\m/(~_~)\m/ Bring the Metal! \m/(~_~)\m/

I was able to make it to that Left to Die (Death tribute) / Skeletal Remains / Mortuous show on Friday. The sound quality was pretty bad, though. It was still cool getting out for love music again, seeing the crowd, etc. And a friend of mine from high school was there with his son, who is about to be a high school senior! I'm old.

Good to see this thread pop up again!

The new Ithaca is great:

And I love the new Oceans of Slumber too. Not as heavy as their previous albums, but I still think it might be one of their best.

Thanks for the recs! I really liked that Ithaca track, I'll be checking out more of their stuff. I'm not big on hardcore usually but that one stood out to me.

Went to another show last week! Saw Undeath, a death metal band with that follows the styles of the genre but uses them in songs with traditional structures and songs that may even call for a sing-along.

Another band for any fellow "weird DM" lovers to go with the likes of Demilich, Cth'theillist, Blood Incantation, and Phobophilic would be Cadaveric Fumes. They're a French band who sadly seem to have broken up last year, but they're final (only?) full-length is fantastic. They can seriously create an atmosphere. They're kind of like Spectral Voice without the slow, doomy parts, but only kind of.

Love that Ithaca track and it falls into my current dive into metalcore/deathcore. Not a fan of pop choruses in my metal but there are a ton of bands I’ve never listened to that are in those genres that I’m loving. Like where was Norma Jean my whole life ..

Norma Jean are a band that have flown under the radar by just being consistently great for decades.

I've been listening to Sigh's discography this week since I had only really checked out one of their albums before (Heir to Despair) and they just released a new one a couple weeks ago. What a truly original sound. They go from more straight black metal early on in the 90s to almost power metal with clean singing on one album to including saxophone and symphony elements and everything in-between. Great stuff if you're looking for something a bit different!

d4m0 wrote:

I've been listening to Sigh's discography this week since I had only really checked out one of their albums before (Heir to Despair) and they just released a new one a couple weeks ago. What a truly original sound. They go from more straight black metal early on in the 90s to almost power metal with clean singing on one album to including saxophone and symphony elements and everything in-between. Great stuff if you're looking for something a bit different!

Ah, Sigh is a long-time personal favorite. I got turned onto them back in the 90's thank to a friend who was big into tape-trading and often got some real early then-obscure stuff directly from the bands. That's how I learned about Emperor, in fact; he had a demo tape straight from Samoth, the cover of which was photocopied black and white paper, clearly hand-assembled, with a handwritten thank you note on it.

Sometimes, I miss the 90's and my limited perception of the black metal scene.

A few bands we've discussed have put out new material lately:

Perilaxe Occlusion: I found out the other night while walking our dog, Nico, that no band can get me to drop what I'm listening to and hit play faster than Perilaxe! Gonna give the song a second listen today, I reckon.

Fulci: Also dropped a new song, "Lonely Hearts", probably lonely because they've been separated from their bodies.

Revocation: New album Netherheaven is out! I haven't listened to it yet, which is a bit of a surprise. I think I've been less into some of their recent material, while still loving some individual songs.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Perilaxe Occlusion: I found out the other night while walking our dog, Nico, that no band can get me to drop what I'm listening to and hit play faster than Perilaxe! Gonna give the song a second listen today, I reckon.

We totally agree on how awesome this band is. I ended up actually tossing them a few bucks on Bandcamp for this single, possibly the only single I think I've ever bought on that platform. They can do no wrong in my book.

Saturday I went to see Dreadnought, Belzebong, and Elder in Boston for quite a great night of stoner metal. All three bands were amazing. Dreadnought in particular really kicked some ass and I'd highly recommend their stuff. They are a five-piece with two women, both on vocals at various points, and the guitarist has a scream that is just perfect. The band was running their own merch table so I was able to pick up a shirt and tell them they rocked right to their faces, always a fun experience. Elder as usual was fantastic.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Revocation: New album Netherheaven is out! I haven't listened to it yet, which is a bit of a surprise. I think I've been less into some of their recent material, while still loving some individual songs.

I kind of feel the same way. Still a great band and terrific players but I enjoyed the hyperactive power thrash of their first several albums a lot more than the dour death metal of these last two.

I feel like Revocation used to kick a ton of ass, and I always identified them with their thrash elements, as you say. In fact I was once wondering why they would get labeled tech death, because despite being very technically outstanding, they were still more thrashy and rocking to me. I feel like at least the last two albums have leaned hard into the technical wizardry and away from, you know, rocking your face.

This actually explains why their live shows for years have eschewed many of their most anthemic bangers. Most bands would kill to be able to play No Funeral, Deathless, and The Grip Tightens (just three off the top of my head) every night to a frothing crowd. I've seen them 3 or 4 times over the years and I'm not sure I've ever seen The Grip Tightens. I have seen Madness Opus a bunch of times, which is a great, atmospheric song, but it's actually more downtempo than their average song, and the chorus is a slow-down chorus rather than a butt kicker.

On that note, it's always interesting to me to look at a band's most played songs on Spotify and note when there is a disconnect with their live show. If you look at Revocation right now, it's almost all Netherheaven, as you'd expect, but The Grip Tightens is still hanging in there at number four. Sometimes I feel like they, and I'm sure some other bands, don't even know which are their most popular songs.

Not that you always have to give the people what they want! Hell, maybe it is the kids who are wrong.

I love dour death metal, but I don't love Revocation doing dour death metal.

More metalcore finds as I plumb the genre for non-linkin park inspired choruses …

Speaking of Revocation's changing sound, I just checked setlist.fm, and it seems they're playing nine songs from the two latest albums, one from the one before that, and just two (live staples Madness Opus and Dismantle the Dictator) from any earlier.

I guess they are who they are now? Well, they have the right to be what they want and play what they want. Other bands like Metallica and (not a metal band) Hot Water Music are better at drawing from their whole catalog for a live show, and I'd prefer that. Old 97s, too (not even a hard rock band, but one you should try!), come to think of it.

Still, a tour where they just played the most rocking songs from their discography could be amazing.

The new Ken Mode is absolutely savage, like a metalcore version of Swans.

Dropping back in because it's been a while!

Here's my offering: 200 Stab Wounds. I've been obsessing over them lately, just such a tight new death metal band doing all of the good sh*t I love.

Funny you mention 200 Stab Wounds! They just announced a co-headlining tour with Undeath, with support by Enforced and Phobophilic. The last is my current obsession in the vein of Tomb Mold and other weird DM bands. I really enjoyed the recent Undeath show in Houston where they rocked face and took no prisoners.

I listened to some Enforced a while ago and really dug them, more than just thrash metal. If I find I like 200 Stab Wounds this tour is going to score Yahtzee.

Hey I noticed that very tour myself! They're coming up to my neck of the woods in November. I was considering going because of Undeath and Phobophilic, and I should really check out more 200 Stab Wounds.

This Wednesday I'm heading into Boston to see Blood Incantation and Full of Hell. Should be quite a show!

I love Blood Incantation, but Full of Hell... Maybe I'm just too old.

Update: Blood Incantation is god damn amazing live. This is my second time seeing them and they were even better this time around. They finished their set with the 18-minute "Awakening from the Dream of Existence to the Multidimensional Nature of Our Reality (Mirror of the Soul)" and it was so, so good.

Unfortunately I ended up leaving before Full of Hell came on, basically because I'm an old, had to work today, and getting home at 1:30 in the morning would have been brutal. Midweek shows are rough. I did get to see Mortuous though and they were also really good. I'll be checking them out more for sure.

Oh, I forgot Mortuous was on that tour with Blood Incantation! I just discovered them thanks to the Left to Die tour. I really dug their first album; my first listen to their second album didn't click with me, but at some point I'll give it another shot. Sadly, that tour isn't hitting Houston. I guess it's good that I've already seen BI and Mortuous, and BI hasn't released any more metal since I saw them pre-pandemic...which seems crazy to say. You had to take two years off touring and you didn't come up with any more material*? Yikes.

I saw a tweet today that there's a show where the above Undeath tour also has a special date in California where they're joined by Skeletal Remains, which is awesome.

Very impressed by the new Pestilence material. Not many bands still have it after 30 years. It seems they doubled down on the discordant and occasionally jazzy riffing they showed off in "Spheres" (1993).

Hearing a LOT of Chuck Schuldiner vibes from the vocalist. It's not just me, right? Love that vocal style.

Also really into stoner doom lately. Big fuzzy riffs! Can't beat that. I adore the album art on this one, and the music is great too. The self titled track is my favourite (19:47)

Hey I didn't know Pestilence was still around! And judging from that song, it sounds like they're still pretty darn good. The vocalist definitely seems like he's channeling some Chuck there, you aren't the only one that hears it! I'll be checking that album out for sure.

I'm into the stoner doom myself too, although I've never heard of Lucifungus, which is such a great band name. Looks like they've got a new album coming soon too. If you're looking for more, Doomed and Stoned is a great resource. They do a podcast too where they play and talk about new stuff, and put out Bandcamp playlists every once in a while where I've picked up some fantastic bands.

Instantly subbed

I've been meaning to check out some more music-related podcasts and Stoner doom is my favourite genre next to oldschool death metal, keen to check them out! Thanks!

For anyone who likes the black metal and related subgenres, a new quite large compilation (130 tracks!) was released today called Black Metal Rainbows. There's everyone from Krallice to Spectral Lore to quite a few bands I've never heard of.

Purchases go towards a variety of charities and organizations that support LGBTQ youth. Today is a Bandcamp Friday as well, so all the money will go towards helping out. Here's the description from the page on Bandcamp:

"The Black Metal Rainbows Compilation Album is a show of strength: 100+ underground and black metal, noise, and electronic artists coming together in support of LGBTQ youth.

From blackened grind to epic black metal, blackgaze to dungeon synth, noise to avantgarde, this massive compilation of queer, trans, leftist, anarchist and antifascist bands from the global underground will raise money for charities helping LGBTQ youth: The Trevor Project, Mermaids, Minus 18, and The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) Youth & Student Organization."

Looking for some stoner doom/fuzz/groove that doesn't just focus on drugs (the fuzzier and more distorted the better! I want some tone worship, bands that just love high gain heavy riffs that border on droning). I love the sound of the genre but am fatigued with the whole marijuana worship that is so often present with these bands.

And on that topic, I've bought myself a fantastic fuzz pedal and have been jamming some Sleep and Electric Wizard. It's such a fun genre to play - drop your tuning and just groove out. I'd love to play in a stoner doom band that instead sings about oldschool psychedelic marvel cosmic era stuff. Just look at some of these panels, I'm amazed it hasn't been done yet (as far as I'm aware)

IMAGE(https://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/gotg6.jpg)
IMAGE(https://terrigen-cdn-dev.marvel.com/content/prod/1x/ego.png)
IMAGE(http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/dynamics/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2011/09/2011-09-04_1524001.jpg)

For anyone who likes the black metal and related subgenres, a new quite large compilation (130 tracks!) was released today called Black Metal Rainbows. There's everyone from Krallice to Spectral Lore to quite a few bands I've never heard of.

Love to see this! I stopped listening to black metal for a long time because I couldn't stand the hate within the scene. Racism, intolerance etc. The glorification of close-minded thinking and often mental illness overpowered my love of the music. I've since fallen into a great group of like-minded friends who I know will really enjoy this link. Sadly, we have regular "Nazi checks" where we drop a link of a band we discover to make sure we're not listening to anyone awful - I hate that it's come to that. Productions like Black Metal Rainbows give me a lot of confidence. Subreddits like these are also (for the most part!) a good resource.

I hear you on the issues with black metal, it certainly has a terrible past, continuing now in some cases. I do the same "Nazi checks" when I come across a band that looks questionable too. The black metal community in general I think has been fighting against that kind of thing for a number of years now. You can be sure at least that every single one of the bands in that compilation is on the side of good! It's also an amazing compilation.

And let's see, some non-drug worshiping doom/fuzz/groove bands, I know of a bunch. One of my favorites is Truckfighters. Khemmis is really great. Of course there's Bell Witch for deep-end-of-the-pool doom.

Dozer is pretty awesome, although I don' think they're together anymore unfortunately.

Figured I should share some stuff here rathar than the GWJ musicans group because extreme metal isn't the most widely enjoyed genre

I've been playing a lot more guitar lately, finally taking it seriously. I recently bought a PC interface and have been learning how to record myself and make drum tracks.

Here's the first track I recorded:

And here's the first full song I recorded:

I'm very far from an amazing guitarist, but I feel like I've overcome a bit of a milestone with these!

These sound great Unicycle! I've attempted the same things and have had worse results due to my lack of ability, but it's getting better at least. My biggest trouble is keeping in time with the drums. What are you using for making the drum tracks? I've just played around with the open source program Hydrogen myself, which works alright for simple stuff.