A (not so) Triumphant Return

ok so its been awhile since i've posted on any regular basis or posted at all really. I made many pleas for some participation by my readers in the form of comments which came to nought and left me feeling like this was all a waste of time. So heres another chance for you fuckers. Should i start posting again? If I get any sort of real reaction/response to this then i'll consider it. Otherwise keep getting your music from the websites that post endless amounts of music they've never heard, dont care about and cant take two minutes to write about. And on top of that have the audacity to ask you to donate money to them so they can make a profit off the artists.

Earthling - Dark Path

From: USA
Year: 2013
Genre: Metal

Robert Anton Wilson once said "What the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves." When it comes to trying to classify Earthling this quote holds especially true. Thrashers say they're thrash, doom fanatics swear they're a doom band and even kvlt black metallers try to take them for their own, but to my ears Earthling are just a metal band, and a damn fine one at that. Sure they can thrash their balls off, drag you through the mire with epic doom riffs and stoner jams, trade shredding dual guitar leads over blast beats followed by dirty tremolo picking that has as much to do with crusty death metal as black metal, sometimes all in the same song. (and thats not even all the tricks they have up their sleeves) But they balance everything so well that they never lean in any one direction too heavily. Even the vocals would lend themselves to black or death metal, but more along the lines of proto black and death circa 84 similar to Possessed or Bathory. In fact if four metal heads jumped in a time machine and wrote an album in 1984 this is what it would sound like. Its unpretentious with a classic metal vibe while utilizing all the elements that have come to define extreme music in the 21st century. This will undoubtedly be one of my favorite metal albums of the year. For fans of Bathory, Bolt Thrower, Electric Wizard and Slayer. If that doesnt make you wanna listen to this then you dont like metal. If you like what you hear show these southern gents your support and buy a copy from Forcefield Records. Click here to listen to the album on Soundcloud. Or check out a demo version of "Losing Sight" in the video below.

Mortillery - Origin of Extinction

From: USA
Year: 2013
Genre: Thrash/Speed Metal

Having been obsessed with thrash metal in my early teens in the late 80's, I have to admit I find very few modern thrash bands worthwhile. Most notably Vektor, Antichrist, Korgull the Exterminator and Iron Reagan, to name a few. But i recently came across these canadians (seriously what the hell do you guys put in the beer up there?), and i've been listening to it non stop. Its put me on a mission to discover all the bands I missed out on back then, but more on that in another post perhaps. Anyway, if you're a fan of thrash, speed or power metal, do yourself a favor and ignore the terrible cover art and give these guys (and gals) a chance cus this album is pretty awesome. I made that mistake more than once back in the day and missed out on some incredible albums like "The Daily Horror News" by Risk, whose silly cover art made me pass on an album I have recently become obsessed with. Back to Mortillery - The riffs themselves could stand to be a bit more interesting and could use some more crunch but the solos are all solid as hell, the songs are very well written with hooks galore and the vocals are all over the map, sounding like a cross between Flotsam and Jetsam & Holy Moses with some death vocs thrown in for good measure. They've got the melodicism of power metal, the unbridled aggression of speed metal and the brutality of thrash down pat. They combine them all into what, in my humble opinion, is gonna be one of the better thrash albums of the year. Thrash till Death! Buy a copy at Napalm Records.

Favorite Albums of 2012

Well another year has gone by, as usual there will be a ton of people saying,"It wasnt a good year for metal". In my opinion if you say that you either haven't been paying attention or simply have shitty taste. Ha! Last year i made the mistake of trying to do this post by post and ended up omitting like 7 of my absolute favorite albums (Vektor, Flourishing, etc.). So i'm just lumping them together this year. Anyway, heres my top 30 metal/hardcore releases of 2012 in no particular order. I'm leaving out the albums by Converge and Neurosis, even though they were both incredible, because if you're a fan of heavy music then surely you've heard them by now and they get plenty of attention anyway. Some albums that didnt quite make the cut for whatever reason were - Dordeduh - Dar de Duh, Hell - III, Torch Runner - Committed to the Ground, Mutilation Rites - Empyrean, Eagle Twin - The Feather Tipped the Serpents Scale - to name a very few. The biggest disappointment for me was the Graveyard LP. Its not bad at all, but after last years Hisingen Blues (which i felt was one of the best rock albums of the last decade), i was expecting a lot more. As an added bonus i'm including my top ten less-metal albums that i absolutely loved but either just felt out of place, or didn't belong at all, on the other list. These lists are very relative. The first list is dominated by black and death because thats what i listenened to this year, if i had written this in 1989 it would've been filled with thrash metal.

Top 30 Metal/Hardcore Albums
Charon - Sulphur Seraph (The Archon Principle)
Desolate Shrine - The Sanctum of Human Darkness
Pinkish Black - Self Titled
Necrovation - Necrovation
Tempel - On the Steps of the Temple
Propagandhi - Failed States
Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma
Spectral Lore - Sentinel
Cowards - Shooting Blanks and Pills
Putrevore - Macabre Kingdom
Krallice - Years Past Matter
Dephosphorus - Night Sky Transform
Evoken - Atra Mors
Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction
Ysengrin - To Endotaton
Pharoah - Bury the Light
Blut Aus Nord - 777 - Cosmosophy
Witchcraft - Legend
Wreck and Reference - No Youth
Panopticon - Kentucky
Aevangelist - De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tumulis
Jute Gyte - Isolation
Ghostlimb - Confluence
Knelt Rote - Trespass
Bosse de Nage - III
Pseudogod - Deathwomb Catechesis
Dawnbringer - Lair of the Sun God
Dodecahedron - Dodecahedron
Incantation - Vanquish in Vengeance
Royal Thunder - CVI

Top Ten Less (or Non) Metal
Caspian - Waking Season
Om - Advaitic Songs
Swans - The Seer
El-P - Cancer 4 Cure
James Blackshaw - Love is the Plan , The Plan is Death
Gifts from Enola - A Healthy Fear
Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 2
Wovenhand - The Laughing Stalk
Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
Balmorhea - Stranger

Knelt Rote - Trespass 12"

From: USA
Year: 2012
Genre: Blackened Death Metal/Grindcore

Upon listening to this album I was immediately reminded of the title of the Sepultura EP Bestial Devastation. Cus thats exactly what it is. Pure. Bestial. Devastation. Imagine early Napalm Death crossed with Revenge and you might begin to get an idea of what to expect. This band is prepared to take the underground by storm and force, destroying everything in their path. Grimy blackened death metal with a power electronics/noisegrind backbone, this album just reeks chaos and destruction. It belongs along side the releases by Dephosphorus and Plague Widow this year, all of them relatively new bands taking extreme music into the future by not only pushing the envelope but doing it with passion and conviction. Do not miss out on this. Order the LP at Nuclear War Now! Productions Stream the album here.

Cyanic - Litanies of Lust Unholy

From: USA
Year: 2012
Genre: Blackened Death/Grind

If, before you press play, you don't prepare yourself for the relentless sonic assault that these guys are about to unleash on your ass, don't say i didn't warn you. And while i'm obviously aware that i put "blackened death/grind" next to genre, don't bother trying to define this band. I mean, what was i supposed to write? Thrashing blackened brutal death/grind? This is like aural hate mail to the history of extreme music, sans Doom, because they simply don't have the inclination to slow down and take a break from punishing your eardrums. At breakneck speed they cycle through all these genres with technical precision without ever submitting to self indulgent wankery. As much as i'd love to sit here and extol all the virtues of this awesome album, i have shit to do today. If you are a fan of just about any form of extreme music I can't see you not enjoying this album. Support at Bandcamp.

James Blackshaw - Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death

From: USA
Year: 2012
Genre: Contemporary Classical Guitar/American Primitivism

I awoke at 6:30 this morning in a state of panic and dread. Images lingered at the periphery of consciousness, images that evoked a very deep sadness about the passage of time, about the loss of tiny parts of my life that now only exist as memories that i struggle to even hold on to...i found myself unable and unwanting to go back to sleep, disturbed by dreams of lost time....i crawled out of bed, made coffee and sought refuge and solace in this. Heres to hoping it does the same for you. Buy a copy at Important Records. Also check out his release "The Glass Bead Game", from which the song in the video below was taken.

25 Favorite Splits/Demos/EPs/Etc. of 2012

I'm starting with splits, etc. so lets get to it....there is no real order because i find it impossible to weigh the merits of one album over another amongst different genres.....also there are no DL links cus a monkey can find them.....besides most of them are free downloads or name your price...yeah i extended the list....i rushed it and forgot some gems.....sue me...some honorable mentions are releases by.....Impious Baptism, Northern Torment, Tempest, Genocide Shrines(!) and Corpsessed...check em all out....this shits final...otherwise i'm gonna drive myself insane....i listened to waaaaay too much music this year.....

Adversarial/Antediluvian - Initiated in Impiety as Mysteries - Split/EP
Buy or Listen

Plague Widow - EP
Buy or Listen

Flourishing - Intersubjectivity/EP
Buy or Listen

Inverloch - Dusk/Subside/EP
Buy or Listen

Elder - Spires Burn/Release/12"
Buy or Listen

False/Barghest - Split/EP
Buy or Listen

Monomakh - MMXII/Demo
Buy or Listen

Inter Arma - Destroyer/EP
Buy or Listen

Pelican - Ataraxia/Taraxis/EP
Buy or Listen

Mutilation Rites - I Am Legion - EP
Buy or Listen

Vatnett Viskar - EP
Buy or Listen

Marriages - EP
Buy or Listen

Muknal - Demo
Buy or Listen

Deathspell Omega - Drought/EP
Buy or Listen

Gehenna/Integrity - Split - 7"
Buy or Listen

Forks of Ivory - The Isolator/EP
Buy or Listen

Obolus - Lament/EP
Buy or Listen

Torture Chain - Time is But a Doorway to the Incinerator/Demo
Buy or Listen

Northless - Valley of Lead - 10"
Buy or Listen

Sonne Adam - Doctrines of Dark Devotion - EP
Buy or Listen

Altar of Plagues/Year of No Light - Split/EP
Buy or Listen

Old Baby - Misunderstanding Human Behavior - EP
Buy or Listen

Agalloch - Faustian Echoes - EP
Buy or Listen

Little Sister - Self Titled - EP
Buy or Listen

Absum/Odz Manouk - Split - 7"
Buy or Listen




also go check out a similar list at SEVERED HEADS OPENED MINDS.....find all the stuff I missed out on....

Ysengrin - To Endotaton

From: France
Year: 2012
Genre: Doom/Black/Death

One 40 minute track that brings to mind everyone from Mercyful Fate, Paradise Lost, Hooded Menace, Cathedral and Candlemass, with blackened passages, beautifully acoustic interludes and synthesizers adding an occult overtone to the whole affair, Ysengrin have crafted an album that brings to mind everything that was great about metal in the 80's and 90's while adding a distinctive modern flair. There are recurring themes throughout the album that create an overall coherence similar to a piece of classical music. The vocals are primarily growled but its the riffs and solos that steal the show. They draw upon the NWOBHM, doom, black metal and death metal while maintaining a classic feel that will claw their way into your subconscious and leave you wanting more. Not once did I ever get bored while listening, in fact once its over i usually hit repeat. They dont use the long track as a gimmick but as a way to introduce themes and pull you in. Just check it out for your self. Trust me when i tell you that this will be on my best of list this year. Its an incredible album that effortlessly blends genres without ever feeling forced. Get a copy from I, Voidhanger.