up being my top 5:

Asphyxiate - Altar of Decomposed
Deafheaven - Infinite Granite
Sněť - Mokvání v okovech
Temperance - Diamanti
Worm - Foreverglade

Dear anybody else who likes the school of black-ish metal-ish that sounds like the internal monologue of the last demon left in Hell after everybody else has moved away, check out the new Reverorum ib Malacht.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3pDeSwiNodraaR3tzEtbWV?si=skJrovsKSq661V6on4yYkQ