Notable Anniversary Chat

A few notable anniversaries today, but none more important than the 35th anniversary of Bathory's Under the Sign of the Black Mark. Not just an immensely important album, but also a damn great one. R.I.P. Quorthon!

I completely agree. It was the first genuinely classic black metal record in my opinion & began a run of three mind-blowing releases in succession.

I just do not think that Quorthon was that good.  I get the kvlt love for them but he really overshot himself and tried to be a lot more mature a performer than he actually was ever capable of becoming.  As I have gotten older I have less and less time for Bathory and actually cringe when I try to listen to pretty much anything beyond 1988.

OK, so it's Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance's 40th and Paradise Lost's Shades of God's 30th, but they're not the anniversaries I want to celebrate.

Ministry's Psalm 69 was such a huge release for me. I recall listening to the title track on a cassette that Daniel recorded for me off some metal radio show. I was 15 years old, and it sounded incredibly different and exciting. The next time I was at Utopia Records I snapped up Psalm 69 and Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power. I listened to the shit out of both albums, and still love them to this day.

This was Ministry at the top of their game. The fantastic hard-hitting production really gets the best out of the inspired and varied track listing. Such a shame things started to go downhill for the band (more specifically for Al and his drug issues) after this.

Yeah I absolutely love "Psalm 69" too. It's definitely one of the pinnacles of the industrial metal genre in my opinion & is easily Ministry's best work.

"Images & Words" was hhuuggee for me too & is still my favourite Dream Theater release today. "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory" has certainly caught up quite a bit over the years though & isn't far behind now to be honest.

It's been 35 years since this beast of an E.P was released today. I could never get into the first couple of Destruction releases as a young fella & that hasn't changed over time but their run of 1986's "Eternal Devastation" into "Mad Butcher" into their 1987 fourth full-length "Release From Agony" (my favourite Destruction record) has always been right up my alley & represents the peak of the band's creativity in my opinion.

Three Guardians 35th anniversaries on the same day!

I don't mind "Rock 'n' Roll" actually. It's an under-appreciated Motorhead record in my opinion. In fact, I'd probably take it over the previous three albums which are all generally more highly regarded.

Another notable anniversary for me today, being the 30th for Fear Factory's debut album Soul of a New Machine. It was clearly outdone by the follow-up a few years later, but I listened to this album (which was initially in Daniel's CD collection but I think ended up in mine) a heap of times. I loved the industrial element along with the overall aggression. It's a still a nostalgic listen.

Yeah, I didn't mind "Soul of a New Machine". I wouldn't say that I fell in love with it or anything (which is perhaps why my CD ended up in your possession) but it was something fresh & a little bit different for the time & it also offered a bit of crossover appeal for some of my friends that weren't as into the more extreme underground stuff I was obsessed with at the time. I agree that "Demanufacture" was a significant step up from "Soul of a New Machine" & is clearly Fear Factory's best record still to this day. It wasn't as much in line with my taste profile as the debut was but it was just a classier outing all round.

Two big records for me are hitting major milestones today with German thrashers Protector's 1987 debut E.P. "Misanthropy" reaching 35 years of age & French atmospheric black metal masters Blut aus Nord's 2012 "777 - Cosmosophy" album turning 10. The Protector E.P. is one of the earliest genuine death metal records in my opinion & is also one of the best releases to come from the genre in the 1980's too (4/5). I love the sheer balls that Blut aus Nord displayed during their early 2010's 777 trilogy with "777 - Cosmosophy" being perhaps the best of the three releases (4.5/5).

A 20 year celebration for Void of Silence's Criteria ov 666, a great doom record from a very underrated Italian band.

Also on this day:

One of my former favorites from Nightwish when I was still listening to this band, and one of only two albums with lead singer Anette Olzon, the other being Imaginaerum.

Negură Bunget - "'n crugu bradului" (2002)

It's 20 years since the highly regarded sophomore album from Romanian atmospheric black metallers Negură Bunget first hit the shelves today. I've gotta say that I've never understood the attraction to this band (in fact I rated this album 2/5 on my last revisit) but they seem to have developed an almost cult-like following over the years. 

Negură Bunget - "'n crugu bradului" (2002)

It's 20 years since the highly regarded sophomore album from Romanian atmospheric black metallers Negură Bunget first hit the shelves today. I've gotta say that I've never understood the attraction to this band (in fact I rated this album 2/5 on my last revisit) but they seem to have developed an almost cult-like following over the years. 

This is the low point in their discography to date for me.  Not that I have heard all of their stuff but Om stands head and shoulders above this and is their magnum opus in my mind.

Bathory - "Jubileum, Vol. I" (1992)

Bathory was a big fucking deal for me when this best-of compilation was released thirty years ago today; so much so that I bought it immediately upon release & primarily so that I could gain acccess to the unreleased tracks. Seriously though, when you put Quorthon's best material together on one CD it really does make an impressive celebration of his recorded career. Vol 1 was comfortably better than Vol 2 & 3 & I played the absolute living shit out of it.

Negură Bunget - "'n crugu bradului" (2002)

It's 20 years since the highly regarded sophomore album from Romanian atmospheric black metallers Negură Bunget first hit the shelves today. I've gotta say that I've never understood the attraction to this band (in fact I rated this album 2/5 on my last revisit) but they seem to have developed an almost cult-like following over the years. 

This is the low point in their discography to date for me.  Not that I have heard all of their stuff but Om stands head and shoulders above this and is their magnum opus in my mind.

I love this album. Not as much as OM, but it's still excellent.

9th April 2023, eight albums on the anniversaries page with a grand total of one rating. Is this the most dismal day of the year for metal releases?

With Rex pointing out the 35th anniversary of Marty Friedman's debut Dragon's Kiss, I thought it would be a good time to resurrect this thread again. So for Rex and any other neoclassical/speed metal fans here, wish this album a happy birthday:

Also on that day is the 10th anniversary of one of my favorite albums by spacey post-sludge metallers Rosetta:

With Rex pointing out the 25th anniversary of Rhapsody (of Fire)'s second album Symphony of Enchanted Lands, I thought it would be a good time to mention a few power metal albums have their anniversaries today. So for Rex and any other heavy/power metal fans here, wish these albums a happy birthday:

Also on that day is the 20th anniversary of a former favorite doomy gothic metal album of mine:

Wait, that's their debut, so today's the perfect day to start Draconian.  Gonna do that after my next two albums are done.

Oh, Ningen Isu's Rashomon album came out 30 years ago today. Been a while since I last heard it, so there's the perfect excuse!

Not really a lot else, King Diamond - Puppet Master and Kayo Dot's debut, but just a nice round 20. Protector - Golem was 35 years ago. Kind of weird to celebrate 35 years ago, but I'm guessing in a year or two I'll be questioning how weird it is to celebrate the 45th anniversary of an album...