UnhinderedbyTalent's Forum Replies
The more of Hoplites that I hear the less interested I am in them/him. I was disappointed by the new Inquisition track as well - very keys heavy. Taake appears to be embracing some interesting traits and I do need to revisit that release of his from last year, but overall the first 9 or so tracks saw a fair bit of skipping being deployed (even on my own choices). That The Amenta track turns out to be off a covers album which I listened to some more of but switched it off after they butchered Angry Chair by Alice In Chains. Thankfully, Sonny saved things with a Mare Cognitum track and then Daniel continued the recovery with the Malokarpatan track.
Not heard any Diabolical Masquerade for years so that was a nice blast from the past and I still have to admit that I neglect Antaeus to a criminal level after all these years. Really interested in that Vemod album based on that closing track.
A full single track EP Daniel. I applaud this choice. I love me some Gorguts! I thoroughly enjoyed istening to this track through as the highlight of a list that was strong overall I thought.
You are never going to go too far wrong with a list containing Demilich, Nihilist, Darkthrone, Repulsion, Bolt Thrower, Carnage, Morbid Angel and Nile.
Had the time to get through this playlist today on my morning walk. I still have no idea of the attraction of Sunn O))) (sorry Sonny) and I listened to all 14:59 of that track. It is just not my cup of tea. Also had to skip Iron Man (those vocals) and The Gathering (a bit too rocky and again the vocals grated). I have come to the conclusion that Wino's voice actually grates on me nowadays and so I had to skip The Obsessed track also.
Thankfully there was still lots to keep me happy on the list. Standouts were Dolorian, Crowbar, Goatsnake, Godthrymm, High on Fire and Saturnalia Temple. Good work Sonny.
Hi Daniel, my submissions for March please:
Mongrel - "Dog Complex" (from "Off the Leash", 2022)
Plague of the Fallen - "Cycles of Anguish" (from "Amongst the Rats", 2023)
Cryptworm - "Miasmatic Foetid Odour" (from "Oozing Radioactive Vomition", 2023)
Vomit Forth - "Unclaimed Cadaver" (from "Northeastern Depravation", 2019)
Wormhole - "Almost Human" (from "Almost Human", 2023)
Horrifier - "Assimilated Life" (from "Horrid Resurrection", 2023)
Dismember - "Dreaming in Red" (from "Indecent & Obscene", 1993)
Hi Sonny, my submissions for March please:
Black Wound - "Vermin Firstborn" (from "Warping Structure", 2023)
Altar of the Stag - "Dyatlov" (from "Visceral Offering", 2024)
Hi Ben, for March please:
Helleruin - "Naar de aarde terug" (from "War Upon Man", 2021)
Sworn - "Calamity Sea" (from "A Journey Told Through Fire", 2023)
Naglfar - "Plutonium Reveries" (from "Harvest", 2007)
I will be submitting these for March:
Faith or Fear - "Deep Down" (from "Titanium", 2012)
Mortal Scepter - "Spear and Fang" (from "Where Light Suffocates", 2019)
A.R.G. - "Perforation" (from "Entrance", 1991)
Torture Squad - "Out of Control" (from "Pandemonium", 2003)
Death Strike - "Re-entry and Destruction" (from "Fuckin' Death", 1991)
Believer - "Vile Hypocrisy" (from "Extraction From Mortality", 1989)
Feb 24
1. Celtic Frost– “Nemesis” (from “Vanity/Nemesis”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
2. Frightful – “Spectral Creator” (from “Spectral Creator”, 2021) [Submitted by Sonny]
3. Killjoy – “Enemy Within (Cycle of Insanity)” (from “Compelled by Fear”, 1990
4. Anthrax – “Armed and Dangerous” (from “Spreading the Disease”, 1985) [Submitted by Sonny]
5. Vulture – “Clashing Iron” (from “The Guillotine”, 2017)
6. Bombarder – “Speed Metal” (from “Speed Kill”, 1989)
7. Hellcrash– “Volcanic Outburst” (from “Demonic Assassinatiön”, 2023)
8. Hellish – “Goddess Death” (from “The Dance of the Four Elemental Serpents”, 2022) [Submitted by Sonny]
9. Lucifuge – “From Cosmos to Chaos” (from “Monoliths of Wrath”, 2023
10. Create A Kill – “Decimate” (from “Summoned to Rise”, 2023)
11. 8 Foot Sativa – “Perpetual Torment” (from “Breed the Pain”, 2004)
12. Soulfly – “Defeat U” (from “Prophecy”, 2004)
13. Cypecore – “Values of Life” (from “Take the Consequence”, 2010)
14. Lazarus A.D. – “Revolution” (from “The Onslaught”, 2007)
15. Ghoul – “Noxious Concoctions” (from “Noxious Concoctions”, 2024)
16. Exodus – “A.W.O.L.” (from “Impact is Imminent”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
17. Cold Steel – “Full Tilt” (from “Deeper into Greater Pain”, 2023)
18. Torque – “H.L.S.” (from “Torque”, 2023)
19. Gama Bomb – “Mask of Anarchy” (from “BATS”, 2023) [Submitted by Sonny]
20. Xentrix – “Questions” (from “For Whose Advantage?”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
21. Asylum – “Eternal Violence” (from “Tyrannicide”, 2022)
22. Distillator – “Guerilla Insurgency” (from “Revolutionary Cells”, 2015)
23. Flotsam & Jetsam – “Suffer the Masses” (from “When the Storm Comes Down”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
24. Terminalist– “Frenetic Standstill” (from “The Crisis as Condition”, 2023) [Submitted by Sonny]
25. Eight Sins – “Street Trash” (from “Straight to Namek”, 2023)
26. Life Cycles – “Serpent’s Kiss” (from “Portal to the Unknown”, 2024)
27. Abandoned - “Visions of Death” (from “Thrash You!”, 2007)
28. Killing – “Killed in Action” (from “Face the Madness”, 2021)
29. Obliveon – “From this Day Forward” (from “From this Day Forward”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
Hi Ben, please could you add:
Óreiða (Iceland)
Kowloon Walled City - "Container Ships" (2012)
Since I stumbled across their 2021 release, Piecework (an album which was my top pick for that year), I have been slowly working my way through the back catalogue of Kowloon Walled City. I soon settled on 2012's Container Ships as my next regular play, finding the angular and brittle nature of the sound that I enjoyed so much on that latter release in full flight on this release from nearly a decade earlier. The pacing of songs at this point in their careers is not as consistently slow as it was on Piecework but the bleakness is still very obvious at this stage in their songwriting. The bouncing sludge of 50s Dad as track two on here, soon injects a shot of uptempo and disorganised chaos to proceedings. The futile edge to Scott Evan's vocals is perfectly at odds with this faster pace, emphasising the awkwardness and discomfort of the character in the song.
With the bass churning away throughout Container Ships, this soon becomes a very dense sounding album. Changes of pace end with resonance to them that permeates the space around the listener. This adds further tension to what is already an emotionally taut record. The sense of loom and menace that is built over the course of the intro to the title track cannot be denied. It is a perfect soundtrack to exploring the graveyard of ships that is depicted on the cover of the album itself. Whilst undeniably burdened with a megaton sludge weight, it is the contrasting post-metal sections to tracks that really emphasises the brilliance of Container Ships. The charge of the sludge metal never gets to explode to its full potential - which I would normally class as an inhibiting factor, but it works brilliantly here. I liken it to bombs being exploded underwater. You see the water being cast far and wide, hearing the sound of the explosion itself also, yet the violece of the act seems somehow surpressed as it is hidden from view. The majority of the tracks on Container Ships are sludge bombs submerged in, or floating on the top of post-metal seas.
This is not to say that this album lacks agression. Instead the more fierce elements to the record feel more personal. Indeed they seem to hit harder by the simple acknowledgement that anger does not necessarily mean outbursts of violence. The expression of frsutration, futility and fear itself comes through on this album. Whilst the post-metal elements offer this expression they by no means temper the sense of hopelessness that the tracks exude, even on the faster-paced tracks. This is why I find most of what I have heard to date from Kowloon Walled City resonantes with me so easily. There is variation on a theme with KWC that by no means represents a compromised position.
4.5/5
Boasting a line up from bands I have never heard of before coming to this month’s The Fallen featured release, Great Falls’ Objects Without Pain promised to be a voyage of discovery if nothing else. With a quote from a review of “…if you value art as a triumph of emotion over form, then you should listen”, alongside another quote that referenced comparison with Converge’s Jane Doe album, there was an increasing sense of intrigue as I teed up the stream on Spotify.
The first thing to call out is that this has Neurot Recordings written all over it. After just a few seconds of listening to the album opener Dragged Home Alive, there was no need for me to check the label this was released under. Strained vocals and sterile strings that eventually give way to monstrous riffage later in the track told me all I needed to know. The potent and pungent aggression inherent in the vocals and instrumentation reeked of a band with a real emotional connection to their art, presenting their songs from a very real place. Suffice to say that by the end of track two, Great Falls had my undivided attention.
Rattling into mathy territory with some of the more urgent and pressing tracks (guessing this is the Playing Enemy band member/s influence), Objects Without Pain represents a turbulent listen that possesses the perfect element of restraint without ever fully tempering the raging flow or direction of even the most franticly paced tracks. Where this flow does get flipped on its head and undertakes a dramatic loss of momentum it is done organically and sensibly to help inflict the emotional brevity of the messaging perfectly.
In the more sludgey moments riffs ebb and flow like huge tidal waves of black (not blackened) water with all positivity and colour drained from them. This album confronts the point where tired messaging stops being tiring and instead becomes seething frustration. It pinpoints where the collaborative approach to conflict resolution shatters into the lethal emotional shards that scar all parties involved. The notion that all loss is inevitable is never ignored but it by no means attempts to bill it as tolerable. I would disagree with the above line from the review I saw that said this album represents art over form. Objects Without Pain comes across as very structured, albeit with a crude sense of things dropping into place via the sheer brute force of the will of the musicians involved in its creation.
Whilst containing enough sludge to warrant the tag, there is a lot more to Great Falls than just one element of a genre of metal. The number of band members from the four bands that make up this mystery (to me at least) supergroup clearly gives Great Falls a broad palate to create from without ever overloading the listener. For those familiar with them, the band members of Great Falls are from Kiss it Goodbye, Gaytheist, Play Enemy and Bastard Feast.
4.5/5
Still a quiet week at work this week so managed to get through all of the playlists for my clans before end of first week of Jan. From this list I still confess to being in a bit of a rut with death metal of late so I did skip a few tracks (Epiphanic Truth, Pyrrhon, Amon Amarth, Anata and Sacrilege all got short shrift). My positives came in the form of Edge of Sanity, Setentia, Neuropath and Death. I have zero time for Cattle Decapitation though, have never understood the hype around the band at all and this track did nothing to change that opinion.
Managed to get through the playlist early this month. Standout tracks for me were Totemesse who are completely new to me but that "Bastards" track was a fucking banger. Good pick from Sonny on that Enslaved track, reminded me how expansive Enslaved always have been but that they have not always been the diluted version of themselvs that we have seen in the last few years. Panopticon is an obvious winner but I do find that my time to listen properly to the music is limited when it is pushing 15 mins for one track. Asagraum were very impressive also.
Did not enjoy that Valdrin track - heard them on a couple of other occasions and just do not hear the attraction. That Progenie Terrestre Pura track started off okay but lost me around halfway through.
It says on the list that track 16 is Sarcofago but it is actually Spektr on the playlist itself in Spotify?
Solid list again this month. Particularly enjoyed The Angelic Process, Convocation, Dopelord and Ocean of Grief (which was unexpected since they are quite melodic).
Less enamored with Remina, Kaunis Kuolematon, Lord Vigo, Madvro and YDI and still have my Lee Dorrian aversion when it comes to Cathedral.
Here are my February submissions Vinny:
Death Angel – “Stop” (from “Act III”, 1990)
Quoted Daniel
Hi Daniel, can't find this record on Spotify here in the UK. Do you wish to make an alternative nomination?
Sleeping is for wimps. Get yourselves an intravenous drip so you don't need to spend time eating and drinking. Get a catheter fitted so no bathroom visits needed and then you have virtually no need to do anything other than listen to and review music. Works for Andi every month seemingly 
For Feb please Ben.
Woe - "Far Beyond the Fracture of the Sky" (from "Legacies of Frailty", 2023)
Syn - "Groregn" (from "Villfarelse", 2023)
Blut Aus Nord - "Queen of the Dead Dimension" (from "Disharmonium: Nahab", 2023)
For Feb please Sonny.
Faetooth - "Strange Ways" (from "Remnants of the Vessel", 2022)
Fires in the Distance - "Psalm of the Merciless" (from "Air Not Meant for Us", 2023)
Just two from me this time please.
Skeletal Remains - "Relentless Appetite" (from "Relentless Appetite", 2024)
Year of the Knife - "Last Laugh" (from "No Love Lost", 2023)
I can't believe this release has no ratings let alone reviews so far on here. We need to up our game Metal Academy.
Jan 2024
1. Sarcófago – “Third Slaughter – 2nd Version” (from “Die Hard”, 2015) [Submitted by Daniel]
2. Sepultura – “R.I.P. (Rest in Pain)” (from “Schizophrenia”, 1987) [Submitted by Vinny]
3. Necrodeath – “Necrosadist” (from “Into the Macabre”, 1987) [Submitted by Sonny]
4. Epidemic – “Vision Divine” (from “Decameron”, 1992)
5. Deceased… – “Graphic Repulsion” (from “Fearless Undead Machines”, 1997) [Submitted by Daniel]
6. Dead Head – “Angel Heart” (from “Dream Deceiver”, 2017)
7. Mekong Delta– “The Final Deluge” (from “The Music of Erich Zann”, 1988) [Submitted by Sonny]
8. Droid – “Amorphous Forms (Shapeless Shadows)” (from “Terrestrial Mutations”, 2017)
9. Suicidal Tendencies – “Disco’s Out, Murder’s In” (from “Lights…Camera…Revolution”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
10. Power Trip – “Firing Squad” (from “Nightmare Logic”, 2017) [Submitted by Sonny]
11. Toxic Wine – “Opresion masiva” (from “No hay lugar para los débiles”, 2016) [Submitted by Sonny]
12. Ratos de Porão – “Amazônia Nunca Mais” (from “Brasil”, 1989) [Submitted by Sonny]
13. Piraña – “God Killer” (from “Destructive Animal Revolution”, 2008)
14. Leather Brigade – “I Am the Night” (from “Pray to the Knife”, 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]
15. Diabolic Night – “Unleash the Abyss” (from “Sepulchral Magic”, 2014)
16. Malokarpatan – “Kočár postupuje temnomodrými dálavami na juhozápad” (from “Vertumnus Caesar”, 2023) [Submitted by Daniel]
17. Mayhem (US) – “Defy Your Master” (from “Burned Alive”, 1987)
18. Void – “Silent Onslaught” (from “Silent Onslaught”, 2023)
19. Torture – “Ignominous Slaughter” (from “Storm Alert”, 1989) [Submitted by Vinny]
20. Demolition Hammer – “Carnivorous Obsession” (from “Epidemic of Violence”, 1992) [Submitted by Vinny]
21. Thrashback – “Endless War” (from “Night of the Sacrifice”, 2015)
22. Legion of the Damned – “Beheading of the Godhead” (from “The Poison Chalice”, 2023)
23. Invocator – “Breed of Sin” (from “Weave the Apocalypse”, 1993)
24. Chimaira– “Pure Hatred” (from “The Impossibility of Reason”, 2003)
25. Machine Head – “In the Presence of My Enemies” (from “Through the Ashes of Empires”, 2003) [Submitted by Sonny]
26. Witchaven – “Unholy Copulation” (from “Terrorstorm”, 2010)
27. Darkthrone – “Snowfall” (from “Frostland Tapes”, 2008) [Submitted by Daniel]
If you enjoy Raphael Weinroth-Browne, Vinny, I strongly recommend you check out The Visit's 2015 album Through Darkness Into Light. It was my AOTY for 2015 and features Weinroth-Browne on cello and piano with vocalist Heather Sita Black. It's a beautiful album that deserves to be much more highly acclaimed than it is. In fact, I am going to go and listen to it again now.
Cheers Sonny.
Raphael Weinroth-Browne - "Worlds Within" (2021)
Described to me as "layers and layers of cello" which is one of my favourite instruments and so I was straight on this within minutes. Soul soothing stuff.
I have not been listening to many of the recent Horde playlists to be honest but have taken some time out whilst on holiday for the festive season to listen to this month's and can see how the more established and historic tracks work better. I often find it easy to represent more old-school stuf on The Pit playlist since Daniel and Sonny usually pick from the 80's heyday with consistency which frees me up to venture for the more modern releases. I have never had a strict rule around a specific proposrtion of the list being modern or from the current year. Prefer the "organic" approach.
One thing that struck me when I played through this moth's Horde list was how little patient I have whatsoever for melodic death metal nowadays. I have this mindset with death metal that it should never be diluted, otherwise it is not really death metal anymore. Odd, as I don't mind melodic black metal. Tracks three and four on the list soon got skipped and I was grateful of the down and dirty Darkthrone demo. I think the last melodic death metal that I listened to regularly was Heartwork by Carcass.
Nasum are a band I should be flogged for neglecting like I do. I keep telling myself that I need to spend more time with their stuff but somehow never quite get around to it. I actually sat through that Imperial Triumphant track which is progress for me - I still don't get the hype around them though. I will get around to a full Neuropath album review eventually but this track underlines the Suffocation influence brilliantly for me. The diving guitars and stop/start rhythms are great.
Wasn't too keen on some of the more melodic death/doom tracks this month - I am familiar with Hamferð and Mother of GRaves but neither really floated my boat. Still lots to enjoy though with Cough, Sir Lord Baltimore, Remembrance and Melvins being highlights.
Dymna Lotva were an interesting prospect, post-black metal and doom (with some folk) sounds as a mixture worked for me. Playing the album through now as I type this.
I enjoyed another solid list this month. HIghlights being Fork of Horripilation, Malokarpatan, Auriferous Flame and Faidra. Benn meaning to spend some time with that Faidra album in recent weeks so will prioritise this coming week as work dies down.
Not convinced by Finsterfrost, Vertebra Atlantis or Sielunvihollinen though. Still, plenty to go at though from this month's list.
Ben? The Spotify playlist on the app itself is still showing as last month's selections?
I recalled that I had taken some time to review this one already:
It has taken me the best part of a decade to get around to undertaking an erstwhile and meaningful effort to review the release that is recognised by some as being “the worst album in the history of death metal”. With so much negativity flying around it is difficult to write a genuinely impartial review based on how an album sounds to you personally. A task made no easier by the fact that the band in question are one of your favourite bands in death metal, responsible for some of the greatest albums the sub-genre has seen, and they have undertaken a huge change of direction and seemingly alienated the vast majority of their fanbase.
Looking on the internet there are two camps of opinion (broadly speaking) on Illud Divinum Insanus. ‘The “this is Ear Rape” Camp’, have a clear standpoint from the outset of their argument. In this camp you are most likely to hear that this album is all the fault of either a) David Vincent and his “fucked up ideas” or b) Trey Azagathoth for letting David Vincent do “whatever the fuck he likes”. The more rational ones in this camp still exhibit an astonishing lack of rational thought by citing Pete Sandoval having back surgery and finding Jesus as being the source of the problem. In the face of such astonishing, evidence-based, and well-researched findings it is hard to see how any opposing camp could possibly exist.
Amazingly, the second camp of opinion, ‘The “this isn’t so bad guys” Camp’ has managed to flourish in the face of such vehement opposition from the aforementioned “Ear Rape” camp dwellers. This second group of more open-minded music fans acknowledge some very important distinctions in their argument when compared with their more reactionary counterparts. Namely, they admit that a) it is in David Vincent’s gift to do whatever the fuck he likes and that b) Trey Azagathoth was quite good at video games by this point and wanted someone else to run point on the album because he had done more than a few years of good shit and had earned some time with his feet up. They tend to also acknowledge that Pete Sandoval had a debilitating injury that required surgery and his belief change was a more than reasonable step in his recovery and he was rightly (and publicly) proud of what he had achieved with Morbid Angel so let’s leave him out of this!
If I had to choose sides, then go right ahead and sign me for the latter of the two camps. I might not agree with everything either camp say but there is far more wrong with the “Ear Rape” sentiment to justify any involvement there. I mean looking at old reviews I did for the follow up to this record, I slate it based on cursory listens and peer pressure so I have had a foot in the former camp at some point.
So, I do not like Illud Divinum Insanus. I do not hate it either and I think the general backlash against it is both unnecessary and misguided, showing the rather grandiose idea that bands somehow owe something to their fans to stay on the same trajectory their whole career. The fact is though that this is not a Morbid Angel album (well apart from the two main players being kind of well-established with the band name – oh and the band logo on the front of the record), in fact it is not really a death metal album when taken in its entirety. Clearly carrying a variety of musical influences in their heads at the time there are lots of non-metal as well as various other sub-genres of metal being explored here and whether you like it or not is up to you. Whether you like the industrial-tinged elements is a matter of taste (I personally do not like a lot of industrial metal but find the elements here quite measured and appropriate). If you find the “bangers” type dance beats abhorrent, then any hope you have of any return to form in the future being of a Blessed… or better still an Altars… level of accomplishment is slim to zero.
The point is that bands move on, and musicians influences change. Records that defined part of your life will always remain relevant and your favourite band now going off in some previously unheralded direction is not the end of the world. Illud… is a bitter pill to swallow after nearly a decade of waiting for a follow up to Heretic, with little to no warning of what was coming from these titans of death metal. References to Domination keep popping up in the more amenable camp but I do not see those as really all that relevant and perhaps are just over-exuberant attempts to provide some sense to Illud… and make it more palatable.
Fact is, both Trey and David can do whatever they like. Do you have to like it? No. Tim Yeung and Destructhor are no more to blame if you dislike this album than Pete Sandoval is – the album just isn’t for you.
It seems very simple to me. If you like death metal and death metal done like it was in the 90s, then you will not like this record. Stop listening to it and saying nasty things about it on the internet some eleven years after it was released and just get the fuck on with your lives. If you want to hear something different that to my ears is not all that appealing overall, then take a risk and form your own opinion.
2.5/5
January please:
Obscure Sphinx - "Nothing Left" (from "Epitaphs", 2016)
Hexvessel - "Ring" (from "Polar Veil", 2023)
January please:
Baest - "Crosswhore" (from "Danse Macabre", 2018)
Monument of Misanthropy - "Exceptionally Sadistic" (from "Unterweger", 2021)
Analepsy - "Food for the Maggots" (from "Dehumanization by Supremacy", 2015)
Skinless - "Deviation Will Not Be Tolerated" (from "Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead", 2006)
Vastum - "Vomitous" (from "Inward to Gethsemane", 2023)
10 to the Chest - "Glassed in the Face" (from "Split the Fuck Open", 2023)
Bloodbath - "Mock the Cross" (from "The Fathomless Mastery", 2008)
January please:
Nordjevel - "Blood Horns" (from "Nordjevel", 2016)
Immortal - "Immortal" (from "War Against All", 2023)
Olde Throne - "A Dying Land" (from "An Gorta Mór", 2022)
December 2023
1. Mystic Storm – “Riddle of Steel” (from “From the Ancient Chaos”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]
2. Iced Earth – “The Funeral” (from “Iced Earth”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
3. Anacrusis – “Far Too Long” (from “Manic Impressions”, 1991)
4. Hellish – “The Ancient Entity of the Darkest Light” (from “The Dance of the Four Elemental Serpents”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]
5. Imperial – “Censure” (from “Thrasheurs 13”, 1998) [ Submitted by Vinny]
6. Slaughtbbath – “Tyranny from Sodom” (from “Contempt, War and Damnation”, 2017) [Submitted by Sonny]
7. Trastorned – “Witch Hunt” (from “Into the Void”, 2023) [Submitted by Sonny]
8. Possessed – “Demon” (from “Revelations of Oblivion”, 2019)
9. Coroner – “Mistress of Deception” (from “No More Colour”, 1989) [Submitted by Morpheus Kitami]
10. Flotsam & Jetsam – “Doomsday for the Deceiver” (from “Doomsday for the Deceiver”, 1986) [Submitted by Sonny]
11. Mystik – “Nightmares” (from “Mystik”, 2019)
12. Motörhead – “Locomotive” (from “No Remorse”, 1984) [Submitted by Daniel]
13. Nihilist – “Sentenced to Death” (from “Carnal Leftovers”, 2005) [Submitted by Daniel]
14. Megadeth – “Good Mourning/Black Friday” (from “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?”, 1986) [Submitted by Sonny]
15. Primal Rite – “Antivenom” (from “Dirge of Escapism”, 2018)
16. Forseen – “Soldier’s Grave” (from “Untamed Force”, 2022)
17. Take Offense – “Power in Our Hands” (from “Tables Will Turn”, 2011)
18. Scatterbrain – “Here Comes Trouble” (from “Here Comes Trouble”, 1990)
19. DOOM – “Ghosts of Princes” (from “Killing Field…+4”, 1988) [Submitted by Morpheus Kitami]
20. OverDose – “Straight to the Point” (from “Progress of Decadence”, 1993)
21. Upon A Burning Body – “All Pride, No Pain” (from “Southern Hostility”, 2019)
22. Virus – “Murder in the Moshpit” (from “A New Strain of An Old Disease”, 2013) [Submitted by Vinny]
23. Nervosa/Gary Holt– “When the Truth Is a Lie” (from “Jailbreak”, 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]
24. Exodus – “The Last Act of Defiance” (from “Fabulous Disaster”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]
25. Slaughter Lord – “Slaughter Lord” (from “Thrash ‘til Death 86-87”, 1998) [Submitted by Sonny]
26. Vektor – “Forests of Legend” (from “Black Future”, 2009)
Hi Ben, could you please add Romanian speed metallers, Knife Brigade?
I assume you mean Leather Brigade? Can't find a Knife Brigade, although that is a better band name.
Yeah, one too many sherberts when I typed that. You are correct with Leather Brigade.
Asking three times does not alter the fact that you have missed the cut off for this month. If you are still around for next month and you have actually locked in 3 clans instead of just 1 then I will consider it.
please add the 90s Australian thrash metal band allegiance
They are already on. Just go to the Bands section and use the search function to save yourself some typing mate.
Hi Ben, could you please add Romanian speed metallers, Knife Brigade?
Let's stick with what unites us and not what divides us, so saying I agree Vinny, the Mānbryne track was a standout and their album is near the top of my list of things to check out soon. As you've already listened to it, is it any good?
I thought it was solid enough but not outstanding. My fears of them being Mgla clones were not realised thankfully but I see little here to be attracting the top end of the rating spectrum, however I have only listened through a couple of times.
When I first heard that ambient track on Filosofem I was as repulsed as Sonny given at the time I had no enjoyment of ambient music at all. As I have found myself a lot more interested in dark ambient in recent years I actually do not mind it all, I think I listen to more of Burzum's ambient and dungeon synth stuff nowadays than I do his conventional bm. Horses for courses.
I am playing the album by Mānbryne following their inclusion on the playlist. I plan to check out Sühnopfer and Branikald also based on this list.
Faetooth - Remnants of the Vessel (2022)
Female "fairydoom" project out of Los Angeles. I would suggest it to be a blend of doom and sludge if (like me) you find "fairydoom" to be an unhelpful term.
Mānbryne - Interregnum: O próbie wiary i jarzmie zwątpienia (2023)
Picked up from The North clan playlist this month, some Polish bm for this wet Thursday afternoon.
Ken mode - "VOID" (2023)
Since writing the below review back in October this year I have added VOID to my vinyl shelves and today marks its first spin.
Sitting completely off my radar for most of their discography to date, KEN mode came up in a random playlist this week and I found myself intrigued by their clear blend of core infused sludge that seems to have a constant threat of exploding into some mathy chaos. Grateful that this possibility is never realised VOID plays to the more appealing elements of how I like my sludge; reminiscent of Kowloon Walled City who I also stumbled across randomly.
This thoughtful and mature edge to VOID bleeds through on tracks such as These Wires which is an exhausting and emotionally charged near eight minutes of turbulent percussion and boisterous vocals tempered by the gradual build of the instrumental track (a la Russian Circles), We’re Small Enough that immediately follows it. Unafraid to bring the noise though, the crazed jazzy ending to I Cannot shows the versatility of KEN mode perfectly. Whatever track you listen to on the album you cannot deny how emotionally supercharged the whole thing is and the elements of control that are deployed on that energy make for a very interesting listen overall.
Whilst there is a sense of fight to the record, there is a frustrating futility to that conflict, an underlying tone of defeat being known but the level of tenacity in the energy of the tracks refuses to admit defeat. Monotone bass lines and an often-deployed plodding rhythm compliment the dark edge to the lyrics well without ever making for dull or lifeless compositions either. There is a level of intrigue that I maintain in listening to this record that I do not often find with most releases nowadays. VOID certainly has something to say but it is not limiting itself to shouting in my face, nor is it hiding behind conjecture either.
Not all elements work for me. The spoken word on Not Today, Old Friend certainly play to the aesthetic of the song but just feel out of place still somehow. The more noise rock portions of KEN mode are the more challenging for me overall even though they do tangle the most intricate of webs that I do still have to acknowledge the talent behind the creation thereof.
4.5/5
For the next playlist that's available, I'd like to suggest:
Coroner - Mistress of Deception (off No More Color)
Doom - Ghost of Princes (off Killing Field+4)
They will be on December's, thanks.
Hey Vinny, my suggestions for December are:
Flotsam and Jetsam - "Doomsday for the Deceiver" (from "Doomsday for the Deceiver", 1986)
Megadeth - "Good Mourning/Black Friday" (from "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?", 1986)
Slaughtbbath - "Tyranny From Sodom" (from "Contempt, War and Damnation", 2017)
Slaughter Lord - "Slaughter Lord" (from "Thrash 'Til Death", 1998)
Trastorned - "Witch Hunt" (from "Into the Void", 2023)
Thanks Sonny, perfect pick with that lengthy F&J track meaning that the playlist is now complete well ahead of schedule. I can put me feet up for rest of month now.
I have no idea what “atmospheric sludge” is so hadn’t even noticed the change. I lack the laser focus on the clans that others have. Short answer, it’s fine as is.
My first four days at my new job have gone really well. The first 2.5 days were basically spent completing online training & inductions but the last 1.5 days were really interesting & encouraging. I'm really enjoying learning about managing a business in an entirely new industry (i.e. the construction machinery one) while the wider team seems to be embracing me & are really happy to have someone with my skill sets & experience coming into their business which has given me a much-needed ego-boost after recent events had dented my confidence a touch. The commute has been punishing though. It's been more like 95 minutes to get there in the morning & around 110-120 minutes to get home in the evening. Plenty of metal listening has been conducted during that time which is a bit of a concern for the state of my withered ear drums.
Glad it is working out. Although if they insist on embracing you then you can always go to HR of course
How can I submit my band to be added to the site?
There's a thread for requests in each of the clan forums (suspect you want the one in The Pit) drop the request in this thread and Ben will pick up.
For December please:
Candlemass - "Dark Are the Veils of Death" (from "Nightfall", 1987)
KEN mode - "A Reluctance of Being" (from "VOID", 2023)
For December please:
Glemsel - "Ansigterne" (from "Forfader", 2022)
Hexis - "Exhaurire" (from "Aeternum", 2022)
For December please:
Tenebro - "Carne Umana" (from "Carne Umana", 2022)
Wharflurch - "Phantasmagorical Fumes" (from "Psychedelic Realms Ov Hell", 2021)
Universally Estranged - "Corrupted Mind Palace" (from "Dimension of Deviant Clusters", 2022)
Dismember - "Override of the Overture" (from "Like an Ever Flowing Stream", 1991)
Yatra - "Terminate by the Sword" (from "Born Into Chaos", 2022)
Devenial Verdict - "Ash Blind" (from "Ash Blind", 2022)
November 2023
1. Sadistic Ritual – “Area Denial” (from “The Enigma, Boundless”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]
2. Horrendous – “Ontological Mysterium” (from “Ontological Mysterium”, 2023)
3. Pentagram Chile – “La Furia” (from “The Malefice”, 2013 [Submitted by Sonny]
4. Daeva – “The Architect and the Monument” (from “Through Sheer Will & Black Magic”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]
5. Aura Noir – “Black Thrash Attack” (from “Black Thrash Attack”, 1996) [Submitted by Sonny]
6. Hellbringer – “Fall of the Cross” (from “Awakened from the Abyss”, 2016)
7. Sacred Reich – “One Nation” (from “Surf Nicaragua”, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]
8. Combust – “The Big Game” (from “Another Life”, 2022)
9. Enforced – “The Quickening” (from “War Remains”, 2023) [Submitted by Sonny]
10. Forbidden – “As Good as Dead” (from “Forbidden Evil”, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]
11. Num Skull – “Death and Innocence” (from “Ritually Abused”, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]
12. Attomica – “Deathraiser” (from “Disturbing the Noise”, 1991)
13. Mutilator – “Tormented Soul” (from “Immortal Force”, 1987) [Submitted by Sonny]
14. Pestilence – “Systematic Instruction” (from “Malleus Maleficarum”, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]
15. Bewitched – “Born of Flames” (from “Diabolical Desecration”, 1996) [Submitted by Sonny]
16. Vendetta – “Never Die” (from “Brain Damage”, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]
17. Exumer – “Rising from the Sea” (from “Rising from the Sea”, 1987) [Submitted by Sonny]
18. At War – “Mortally Wounded” (from “Ordered to Kill”, 1986)
19. Solstice – “Who Bleeds Whom” (from “Casting the Die”, 2021)
20. Lamb of God – “Vanishing” (from “Omens”, 2022)
21. Blood From the Soul – “Dismantle the Titan” (from “DSM-5”, 2020)
22. Detritus – “Bright Black” (from “Myths”, 2021)
23. Terminalist – “A Future to Weave” (from “The Crisis as Condition”, 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]
24. Miscreance – “Fall Apart” (from “Convergence”, 2022)
25. Chemicide – “Inequality” (from “Inequality”, 2019)
26. Sadistic Force – “Cavern of the Wraith” (from “Aces Wild”, 2019)
27. The Lousy – “Demons on Parade” (from “Shut Up I’m Talking”, 2022)
28. Testament – “The Ballad” (from “Practice What You Preach”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]
29. Flotsam & Jetsam – “Hard on You” (from “No Place for Disgrace”, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]
30. Warbringer – “The Black Hand Reaches Out” (from “Weapons of Tomorrow”, 2020)