Sonny's Forum Replies

Daniel, you omitted to say it's like Slayer on PCP! It's rare to hear an album that sounds so damn enthusiastic. I can really imagine the singer completely losing his shit on stage. It's a shame this isn't more popular than it is, it puts to shame any number of better known releases by sheer force of personality alone.

Ben, I think you will enjoy the new Godthrymm album.

Main man Hamish Glencross was a member of both My Dying Bride and Solstice... and it shows!

Thanks guys!

Gonna take a break from the challenges for now and catch up on some new releases.

Godthrymm - Reflections. Released 14/02/20 on Profound Lore.

Debut album from Hamish Glencross' latest band that should appeal to any fan of UK doom metal.

I believe I have completed The Pit challenge, Thrash Metal - The 80s.

Next up for me is The North. Probably the Black Metal - The 1st Decade challenge.

My favourite is a guy who has only recently come to prominence, particularly because of his painting Essence of Freedom being used as the cover of Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper album and that is Mariusz Lewandowski. His portentous, supernatural-themed paintings have a singular melancholy atmosphere to them. His work has also graced the covers of recent albums by Mizmor, False, Abigail Williams and Elder Druid to name but a few.

Ben, could you please add Mansion (Finland).

Hi Ben, could you add Psychotic Waltz's new album The God-Shaped Void please.

Ben, could you please add Castle (US).

Thanks for clearing that up Daniel. I had a feeling that it would be considered ok for the Academy (as I believe it should be). Just checking because, as you rightly say, some websites make completely arbitrary decisions on what constitutes being "metal enough" - a position particularly odd in the case of metal-archives as they claim to be an encyclopaedia of metal music yet dismiss many valid artists out of hand because of personal bias.

Yet another example of why Metal Academy is a superior site for the Metal connoisseur!

Frayle - 1692. Released 14th February on Lay Bare Recordings.

Doom metal with light and ethereal female vocals.

... oh and Frayle (US). Thanks, in advance.

Hi Ben, please add Schattenvald (Germany) and Eneferens (US).

Hi again, Ben. Could you please add Space God Ritual (US), Iron Void (UK), Funeral Horse (US), Sabel (Sweden) and Endless Floods (France).

... sorry, and Serpent Noir (Greece).

Nobody embodies black metal better than Fenriz and Nocturno Culto. Even after all this time they don't bow down to anyone and just keep making the music they want, the way they want. Natassja in Eternal Sleep is one of, if not the greatest track in Black Metal. This isn't just track of the day, it is track of any  day!

Hi Ben, could you also add All Hell (US).

Obsidian Tongue: Volume III on Bindrune releasaed 31/01/20.

Epic and atmospheric black metal from a severely underrated US duo.

Preview track Return to the Fields of Violet:

Ben, could you please add Obsidian Tongue (US).

Great call for '74, Tymell. Burn is one hell of a track, certainly one of Purple's best and definitely the best album David Coverdale ever recorded.

Compiling a list like this it's great to see how Metal has ballooned in popularity and availability. Obviously for most of the 70's there are very few choices, especially for the early years, but as the time rolled by those choices become harder and harder. It's almost impossible to choose an absolute favourite from some years - 1986 for example, Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets, Peace Sells, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Darkness Descends, Pleasure to Kill and In the Darkness (Paul Chain) - tough decision indeed.

Are we including live albums here Sonny?

Hey man, it's your list, include whatever you want...

Yyyyeeeaaaahhhhh….. I love this shit so I'll be getting mine together. By the way.... "Kill 'Em All" was 1983. Not 1981.

You know what, I have no idea why I put Kill 'em All down for '81. I actually meant to put my favourite Iron Maiden album, Killers. Must have had some sort of brain freeze (it happens as you get older, you know!!)

Hi Ben again. Sorry, but could you add Italian bands Black Capricorn, Zolfo, Bretus, Hands of Orlac, Messa and Temple of Pain.

Hi Ben, I guess you forgot, but any chance you could add these, please?

Panopticon's 20 minute tribute to his young son after he underwent major heart surgery.

Awesome and epic atmospheric black metal from one of the genre's premier exponents.

Now this is my kind of record store...

Ben, I would say give it a try. Like you, I shied away from Boris for the longest time, but gave this album a go a couple of years ago and found it reasonably accessible. It's probably fair to say that this is pretty much entry-level for drone metal, not really being too extreme - it's certainly not Khanate. Loud, heavy, feedback-drenched psych jams and post-rock sections contrast with it's sustained droning chords for a nice variation in sonic textures. As much a sensation to be experienced as it is music to be listened to.

Agvirre - Silence EP released 24/01/20 on Trepanation Recordings.

Atmospheric Black Metal incorporating strings, electronics and plenty of post-metal stylings for an interesting new release.

Ben, could you please add Hazzerd (Canada).

Hazzerd - Delirium Released January 24th on M-Theory.

Great old-school thrash in the vein of mid-80's Anthrax with some serious shredding solos.

Puritanical Masochism - heavy as hell death doom / sludge metal from Danish all-female four-piece Konvent, released 24th January on Napalm Records.

Ah, the joy of brotherly love / sibling rivalry!

Hi Ben again. Sorry, but could you add Italian bands Black Capricorn, Zolfo, Bretus, Hands of Orlac, Messa and Temple of Pain.

Zolfo - Delusion Of Negation

Released Friday January 24th on Spikerot Records.

Ridiculously heavy and desperate-sounding sludge metal from Italy.

Hi Ben, could you please add Mouth of Oceans, Apostle of Solitude, Landskap and Dopelord.

Vengeful Spectre - 殞煞 (Vengeful Spectre) Released January 15th 2020

Melodic Black Metal from Guangdong Province that incorporates chinese folk music to truly devastating effect.

If you want something new in folk-influenced black metal then I strongly urge you to give this a listen - I mean just look at that cover, epic!

Grey Skies Fallen - Cold Dead Lands out Friday 24th January.

Impressively epic progressive doom from New York if this preview track is anything to go by.

Ah, good point, Ben. I hadn't considered that.

Album's out on Friday, so not long to wait, anyway!

Ben, please add Ether Coven (aka Ether) (USA) and Konvent (Denmark).

Sludge / Doom from German husband and wife duo Grin

Released 17/01/20 and available on Bandcamp

Heavy without being overbearingly crushing and the psych overtones add a positivity to the album's atmosphere. If I had to describe it in a couple of words, I would call it space sludge, a melding of the vastness of space psych with a dense sludge core.

Official video for the track Orbital Grace:

Sludge / Doom from Ballymena's Elder Druid

Released 17/01/20 and available on Bandcamp

 These songs are veritable monsters, the riffs are huge sludgy slabs of doom over miles-thick foundations laid down by the bass and drums, that crush all before them mercilessly and leave a wrung out husk behind. (4/5)

Official video for the track Golgotha:

I know where you're coming from MacabreEternal. My 2019 list on RYM has over 400 albums on it (that I've listened to, 700 in total) and these types of lists can take on a life of their own, becoming a chore more than an enjoyment as you force yourself obsessively to listen to more and more, the majority being terribly mediocre, in the search for the odd gem, ultimately turning you into a jaded cynic rather than someone fully engaged and enjoying listening to metal for it's own sake. The Clan Challenges have been brilliant at reminding me what I love about metal and where I should direct my energies and what I should let go, so thanks to Ben and Daniel for that!

Ben, would it be possible to add Grin (Germany) and Elder Druid (Belfast)?

Nice one with the chance to filter by releases we've rated, Ben.

Now it's a lot easier to compile those pesky lists of "favourite death doom albums released in 2002" and so on. Essential for me - as anyone who's seen my many lists on RYM may attest!

Brilliant three-track EP of stoner doom telling a cosmic tale of wizards and dragons.

Heavy stoner sh*t, highly recommended for fans of Ogre, Sleep etc.

Thanks everyone and good luck on all your own clan challenges!

Really looking forward to seeing how everyone  gets on.

Hi Ben, could you please add Kurse from Canada, their new EP is stoner doom heaven for fans of Ogre, Sleep, Electric Wizard etc.

Also Dukatalon from Israel - their new album is currently sitting at #1 on my 2020 list!

Just completed The Fallen's Doom Metal - The Modern Era challenge and am exhausted!

I have given a bit of thought to what I would choose as my fourth clan, in addition to my current Fallen, North  and Pit lineup and I may well be with Daniel on this one. I would probably choose between The Guardians or The Horde, but I'm not sure if my contributions would help because, although I love a lot of bands that fall under either clans auspices, there are sub-genres I struggle with in both. In The Guardians I've made no secret of my dislike of power metal and bands like Manowar I find a bit embarrasing, to be honest. Under The Horde umbrella I can't take to brutal death metal and it's often ridiculous violence-worship and technical dm leaves me cold in most cases.

Still, I've got two more monster challenges to complete before we cross that bridge, so here's to a challenging 2020...

Wow, Ben wasn't kidding when he said these were going to be a challenge!

However, I believe I have completed the Doom Metal - The Modern Era challenge at last.

Really enjoyed it, got back into some albums I've not played for a while and found some I've not heard before. I don't find writing reviews particularly easy and it can be quite mentally tiring, albeit very rewarding, so I think I'll take a break before embarking on my next challenge,  - The North and The Pit await...

Ben, could you please add 1914 (Ukraine), Gaoth (Ireland) and Crom Dubh (UK).

Ah, thanks for that Ben, I was expecting it to filter the list, I didn't notice the selected user's ratings coming up under mine.

Nice feature.