Yep. I love Schizophrenia and Arise. The first three tracks on Arise are incredible. I had Beneath the Remains on CD before, but it got stolen. Saw them in concert in Phoenix, AZ in 1991. The lineup was Sepultura/Sacred Reich/Napalm Death/Sick Of It All. I have the original flyer will try to post pic. Great concert.[/QUOTE]
Thanks, yeah, there's nothing much to say since we've all been digesting these news stories for years now. Whether my corner or yours it's equally terrible. I walk right here every day and I guess I'll have to walk to the left of that particular spot. Indulged in some music therapy last night. Dark, dirty, heavy, never surrender stuff of course. And this morning found this gem at No Clean Singing with some sweet guitar in places on it. Never heard of these guys but I'll be digging for more.
"Blisters on me fingers" after 3:50 and I'm sold. This Friday April 27 AORNOS - The Great Scorn, by AORNOS
Indeed, I have it on vinyl as well. Great disc. I'm thinking of picking up some of their previous stuff.
I have three. The two Opeth and the Death. Or might that be 3 1/2 for I did once own the Meshuggah album but I smashed it into a million pieces for stressing me out. I felt better after that.
Out of the top five only Gorguts is mia in my collection, that record is just too damn difficult a slog for me to get thru.
1998:4/5, 2008: 0/5. Their 1998 top 5 is much different from the top album lists from Metal Maniacs, Brave Words, and Terrorizer magazine from that year.
Has anyone tried out the new collaboration between Wardruna and Enslaved - Hugsja? If you've heard the previous album Skuggsja then this follow-up is even better. If it's unfamiliar to you, but you have an appreciation of the traditions and sounds behind black metal, then this is an album worth checking out as an interesting side-path. Here's my blog review: What’s to like? A fascinating collaborative musical piece, combining indigenous and contemporary music with Norse and Norwegian poetry, and performed using instruments ranging from the ancient to the modern. The low down One of the most interesting albums I came across last year, was the project called Skuggsja, a collaboration between members of the groups Wardruna and Enslaved. The music, written by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Einar Selvik (Wardruna), was originally initiated as a commissioned concert piece for the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution and premiered in September 2014 at the Eidsivablot festival, Eidsvoll where the constitution was written. The piece was written in the spirit of reflecting on Scandinavians as a people and a nation, drawing on the context of metal’s prominence as a popular music form in Norway and combining it with the country’s historical traditions and oldest instruments to create a cultural hybrid combining the most powerful and emotive sounds of both genres. The music was only intended as a one-off project, but it was so well received that Bjørnson and Selvik received a commission by the Bergen International Festival last year to compose a follow-up piece. The result was Hugsjá – meaning ‘to see with, or within, the mind’ – reflecting on the idea that one’s mind can potentially see further than the eyes reach. Selvik and Bjørnson explain: “Where our previous joint endeavour Skuggsjá had a very specific idea and format when it was commissioned, I feel we had much more room on Hugsjá, to freely explore as well as to apply our experience into the creative process and planning. It has truly been an enriching process where we have been working alongside great musicians, language experts, archeologists and local experts; seeking to unfold and shed light on relevant, yet near forgotten deities and myths as well as local history and traditions.” “We started out (on the Skuggsja project) by fusing our respective bands into a mammoth of a piece; and marching said mammoth on and off stage afterwards was not the easiest of tasks either. So when we started working on round two (the Hugsja project), we moved the focus from what we were doing in our ‘day-bands’, and what we could do together as musical and thinking ‘individuals’. In that process I feel we have invented a whole new genre and a whole new approach to historically anchored art. The recording process was a lot of fun also; these songs really work on all scales; acoustically outdoors by the sea, mic´d up and amplified in a giant concert hall – and last but not least; as an album…” Here’s the official trailer for the album: This time around the music is inspired by the musicians’ native Bergen coastline, and draws on themes and traditions from the earliest settlers through to the present day. There’s a definite nautical flavour to the album, from the cover photography showing the musicians on a Longship, to the watery artwork in the cd booklet, and the sound of rain and waves as a backdrop the music. It’s very atmospheric stuff, as you might expect, as the musicians create a hybrid sound of the ancient and the modern, mixing it up with lyres, goat horns, electric and acoustic guitars, synthesisers, fiddles, drums and a choir. The songs are sung in Norse, and the running order takes the form of three music cycles – The Reining Powers, Finding Norway, and The Dead – spread over eleven tracks. Thoughtfully, the lyrics are provided in the original tongue in the front half of the cd booklet, followed by an English translation in the second half. Although, to be honest, I rarely referred to the lyrics as the singing and the melodies paint a vivid picture for the listener, and the imagination does the rest. I was wondering how this album might differ from its predecessor, and once you start listening to it there is a tangible sense that the musicians have given the music a form and identity that sets it apart from their other bands. Last time round, the music seemed more rooted in the sounds of the musicians’ own bands, with each track taking on the vibe of either Wardruna or Enslaved. As a result, the Skuggsja album tended to flow from a traditional sounding track to a black metal track and then back again, with some great moments where it all merged into one sound. This time around the music is much more organic and blended and it feels like its own thing. The drumming is more sympathetic to the feel of each song, often simply adding a few beats to heighten the drama, and the guitars are used sparingly, with very little in the way of heavy riffing. While the sound of the more traditional instruments remains unchanged – let’s face it, what else can you do with a goat horn? – Bjørnson has experimented more with the electronic sounds, having taken time out to produce a fully electronic album – Bardspec– last year. As a result he’s created more sophisticated synth textures for Hugsja that work their way into the fibre of each song. The other marked step forward is Selvik’s singing. His performance on previous albums has been fine, but his delivery here seems stronger. His vocals bring passion and presence to the words, and become as important an instrument as anything else on the album. Word as sound, rather than embellishment over melody. And that’s what makes this album worth investing some time in. It feels like every note, every beat, the intonation of the voices, the length of each song, has been allowed to develop naturally but without becoming indulgent and losing the listener’s focus. The album runs for an hour and it feels like the right amount of time for the music. It’s also a really well produced and mixed album, again a testament to the skills and experience learned in the period between albums. Bjørnson and Selvik have not only grown as composers and musicians, but also as arrangers and producers. So, who will this album appeal to? Well, for those of you already familiar with the Skuggsja album, or Wardruna’s music, this will feel like embarking on a similar musical journey. It will also feel subtly different, as this is a slightly more contemplative piece, with less of the heavy tone of its predecessor, but no less impassioned in its performance. On the other hand, if you’re not familiar with the music and this is a metaphorical dip in the Nordic fjord, then come on in – the water’s fine. It’s very accessible music, easy to listen to but always dynamic and never bland. The music has an almost cinematic sweep to it. The multiple layers of sound merge the genres of traditional and Celtic music with the more contemporary ambient sounds of synthesizers and guitar effects, while the vocals range from raw and emotional to full blown choral. And there are even some field recordings of roaring fires and lapping waves scattered across the music to transport you into the moment. Perhaps the Hugsja album is best summed up by the closing notes in the cd booklet: “We hope it can inspire you to make your own journeys – in the mind and in the world.”
My 1998 Top 10 list would look something like this, not in order. Anathema - Alternative 4 Blind Guardian - Nightfall Jerry Cantrell - Boggy Depot Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding Death - Sound of Perseverance Iced Earth - Something Wicked this Way Comes Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals Monster Magnet - Powertrip Opeth - My Arms System of a Down - S/T
My 98 list would look like this: Cannibal Corpse ~ Gallery of Suicide Cradle of Filth ~ Cruelty and the Beast Death ~ Sound of Perseverance Incantation ~ Diabolical Conquest Marilyn Manson ~ Mechanical Animals Meshuggah ~ Chaosphere Monster Magnet ~ Powertrip Motorhead ~ Snake Bite Love Morbid Angel ~ Formulas Fatal to the Flesh Nile ~ Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren Ka
As far as their previous works, only Manifest Decimation and their split with Integrity are easily available online and at various brick and mortar shops. Their EP's and cassette releases are quite hard-to-find and/or expensive to get.
Not in order, something like this. So many heavyweights had albums that year. Slayer - Diabolis Anthrax - Vol 8 Stuck Mojo - Rising Bruce Dickenson - Chemical Wedding Motörhead - Snake Bite Love QOTSA - S/T SOAD - S/T Korn - FTL Opeth - My Arms Helloween - Better Than Raw Clutch - Eleohant Riders Sepultura - Against Deep Purple - Abandon Fear Factory - Obsolete COF - Crualty & The Beast Witchery - Restless & Dead
1998, eh? Samael - Exodus Rotting Christ - Thy Mighty Contract Old Man's Child - Ill Natured Spiritual Invasion Monster Magnet - Powertrip Meshuggah - Chaosphere Mercyful Fate - Dead Again Gorgoroth - Destroyer Fear Factory - Obsolete Dimmu Borgir - Godless Savage Garden Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding Cobra Strike - the 13th Scroll Carpathian Forest - Black Shining Leather Jerry Cantrell - Boggy Depot Behemoth - Pandemonic Incantations
Purely revisionist as I didn't discover the good stuff until 2001 with Blackwater Park. Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse Death - The Sound Of Perseverance Bolt Thrower - Mercenary Mercyful Fate - Dead Again Behemoth - Pandemonic Incantations Smashing Pumpkins - Adore Incantation - Diabolical Conquest Morbid Angel - Formulas Fatal to the Flesh Gorgoroth - Destroyer Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast Cool to see Marilyn Manson's Mechanical Animals. I remember his performance of The Dope Show on the MTV Award show that year. I thought it was daring and cool. I do love the chorus. I used to hit record on the VHS for those 90's MTV awards because the performances were stellar, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, etc, they would really bring it. I like this new EP, a dour, sour little thing. April 20, 2018 I recognize the cover from their 2014 album but I don't have it so I must not have liked it enough. Will have to revisit. Who are those guys on skis and where are they going? I'll take a wild guess that they didn't return.
I was very untrve and unkvlt during that period Gov't Mule - Dose Jerry Cantrell - Boggy Depot Brother Cane - Wishpool (Damon Johnson from BC played with Alice Cooper for awhile well after this) Jimmy Page and Robert Plant - Walking Into Clarksdale Sonic Youth - A Thousand Leaves Jeff Buckley - Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk The Smashing Pumpkins - Adore Slayer - Diabolus in Musica (I wasn't totally non-metal ) Monster Magnet - Powertrip EmmyLou Harris - Spyboy King's X - Tapehead I hope I'm not kicked out of the club I wish I had been familiar with Opeth back then as I love MAYH, but at that point they might have been too 'extreme' for me. Funny how I like music that is a lot more 'extreme' in my more advanced years.
I didn't know about this in '98. In 2001 in the new releases section of the record store (CD store never sounds right) the Blackwater Park cover caught my eye. The track list intrigued me enough to take a chance. I've said it before in some thread that I hadn't heard this type of vocal before and it was an absolute revelation. I was laid out! Being so instrumentally, musically superb sure did help as well. The five Opeth albums were then in steady rotation for nine months. I forgot to post this earlier with my mention of Bolt Thrower in my list. A member of which is in this band. One of the rare times I think a song is too short. Hey man, your "Heeeey" is pretty good but not Tom G. Warrior/Celtic Frost godly good. June 15, 2018
1998 was a bonkers year, especially because I was just getting back into metal and thus was experiencing for the first time a lot of stuff that would become irreplaceable lifelong favorites -- Norwegian black metal in the forefront. Looking at a list of albums I own from that year, however, I notice there really isn't much in the way of the black. I do know that despite Opeth's going on to become one of my fave bands, they totally rubbed me the wrong way when I first heard the track "Nectar" on a Blackend Music compilation. Their music sounded too academic, too busy and sterile, sort of like an extreme metal Rush. I wanted everything to sound like either Emperor or Darkthrone (or even Dimmu and Dark Funeral around this time, all part of the Scandinavian Black Metal Starter Kit). My top 10 would look something like this: 10) December Wolves - Completely Dehumanized 09) Lunar Aurora - Seelenfeuer 08) Epoch of Unlight - What Will Be Has Been 07) Carpathian Forest - Black Shining Leather 06) Borknagar - The Archaic Course 05) Incantation - Diabolical Conquest 04) Morbid Angel - Formulas Fatal to the Flesh 03) Opeth - My Arms Your Hearse 02) Gorguts - Obscura 01) Nile - Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka HM to Dan Swano - Moontower; Virgin Steele - Invictus; Vintersorg - Till Fjalls; Time Machine - Eternity Ends; Solitude Aeturnus - Adagio; Soilent Green - Sewn Mouth Secrets; Deeds of Flesh - Inbreeding the Anthropophagi; Cryptopsy - Whisper Supremacy; Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-Earth; and Anata - The Infernal Depths of Hatred. And Death and Devin and Enslaved and Aeternus and Angelcorpse and Covenant and Gorgoroth and Rhapsody arrrrgggghhhhh... It never ends. Honestly, any of those HM's could replace anything on the lower half of my list. Ridiculous year! Still listen to this stuff all the time. (Was just jamming out to the Cryptopsy on the way home from work.)
I listened to the one track (not this one posted) at Angry Metal Guy and liked the song a lot. That is without reading any of the review, as is my custom, but in going to their bandcamp I see a list of accolades and praise by known and unknown magazines. I wish I didn't see that as it taints my opinion. Though I do like the singular "monumental" by Grizzly Butts. Grizzly Butts! I don't think this is album of the year stuff like some mags say but I do like it. There is some real gravel getting rolled about. In the current vernacular there's a "doubling down" on the aggression. I felt a similar untempered commitment in play on that catchy almost Pop song by Forgotten Tomb last year. FORGOTTEN TOMB - We Owe You Nothing (CENSORED) That is something I think about on and off in a casual, non-studious way. Casual, in part, because I won't give my opinion which would be incendiary for those who worship 1986 standard Metal. They may not look here in this thread but still I decline to be so offending. I'm sure I'm not pursuing 'extreme' for its sake but rather pursuing excellence and that is found here in these genres. The easiest parallel for me between to the two Metal worlds is that of Representational and Nonrepresentational art with something like Deathspell Omega throwing down the Jackson Pollock or Mark Rothko paint. Of note when I bought KISS Alive! in 1976 it shocked and stunned me. I had to adjust my tenderness to its aggression and coarseness. Also my first concert in Sept 1976. In October naturally for the Halloween reboot. I read somewhere it's more a Halloween 2 reboot. Also in the fall the Suspiria remake which some who saw a clip found hard to watch due to gruesomeness. "Very Gruesome, Hard to Watch" First Clip from 'Suspiria' Remake Shown at CinemaCon - Bloody Disgusting Hey, anything with Tilda Swinton in it will fill me with terror.
I'm glad to hear that, as I thought I was the only one! However, I do still own a copied cassette of The Erosion of Sanity that I just found and played the other day (peer pressure coerced me into buying a tape deck and it was the right decision!!!!). THAT is the Gorguts I dig. By the way Napalm Death's Harmony Corruption is on side B of that old tape.
A Power Trip compilation of their demo and EP tracks is out for digital download. Vinyl LP, cassette, and CD versions are coming soon. Opening Fire: 2008-2014, by POWER TRIP
