It's hard for me to do a list of top five anything, mostly because it's hard for me to really categorize some bands but some of my favorites in this general area. Trouble - Trouble (Def American) is really a great album that combines dark and heavy riffs with amazingly catchy vocals. Cathedral - Forest Of Equilibrium ….though I think Endtyme might be their best, it didn't have the impact. When Forest came out a lot of people really didn't know what to make of it. mostly because of Lee Dorian previously being the singer of Napalm Death. It was extreme and nobody could deny that it was heavy but it really uprooted what most everyone thought what was extreme in metal. I bought it when it first came out as an import and it totally flattened me. Where other bands were the sound of blood splattering, this is the sound of blood clotting. The other album I listed is Endtyme which is I think Cathedral's 6th album which unfortunately is most overlooked in their catalog. This record really is outstanding with Billy Anderson as the producer everything is thick and huge sounding. It combines all the doom but every track also punches you in the face like the best hardcore. It's very dark but very immediate ….if that makes any sense. Bathory - Blood, Fire, Death. I bought this sometime in the mid 90's and at the time I really didn't know much about Bathory beyond hearing the name as an influence on other bands I was listening to, and I found this in a discount bin. The first couple of listenings it was really hard for me to wrap my head around it. The production is atrocious with the terrible midi drum sounds and out of tune guitars played through a Rockman but there is something alluring about it. About the 3rd listen it all clicked and I completely fell in love with this record. It was a transitional record for Bathory, as the two before it were much more straight forward, this album is like hearing the war chants and drinking songs of undead vikings. The perfect soundtrack for a blood soaked battlefield.
Hessian, you have me so intrigued by Cathedral though it seems I have made their aquaintance in passing at some time. And it was either with BFD or the following album that I climbed out of the viking longship. I think I should revisit it first when home. Also I just have to delve into the Deathspell Omega (I hope it's not too much of an intellectual affair) as it does feel like something that was put off for 9 years. At this point in the thread I feel a little like Mickey in Fantasia who conjured some assistance and is now waist deep as the basement runneth over. The whole scene is beautiful to behold!
A Halloween surprise from Cultes Des Ghoules: new double album coming next month. Coven, or Evil Ways Instead of Love, by CULTES DES GHOULES »
Why does everybody hate the death 'n' roll stuff? I always liked it due to the groove. I will cede that the term "death 'n' roll" is a bit dumb.
Matter of taste, I guess. I just don't dig the hard rock style Entombed did as much as their early death metal. Same reason I'm not really into Pantera. If you like it, swell. \m/
I read that at work, forgot that you used the word "groove" (hey, busy day) and intended to champion "groove". Ah, yes of course it was there. Really, I'm in this for a good time more than something profound, though profound is always welcome. These are my two fav songs from "Ravishing Grimness" (1999) which could be thought of as "Black 'N Roll".
Never heard of them. The vocalist is very reminiscent of early Emperor's Ihsahn and as "Nightside" was my fav album of all for a time I'll toss another bucket of water into the flooded basement. Thanks.
Here's one of my favorite death metal albums that nobody seems to have heard of. Band is from Finland. I see several CDs on discogs going for more than $60. Been out of print forever. This one's got everything I want in a death metal album. Great stuff! Yet Wiki doesn't even have an entry on them.
I have heard of them, but I don't own a copy. It is pretty revered in the metal collecting world. Much like Gutted's Bleed For Us To Live.
So much of that Black Mark back catalog is lost to the sands of time. Really wish they'd start some kind of reissue campaign. Hell, I'd never heard of Scum but after reading a review it sounds right up up my alley and is gonna get a proper listen later. Thanks for bringing them up. Still can't believe that before the year is out there'll be new Deathspell Omega, Dead Congregation, Cultes des Ghoules, Zemial, Panphage, and Antaeus. And I still have yet to check out Hail Spirit Noir and Myrkgrav. Oh, and Metallica, ha, why not.
I disregarded your words about the production because I'm never bothered by that. Ugh, was I wrong. "Atrocious" is correct. Treble city! Odd that I didn't remember that it was this bad. At least some midrange exists on the following Hammerheart. I'll be sticking with the original triptych. I finally gave them a spin and liked "Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice" (2004) more than "Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum" (2007) which threw me entirely. Even listening to Monvmentvm, my emotions were on a pendulum in that I'd swing from annoyance to acceptance to approval and then back again. Well, they have not been pitched into the abyss of the recycle bin. Instead they will sit on the active duty roster for when the mood strikes. Aside from the choral bit in the middle this is pretty cool. I'd like to get Cirque du Soleil to perform (Darkness Visible) to it dressed in black in a black arena lit only by fire. A boy can dream.
I liked Cobalt's album "Gin" (2009) a lot. The moment I learned they'd replaced the vocalist for this year's album "Slow Forever" I felt little interest in it.
A petulant reaction considering I wasn't THAT attached to Gin. I haven't even listened to the whole thing yet so I've not much to say other than just when I was getting uncomfortable thinking these guys have been listening to Tool too much, and that includes lyrically, they rock me with an absolute gem. So infectiously catchy I wasn't reconciling it with any of the extreme metal labels. I had to make my own identification of it as "an intercepted top 40 AM radio hit coming from somewhere in the Klingon Empire". Confused as to if this was a single or double CD I later googled and spotting Angry Metal Guy's review did a quick scan and saw "frolicking black ‘n roll madness". So, GShifter we were not all that off the target. The opinion does exist elsewhere. Of all the back alleys that exist this is the one where I am most at home in, the one with groove.
they have a new one out - check out #8 from the October Black Market column at Stereogum The Black Market: The Month In Metal – October 2016 »
