Sonny's Forum Replies
Here are my picks for March, Vinny:
Testament - "Infanticide A.I." (from "Para Bellum", 2025)
Violator - "Cult of Death" (from "Unholy Retribution", 2025)
Enforced - "Avarice" (from "War Remains", 2023)
Morbid Saint - "Assassin" (from "Spectrum of Death", 1990)
Celtic Frost - "Suicidal Winds" (from "Emperor's Return EP", 1985)
Kreator - "Psychotic Imperator" (from "Krushers of the World", 2026)
Dark Angel - "Merciless Death" (from "Darkness Descends", 1986)
Metallica - "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (from "Ride the Lightning", 1984)
Trastorned - "Reborn Through Hate" (from "Into the Void", 2023)
Just a touch over 40 minutes I think.
OK, I’ll bite. Is the other one Warning’s “Watching From A Distance”?
👍
Dvvell - Quiescent (2022)
I chose this as Fallen feature of the month for November 2022 and was pleased to see that it got an overwhelmingly positive response from the Academy. As I have hinted at elsewhere, I have been dissecting a number of my favourite albums recently to see if they still cut the mustard and "Quiescent is one of only two I have at 100% after re-assessment (can you guess the other??) I have given it a couple of relistens today with the intention of finding some reason to drop a point or two here and there but, in truth, I really couldn't find any fault with it, so I guess that at the moment it stands as my second best album of all time. Maybe not my second most-loved as I don't have the depth of history with it that I do with others, but as for hitting my taste profile, it is second best.
Vinny, Karl - I am upping the time allocation for Horde suggestions to 40 minutes each from the next playlist.
Inter Arma - Sulphur English (2019)
It had been a while since I had listened to this and I had forgotten just how much of a beast of an album it is. I had it on rotation all day today and could still listen to it again. My old, rather brief, review from time of release still holds up:
A titanic behemoth of an album. Exceptionally mature atmo-sludge / death doom that really does feel like it has pushed the genres forward. Underlying most of the tracks, particularly the duo of Citadel and Howling Lands, is a ritualistic rhythm that feels particularly primal and earthy. Most of the songs mete out a fair amount of punishment, as you should expect from any death doom album worth it's salt, it is, however, anything but relentless, as in Stillness which begins as a gentle acoustic composition, building ominously to a howling guitar that doesn't sound a million miles from Dave Gilmour on Comfortably Numb and Blood on the Lupines, an almost dreamlike tale of a wanderer's ill-fated path to a cursed village and the warning he receives there.
None of the tracks are as monolithic as is usual for this kind of extreme doom, with a progressive edge to most of the songs that weaves them through with a little more colour than you may expect. Don't misunderstand, this album also crushes like you wouldn't believe, check out Citadel, The Atavist's Meridian or the title track and tell me this doesn't slay like it should! Any fan of extreme doom metal should grab this future classic immediately.
A definite and confirmed 5/5 for me.
Continuing this for 2026:
Inspired by several members' allusions to their own spreadsheet lists, particularly Ben and Daniel, since new year I have been transferring all my ratings into spreadsheet form. I am about halfway through my 6500 or so RYM ratings and it has only now hit me exactly how much I listen to that I either actively dislike or which I find mediocre at best. So another new year resolution is to try to actively seek out better music to listen to and stop wasting my time on crap.
In addition to this, it has become apparent to me that some of my higher ratings, particularly ones I have had for a long time, are as much based on nostalgia, memories and emotion as much as on actual quality and I have forgiven flaws in some of these older albums that I wouldn't have to releases with lesser personal relevance. In the interests of fairness then, I intend to re-evaluate a lot of my long-standing higher ratings, based purely on musical quality and not emotional redolence, over the coming months, so expect to see a shift in the scores of some of my significant ratings soon.
Kreator - Krushers of the World (Released 13/01/26)
Since the turn of the century Kreator have taken to releasing a new album every four or five years and here we are at the beginning of 2026, with the world turning to shit, and the Teutonic Titans delivering full-length number 16. With Mille and Ventor both turning 60 this year, it would be overly optimistic to expect that they will ever reproduce the bile and venom that they unleashed with their classic period which spanned from "Pleasure to Kill" to "Coma of Souls". Indeed, they haven't really issued anything essential since 2005's "Enemy of God". This does not, however, mean that a new Kreator album deserves to be ignored. No, far from it because, although "Krushers of the World" is inconsistent and patchy, occasionally a brief glimpse of former brilliance does shine through.
There are riffs a-plenty and there is a decent energy to the album, but on the whole this latest is a little too groove-laden for my particular taste with choruses that often seem to have been written with optimum catchiness in mind and, as such, it lacks the biting venom of the band's best work. Some of the best moments come from the guitar solos which are deployed more sparingly than I would like, but when they are used, such as during "Barbarian and "Combatants"," they elevate the tracks with a level of intensity that the riffs and vocals don't quite encapsulate. For my money, the clear highlight of the album is "Psychotic Imperator". It sounds the closest to classic-era Kreator with an added choral section and a searing guitar solo that elevate it to head and shoulders above the rest of the album.
I guess that "Krushers of the World" delivers pretty much what you would expect from a Kreator album at this stage of their career, being cast into shadow by the monumental magnificence of their best and trying a little too hard to capture listeners with sometimes overtly catchy choruses. I am sure there are many who couldn't wait to tear this apart and I have no wish to join them as nothing here is actually poor but, apart from the aforementioned "Psychotic Imperator" I can't hear too much that will keep me returning to this either.
3.5/5
I am unaware as to why Asgard lasted for only one album. The ability was there on the debut, albeit not terribly well showcased overall and I sense if the talent could have been grown over subsequent albums then we might have heard the name Asgard more over the years.
3.5/5
From what I can gather they were signed by Noise records, who were a big deal in Europe in the mid 80s, being the home of Celtic Frost, Kreator, Running Wild, Helloween et al, who released this record, but poor sales saw them get quickly dropped by the label. They put out a self-released demo the following year, but it looks like they couldn't garner any interest and failed to get signed by another label so called it a day.
The record industry was set up very differently in those days and I guess without decent label backing it was almost impossible to break out.
Continuing this for 2026:
Inspired by several members' allusions to their own spreadsheet lists, particularly Ben and Daniel, since new year I have been transferring all my ratings into spreadsheet form. I am about halfway through my 6500 or so RYM ratings and it has only now hit me exactly how much I listen to that I either actively dislike or which I find mediocre at best. So another new year resolution is to try to actively seek out better music to listen to and stop wasting my time on crap.
Ten years or so ago, I had a couple of subscriptions on Bandcamp to specialist stoner labels and I had forgotten exactly how much sub-standard stoner rock shit I had been listening to at that time. I think stoner rock may actually be one of the laziest sub-genres in all of music (I know that is the desired aesthetic, but a lot of the music is so derivative and tedious that it galls me now how much time I wasted on it - and that is from a fan of well done stoner music). It isn't as easy as just smoking a couple of joints and listening to some obscure early 70's albums before plugging your guitars in guys.
Thanks guys.
There’s some definite gothic metal touches in the new Ruins of Beverast.
Absolutely.
Don't forget, suggestions for February by the 15th please guys.
Thanks, Vinny.
@dk, suggestions by the 15th if you want them included on the February playlist, please David.
I reviewed this only two or three months ago and I think my review still holds, so here it is:
Derby's Abduction are one of those black metal bands who seemingly beaver away with no fanfare or support from the music industry at large, making me wonder how they keep at it. It isn't like the UK has exactly ever been overflowing with good black metal acts now is it? Anyway, Abduction is the brainchild of guitarist and vocalist Phil Illsley, aka A|V, with guest musicians providing drums, bass and additional guitars. I was well behind the band around the time of the 2018 album, "A Crown of Curses" which I have on cassette from the now defunct Death Kvlt Productions label, but I have lost touch with their progress over the last few years.
So here we are in 2025 and album number five. This is a well-produced and written slab of vicious and savage-sounding black metal that makes no pretence to the folky or celtic atmospherics which are often a staple of UK black metal, but which goes for the jugular in full-on attack mode. That doesn't mean the thin and tremolo-heavy sound of true raw black metal, the production is too thick and muscular for that, but it takes a more bludgeoning approach, in the vein of death metal. Even though this is still unambiguously black metal with pummelling blast beats and tremolo riffing, there is a fullness of sound that puts more meat on the genre's usually skeletal bones. The band sound very tight and the playing is excellent throughout.
A|V has an excellent vocal delivery with a howling savagery and angst-ridden desperation borne of emotional frustration that screams in the face of an uncaring universe. His lyrics are poetic and dense and I haven't had much time to sit down with them so far, but I am sure they are much deeper in meaning than I have as yet been able to ascertain. The killer riffs are powerful and are driven by a phenomenal powerhouse of a rhythm section as drummer Ed Gorrod and bassist Gavin Archer blast a path with the force of a high explosive drone strike. The tracks all flow nicely with decent variation of pacing, despite the overarching aggressive feel of the album. and the songwriting seems of as high a standard as the musicianship.
All told, this is a very good slab of UKBM and with, in my opinion, the recent decline of previous UK heavyweights such as Winterfylleth and Saor there is no reason why Abduction should not sweep in and claim the mantle of the premier UK black metal act.
4/5
For the record, it doesn't cost much at all to purchase legitimate non-AI artwork online. Artists are all competing for the opportunity to advertise their work on an album cover & will virtually give their work away. The Neuropath CD cover only cost the label around $100-$150 USD & the other one we were considering was under $100 USD. I'm assuming that the reason for using AI is to achieve total creative control over the image.
So, if it is reasonably cheap to buy decent artwork, why do so many bands go with such boring, non-descript efforts, such as the example in my post? Is this an actual aesthetic and if so, what are they trying to illustrate or communicate, because I don't really get it?
Also, coming tomorrow, January 9th is the brand new album from Ruins of Beverast, the first for 5 years, entitled Tempelschlaf.
A couple of tracks are up for preview on Bandcamp:
Here is my review of the aforementioned Fuath album:
Fuath was originally conceived as a one-off project by Saor's Andy Marshall when he released "I" back in 2016 as an outlet for an album of atmospheric black metal compositions that were more traditionally frostbitten and aggressive than the sweeping, celtic-themed, cinematic paeons to his Scottish homeland that was the usual output of Saor. He obviously felt he had more to say within that sub-sub-genre though because here at the dawning of 2026 the project is onto its third album, predictably entitled "III".
The first Fuath album was a raw-sounding sort of affair compared to his Saor material, with a fairly sparse and frosty production job, but the second had a much fuller sound and some symphonic touched which gave it a more epic feel, but at the cost of the icy edge feeling somewhat blunted. "III" sits nicely somewhere between the two with a frostier feel than the previous album, but with a sweeping, wintry majesty that reaches beyond the scope of "I", like an icier version of Saor.
With only four lengthy tracks featuring in its 43 minutes runtime, it is an album that is inevitably built on a certain degree of repetition. Marshall is such a great writer of black metal riffs and expansive, atmospheric flourishes, though, that the tracks never become boring, but fill the mind's eye with epic wintry scenes that leave the listener feeling awed and inspired, like a musical David Lean. For me, this has always been Marshall's strength, his ability to successfully convey his own obvious love of, and respect for, the natural world through his music to even the most jaded listener. That the man is also an eminently gifted musician as well as songwriter is proved by the fact that he plays all the instruments himself, including real, rather than programmed, drums.
This is probably my favourite of the three Fuath albums as it is a perfect blend of raw and frosty black metal and cinematic imagery, making deft use of synths to round out the sound with a little more subtlety than was employed on "II", yet when at its rawest it is a match even for the likes of Paysage d'Hiver (try "The Sluagh" for proof). Andy Marshall has, over the course of six Saor and three Fuath albums, earned the right to similar acclaim afforded to US atmo-black giants like Panopticon and Wolves in the Throne Room. Whilst Fuath has yet to provide an album quite as breathtaking as Saor's "Aura" or "Forgotten Paths", "III" has left me with the certainty that this is merely a matter of time.
4.5/5
Initially I was very much against AI generated art and, to a certain extent, still am. Yet I have just been on a bit of a cover rating spree and as far as cover art goes (as opposed to art for art's sake) I am changing my mind a bit. I think I would rather look at a decent AI-generated cover image than a large amount of the, frankly, appallingly low-effort attempts I have been seeing. When a music artist presumably puts so much effort into their art I find it amazing that they are satisfied with the shitty efforts that are promoting their hard work. As such, I guess AI is a cost-effective option for bands who may not have the funds to purchase decent human produced cover art and I would rather see an engaging AI image than a photograph of the inside of someone's shed such as:
The 20+ votes chart now has 105 entries, a 36% increase since June.
The Top 20 at the beginning of 2026 is:
1. [1] Judas Priest - "Painkiller"
2. [3] Candlemass - "Nightfall"
3. [2] Candlemass - "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus"
4. [-] Immolation - "Close to a World Below"
5. [4]Metallica - "Master of Puppets"
6. [6] Metallica - "Ride the Lightning"
7. [7] Slayer - "Reign in Blood"
8. [8] Black Sabbath - "Master of Reality"
9. [-] Blind Guardian - "Imaginations From the Other Side"
10. [5] Iron Maiden - "Powerslave"
11. [9] Death - "Symbolic"
12. [10] Neurosis - "Through Silver in Blood"
13. [11] Darkthrone - "A Blaze in the Northern Sky"
14. [12] Iron Maiden - "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son"
15. [18] Acid Bath - "When the Kite String Pops"
16. [14] Black Sabbath - "Paranoid"
17. [16] Cryptopsy - "None So Vile"
18. [17] Bathory - "Hammerheart"
19. [19] Slayer - "Seasons in the Abyss"
20. [-] Rainbow - "Rising"
Leaving the top 20 were:
Bathory - "Under the Sign of the Black Mark" [from #13 to #22]
Burzum - "Filosofem" [from #15 to #21]
Alice in Chains - "Dirt" [from #20 to #23]
Hi Ben, I am sure you would soon anyway, but can you add the latest album from Fuath, please.
My only remaining question is - is Vecna Groot's evil twin and if so could he be regrown from a sapling?
Andy Marshall of Saor fame has released the third album under his Fuath alter-ego today. Just ordered a vinyl copy from Bandcamp and am checking it out as I type. Fuath are less focussed on the epic paeons to Andy's homeland Scotland than Saor and play in a more Pagan / Melodic black metal style than Saor's atmospheric black metal, whilst still retaining some of the latter's grandeur. It's all good so far anyway.
Edit: Just as a point of interest, I have listened to it back-to-back on Spotify and Bandcamp and the BC version sounds much better.
An initial listen reveals this to be very much an early-80's release where the fist-pumping heavy metal of the NWOBHM is being mutated in a couple of directions, ie the US version of power metal which retains some of the NWOBHM's melodicism and the more direct and energetic speed metal that played out as a precursor to the thrash behemoth, this sitting somewhere between the two. Not the best production, but not especially awful for underground acts of the time either and a bit patchy, but I am enjoying it so far.
I don't think the band as such are overrated, but I don't think I would place their debut "Stormcrowfleet" on as high a pedestal as most other Skepticism fans, with this rather being my go-to album as far as they are concerned. Anyway, here is my long-standing review which I still stand by:
Skepticism were formed in 1991, releasing a death metal 7" in 1992, before a change in sound resulted in them, along with fellow Finns Thergothon, being credited with the development of funeral doom metal. In 1995 they released their debut, the seminal and oft-praised Stormcrowfleet album.
This, their follow-up to that genre-defining release, consists of half a dozen tracks of exceedingly slow and oppressive-feeling doom metal. The tracks range in length from six to ten minutes, but the all-enveloping, smothering nature of the music makes them seem longer (in a good way). The sound is seriously downtuned, with slow, deep, drum beats, as if some unnamed titan's heart can be heard beating in the bowels of the earth. The vocals are barely distinguishable as such, sounding like the grating of a huge block of stone as it seals the entrance to a subterranean tomb, blocking out all light with it's bulk. The keyboards and guitar are more subdued than is usual but I don't feel that this album is particularly melancholy or depressing, rather it projects more of an ancient martial atmosphere that may feasibly have accomanied the passing of a company of war elephants as they leave on a march to conquest.
There are quite a number of similarities between this and the aforementioned Thergothon's Stream From the Heavens and both albums can justifiably be held up as the standard against which all other funeral doom releases are judged, epitomising all that this style of extreme doom is about. They both are able to project epicness and true heft with, what is essentially, a stripped-down style of metal.
As an interesting aside, the band released an EP, Ethere, around the same time that has alternate versions of a couple of the tracks from Lead and Aether, The March and the Stream and Aether which seem starker and less oppressive than their album counterparts. Both versions are great in different ways and make the EP a very worthy companion piece to the full-length.
5/5
After my mainly positive experience with "In Waves" a while ago I will try to give this short EP a fair shake this month and hopefully work up a comment or two.
I have never made any secret of my aversion to European Power Metal, but BG are one of the better exponents of the genre and I remember being fairly well-disposed to this upon its release, so I will endeavour to fit it in this month and hopefully provide a review at some point.
Thanks Vinny, I really appreciate the feedback. I feel obliged (as with all the playlists that I compile) to include some sub-genres that I am not the biggest fan of. With the North this is often the symphonic, black 'n' roll and folk metal entries, although I have found stuff to enjoy in each of those too. I also think it adds some variety and acts as a nice illustration of the breadth of material within the North.
I will also try to supply more commentary on each playlist going forward.
Yeah we watched it last night and I know exactly the bit you are referring to. The ending was definitely over extended though, a bit like the end of The Return of the King where you are thinking "Just get it over with now".
When I listen to Bolt Thrower I tend to stick with what I own, so "Realm of Chaos" and "War Master" mostly, but I really like the band and don't think they have made a bad album, so I will definitely try to get to this one sometime this month.
I'm across Abduction's last couple of albums & quite liked them too. Anyone know if their earlier material is worth exploring?
I bought their second album, "A Crown of Curses" on cassette when it came out and found it to be surprisingly good for a low-key UK black metal act.
As I alluded to in the January playlist thread, I am going to start issuing the North playlist on a monthly basis once more. Unless you tell me otherwise, Vinny, I will use your additionals from last month for the February playlist. Karl, if you wish to nominate anything please post it by the 15th of January.
I don't think I know this record, Vinny, so I am looking forward to acquainting myself with it.
Happy new year by the way.
January 2026
1. Archgoat - "Rats Pray God" (from "Worship the Eternal Darkness", 2021) [submitted by Sonny]
2. Watain - "Ecstasies in Night Infinite" (from "The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain", 2022) [submitted by Vinny]
3. Thou Art Lord - "The Era of Satan Rising" (from "Eosforos", 1994) [submitted by Karl]
4. Stworz - "U Śmierci na komornem" (from "U Śmierci na komornem", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
5. Mayhem - "Despair" (from "Liturgy of Death", 2026) [submitted by Sonny]
6. Lord Belial - "Ipse Venit" (from "Unholy Trinity", 2025) [submitted by Karl]
7. Odium - "The Brightness of the Weeping Kingdom" (from "The Sad Realm of the Stars", 1998)
8. Martwa Aura - "Lament Drugi" (from "Lament", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
9. Atomic Goatcrime - "Cycle of Wrath" (from "Thermonuclear Humanicide", 2025) [submitted by Karl]
10. Blasphamagoatachrist - "Cyanide Sacrament" (from "Bestial Abominator", 2025) [submitted by Karl]
11. Nexion - "Gandra" (from "Sundrung", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
12. Enslaved - "Lightening" (from "Axioma Ethica Odini", 2010) [submitted by Sonny]
13. Apati - "Sömnlösa nätter" (from "Eufori", 2009)
14. Menhir - "Die Kelten" (from "Thuringia", 1999) [submitted by Karl]
15. Malakhim - "Solar Crucifixion" (from "And in Our Hearts the Devil Sings", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
16. Vreid - "Fangegard" (from "I krig", 2007)
17. Naked Whipper - "Bloodstained White Icon" (from "Chapel Defilement", 2025) [submitted by Karl]
18. Imperial Crystalline Entombment - "White Behemoths of Woe" (from "Abominable Astral Summoning", 2025) [submitted by Karl]
19. Finsterforst - "Urquell" (from "...zum Tode hin", 2009)
20. Blut aus Nord - "Seclusion" (from "Ethereal Horizons", 2025) [submitted by Sonny]
21. Soulless - "As If Our Time Runs No Longer" (from "The Supreme Resurgence", 2023)
January 2026
1. My Dying Bride – “Your River” (from “Turn Loose the Swans”, 1993) [submitted by dk]
2. Khemmis - "Bloodletting" (from "Desolation", 2018)
3. Sleep - "Marijuanaut's" (from "The Sciences", 2018) [submitted by Vinny]
4. Wren - "Scorched Hinds" (from "Black Rain Falls", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
5. Chrch - "Portals" (from "Light Will Consume Us All", 2018) [submitted by Sonny]
6. Primitve Man - "Devotion" (from "Observance", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
7. Paul Chain Violet Theatre - "17 Day" (from "Detaching From Satan", 1984) [submitted by Sonny]
8. Black Sheep Wall – “Ren” (from “Songs for the Enamel Queen”, 2021) [submitted by dk]
9. Heteropsy - "Memento Mori" (from "Embalming", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
10. Age of Taurus – “Sinking City” (from “Desperate Souls of Tortured Times”, 2013) [submitted by dk]
11. The Answer Lies in the Black Void - "Sine Morbo" (from "Transcendental", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
12. Salome - "White Tides" (from "Salome", 2008) [submitted by dk]
13. BlackLab - "Monochrome Rainbow" (from "In a Bizarre Dream", 2022)
14. Atavist - "Loss" (from "III: Absolution", 2020) [submitted by Sonny]
Another feature whose subject is an act I have no previous knowledge of is this latest album from Icelandic black metallers Nexion. This is only their second full-length despite their decade of existence so, hopefully, they are a band who favour quality over quantity. Now I am a big fan of Icelandic black metal bands who deliver sweeping epics that conjure up images of the mountains, hot springs and ice-fields of their native land, such as Auðn and Árstíðir lífsins, but the initial impression I got from "Sundrung" was of a less epic and more violent record that incorporates significant influence from death metal, especially production-wise. This isn't necessarily the case though, as I think the band still deliver an album of epic black metal, although it is delivered in a different way to the aforementioned acts.
The death metal influence is evident and does beef up the bands sound significantly, yet the twin guitar tremolo riffing and frequent use of harmonised, viking metal-like backing vocals does imbue it with a sense of the epic. This saga-like feeling to the tracks is futher accentuated by the use of a significant layer of atmospheric dissonance, similar in tone to that utilised by the superb Ulcerate, which makes the album feel like an Árstíðir lífsins album recorded by Deathspell Omega (this is a good thing, by the way). So, despite the violence on display, in no small part due to the savagery deployed by vocalist Jósúa Rood, there is still a sense of a striking and epic scope to the instrumentation.
For me at least, this was an album that didn't instantly grab my attention and whose inherent viciousness just sort of washed over me at first, but it is a multi-layered beast and ultimately rewards the listener the more they are willing to invest in it as it is a fairly complex entity hiding in the skin of a visceral and savage beast. While I am a metal fan of fairly simple tastes, it is great to sometimes be presented with an album that challenges initial perceptions and which makes me want to keep returning to it to dig deeper into its labyrinthine depths and "Sundrung" is definitely one such album. The only real downside for me was the drums which felt quite one-dimensional and dulled in delivery, but that is a minor issue in the scheme of things here.
An excellent feature pick, Vinny, and a 4.5/5 from me.
Like you, I think that "Requiem" and "Octagon" are overly hated by fans who obviously preferred the more epic viking metal of the preceding few albums, but I actually prefer "Requiem" of the two. The antipathy for these two albums is obviously based on expectations versus reality..
I keep persisting with the Revolution features despite the fact that, as a general rule, they are evidently not my cup of tea. There has been the occasional gem, however, that is why I keep returning. Unfortunately Poison the Well's debut full-length is not one such nugget and is much more the angsty-teenager background noise that makes zero impact on me either emotionally or intellectually. Whilst I do admire the energy, the earnestness of the screeching vocals sounds inordinately preachy, like I am being chastised for not understanding the songs' protagonists' struggles and hardships in an unfair world (man!) Occasionally out of this seething pit of venomous vipers a nice, hard-hitting riff does emerge and makes my ears pick up, but it is soon swallowed up by the tornado of raging impotence and it falls back into ravening background noise.
Believe me, though, I am self-aware enough to know that a 60-odd year old, former stoner is definitely not the target audience for this stuff and I appreciate that there are legions of younger metalheads who lap this shit up - and good luck to em - but it isn't for me. Best track by a country mile is "Slice Paper Wrists". Oh well, there's always next month!
2.5/5
No one gonna mention the likes of Dissection, Dismember, Edge of Sanity, Entombed, Cult of Luna, At the Gates or Tiamat then?
In all honesty, would not place them in my list. I only like Left Hand Path, Like an Everflowing Stream by the true Swede death bands in that list and I have never gotten with anything other than Crimson by EoS. Dissection are another one-album wonder in my book and I cannot attribute anything other than cultural significance to AtG. Tiamat aren't for me and I am yet to fully explore CoL.
I am kind of with Vinny on this one. The only ones of the above I would back as having a sustained quality, a requirement surely for a best band vote, is Cult of Luna.
A while ago I developed a simple algorithm to allow me to compare the overall quality of bands' discographies and consulting my list of bands whose entire studio discography I have rated the Swedish winner is Grand Magus with a QR (Quality Rating) of 57.0. I also have Craft with 55.0, Candlemass with 53.5, Opeth with 52.0 and excellent space rockers Yuri Gagarin on 53.3
Based purely on how much I enjoy them, my pick would be Candlemass with an honourable mention for Grand Magus. Opeth's outstanding metal output would also secure them a spot among my top 3. Bathory, Marduk and Shining all deserve mentions too.
No Darkthrone in your top ten is also where we would deviate in our opinion as I would definitely have at least two in there and Transilvanian Hunger has now become my #1 black metal album.
I do have Darkthrone at 11 and 13 though, so still obviously a big fan. My ratings spreadsheet calculates my average percentage for all the subgenres, which has really emphasized my passion for atmospheric black metal and death doom / funeral doom. It has also very clearly highlighted my dislike (bordering on complete bewilderment) of stoner metal. My further attempts to get into Electric Wizard and Sleep have failed dismally. Maybe some other stoner bands will tickle my fancy, but I don't think I'm ever going to enjoy these much-loved entities. I tried!
In all honesty, Ben, I am very quickly wearying of stoner metal and rock myself. I still enjoy a lot of the doomier stoner stuff such as EW and Sleep, but the more rock-oriented iterations of stonerdom have begun to leave me cold. This is probably inevitable as I become more enamoured of extreme metal genres. Another possible reason is that as I have long since moved away from the stoner life style I once enjoyed, it feels less relevant to me as a person and isn't anything I really identify with any more as I have little contact with that world now.
An interesting list Ben. There are a few I haven't listened to, but I may have a crack at it myself in the coming days. We won't ever see eye-to-eye on the best Burzum album I suspect as the 25-minute ambient piece ruins Filosofem for me and I guess a tolerance for ambient music is a requirement for that to be a top-tier album. To be honest, much to the scorn of most people I suppose, I am even favouring the debut S/T over everything else Burzum-related nowadays. No Darkthrone in your top ten is also where we would deviate in our opinion as I would definitely have at least two in there and Transilvanian Hunger has now become my #1 black metal album. Then again, they are my favourite band, not just black metal or even metal, but of all music.
I don't know why, possibly your championing of Summoning, but I always thought you were better disposed towards folk metal than you evidently are.
Fuck batsmen, fast bowlers are where its at.
As an opening bowler that learnt his craft while bowling endlessly at his annoyingly talented batsman brother (don't tell him I said that) in the backyard, I wholeheartedly agree!
Yeah, batsmen are just target practice!
What did we ever do to you?!!
Well, the English management & ex-players said that we are the worst Australian team in the last fifteen years & that you have the best English team of that period & that you were gonna dominate us with your "Bazball" philosophy on our home turf, totally disregarding the fact that (outside of one uncharacteristic loss to South Africa in the World Test Championship final) Australian is still clearly the best Test side in the world . That's enough to motivate anyone, let alone an Australian team who has developed a culture of winning at all costs over many decades. The English media have made it so much easier for us as usual though, pouncing on the first sign of weakness to ensure that any self-belief that England may have had coming into the series is totally eviscerated.
My Detroit Pistons & Sydney Kings had huge wins over the weekend too so I'm feeling particularly good going into the final two work days of the calendar year.
Yeah fuck em then, they deserve it for being disrespectful. I always liked watching the Aussies back in the day. As an aspiring (but completely talentless) fast bowler myself back then, I loved watching Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson, even if they were smashing through the England top order, which they almost invariably did. Alongside the West Indies' Michael Holding and Andy Roberts they were probably my favourite cricketers. Fuck batsmen, fast bowlers are where its at.
Watched a very good Danish movie on Netflix last night called The Bombardment. A true story about a British bombing raid on the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen. A real indictment of the fog of war and its impact on ordinary citizens, particularly the young. It is even more pertinent now that scenes like those depicted in the movie have returned to European cities and sabre-rattling is rising in intensity across the continent.
What did we ever do to you?!!
That's great news Daniel. Good to hear she is feeling much better.
@David - the Moloch track, which was certainly available last week has now been removed from Spotify in the UK. Do you want to post an alternative?
Thanks Vinny.
@Karl, don't forget to post your picks by the 15th if you want them included on the January playlist.
I have a couple more as backup if required Sonny.
By all means post them Vinny and if Karl doesn't submit any I will definitely use them.