Sonny's Forum Replies
I have the most recent Darkthrone albums on vinyl and thought I would like to get the earlier stuff on that format to. Nicely timed is the release of this beast of a boxset, a copy of which I have arriving tomorrow.
The Fist in the Face of God (2026)
The nine albums from "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" through to "Sardonic Wrath" in vinyl format with a shit ton of other stuff. Really looking forward to this baby's arrival!
So this finally arrived today - no fucking thanks to Amazon. Supposed to arrive Mar 6th. Nope - put back to Mar 13th. Nope - now due to arrive end of April. I have fallen for this shit with Amazon before and in the end they say they can't get hold of it anymore so you end up disappointed. Checked on the Peaceville online store and it was still available, so cancelled the Amazon order and bought it direct. Arrived in 3 days. Fucking Bezos!!
[It is every bit as great as I had hoped by the way.]
Yep, gave up with Amazon ages ago for this very same reason, although currently in dispute with Artoffact Records after the Mares of Thrace record I ordered directly at end of Dec 25 with a 7 Feb 26 delivery date has still not arrived. Bandcamp can't even get an answer out of them either.
I often wonder nowadays if the world is becoming peopled by complete incompetents and shysters. Nothing seems to work anymore and no one seems to know why, or even want to do anything about changing it. I have had no end of things lost in the post - especially things I send to my brother in Scotland - but no one seems to care or wish to do anything about it. In fact it is now seen as quite usual. They all want you to pay for registered and insured post rather than making the standard post better - another damn scam.
I have the most recent Darkthrone albums on vinyl and thought I would like to get the earlier stuff on that format to. Nicely timed is the release of this beast of a boxset, a copy of which I have arriving tomorrow.
The Fist in the Face of God (2026)
The nine albums from "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" through to "Sardonic Wrath" in vinyl format with a shit ton of other stuff. Really looking forward to this baby's arrival!
So this finally arrived today - no fucking thanks to Amazon. Supposed to arrive Mar 6th. Nope - put back to Mar 13th. Nope - now due to arrive end of April. I have fallen for this shit with Amazon before and in the end they say they can't get hold of it anymore so you end up disappointed. Checked on the Peaceville online store and it was still available, so cancelled the Amazon order and bought it direct. Arrived in 3 days. Fucking Bezos!!
[It is every bit as great as I had hoped by the way.]
1983 wasn't such a bad year, but in retrospect it feels like a year that was waiting for something big to happen. I know I was - I was shit broke and still working nightshifts in a factory making frozen pies, so some of these records really helped make that shit easier to live with.
Anyway, here's my top dozen for that year.
https://metal.academy/lists/single/346
1. Mercyful Fate - "Melissa"
2. Iron Maiden - "Piece of Mind"
3. Slayer - "Show No Mercy"
4. Satan - "Court in the Act"
5. Metallica - "Kill 'Em All"
6. Dio - "Holy Diver"
7. Raven - "All For One"
8. Motörhead - "Another Perfect Day"
9. Thin Lizzy - "Thunder and Lightning"
10. Acid - "Maniac"
11. Anvil - "Forged in Fire"
12. Battleaxe - "Burn This Town"
Hi Ben, could you please add swedish melodic BM / Viking metal band Fimbultyr?
Just re-reading Fahrenheit 451 and I am truly stunned at how prophetic it was. The inanity of a lot of modern entertainment and uncritical modes of thinking are predicted from almost 70 years ago.
Motörhead - Another Perfect Day (1983)
It has got to be said - I have been far too hard on "Another Perfect Day" for far too many years. Motörhead were one of my absolute favourites in the late 70's, probably even more so than Sabbath, so when the 'classic' lineup split and Fast Eddie moved on, I wasn't really prepared for what came next. Sure, I quite liked "Robbo" when he was with Thin Lizzy, but Motörhead were a whole different kettle of fish. Consequently, the release of "Another Perfect Day" saw me turning away from Lemmy and the guys for the very first time. The situation was exacerbated by my discovery of thrash metal shortly after and for a very long time I didn't really give The 'Head much thought. Time has seen my attitude change and I have really dug on a few of the later albums, yet I stubbornly refused to give much eartime to "Another Perfect Day". So now, over the last few days whilst I have been compiling my favourites of '83 list, I have spent a fair bit of time with this misfit of a record and, you know what, I have really enjoyed the experience and I keep coming back to it for just one more spin. It is almost like I am hearing it for the first time. Brian Robertson's more expansive guitar style actually complements Lemmy's thundering basslines and gruff vocal delivery beautifully and his soaring soloing is a whole lot better and more expressive than I ever gave it credit for.
On the downside, I am not so sure that there are any real standouts like "Overkill", "Stone Dead Forever", "(We Are) the Roadcrew" or "(Don't Need) Religion", but there are some solid tracks here and the soloing on a track like "One Track Mind" give the band a fresh dimension and dynamic. I guess it is better late than never but I was a pig-headed little fucker when I was younger (what do you mean I still am?) and I guess I have missed out on some good stuff over the years because of it. Remember, though, that I couldn't just bang this on a streaming platform to allow me time to get into it, I would have had to shell out hard-earned cash for an LP and from what I had heard of it at the time I wasn't prepared to do so. I am glad I got there in the end though.
4/5 (up from probably a 2 in 1983).
Baphomet released this in 1992 then changed name to Banished to avoid confusion with the german death thrashers of the same name before promptly splitting in 1993. They did reform in 2013, but so what. Luckily they left The Dead Shall Inherit as their legacy and this is a great example of Nineties' death metal that sits between the cavernousness of Autopsy or Asphyx and the brutality of Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation and that really hits the mark for me. There is no technical wizardry or songwriting complexity on show here, this is unadulterated OSDM filthiness and menace that appeals to the animal, not the cerebral. Now that isn't enough for some metalheads I am sure, but when a band does these things right then there isn't much better in the death metal world as far as I am concerned - and Baphomet most definitely do it right here.
4.5/5
Thanks for the reply Vinny. I think calling music listening a job was probably a poor choice of words. A better term may be compulsion. The compulsion to get "under the skin" of a release and to try to express my thoughts on it rather than just enjoy it on a surface level. I am not a natural communicator, as I have mentioned before, and know sweet FA about music theory, so end up feeling like a bit of a fraud as I ramble on about things that, in all honesty, I know very little about.
I think you are right, getting old sucks and one aspect that sucks the most is the world weariness that life-experience brings into a person's thinking and that replaces wonder and excitement with cynicism and suspicion.
I have been thinking about this thread a lot since Zach posted it and it has led me to several other musings on the changing world of metal fandom. One thing that has persistently been tugging away at my brain is the role of the internet in music fandom in general and metal in particular. The question that keeps coming to me is "has the internet and membership of sites like Metal Academy, RYM, or any other you may be a member of, taken the fun out of music?"
This isn't really aimed at the younger members who have grown up with the internet, but at any of you who were metalheads back before we all became irrevocably connected. For myself, I feel like I had much more fun with it back then. I would usually come in from work, slap on "Ride the Lightning" or "Number of the Beast" and sing my heart out while I made my tea! And the thing was, I could play those records over and over and never tire of them, but actually looked forward to hearing them once more. The anticipation I had for new releases from my favourite artists was immense too. I was virtually bursting with excitement waiting for "Master of Puppets" or "South of Heaven" to hit the shelves of our local record shop, whereas now, even releases from some of my current faves have been out for a while before I get round to listening to them.
To be honest, listening to music now sometimes feels more like a job than fun. I feel weirdly guilty for just listening to a record for its own sake, it is as if I feel I must sit and listen intently to try to ascertain all the nuances and subtleties and then to conjure up words to try to convey what I have managed to take away from it to any poor soul who may be bothered to listen to my blatherings. Sounds miserable, no? But it is like I can't stop and it is some kind of addiction. In fact my life as a metalhead probably follows the course of addiction, initially exciting and fun, but gradually taking over and continuing out of compulsion and habit, rather than out of genuine love for it, to the point where I know it is not really good for me. Or maybe the addiction part is irrevocably tied into the online aspect of fandom. On the other hand maybe it is just the inevitability of aging and a changing life, after all much water has flowed under the bridge since those lovingly-remembered days (and some of it quite unpleasant).
I think what I am hamfistedly trying to say is that I yearn for the days when metal gave me mere happiness and, yes, fun and it didn't require the deepest of concentration and mental exertion just to get through it and then do it all over again.
Is this just a me thing, or does this resonate with anyone else?
Oh man. That f--in sucks. RIP.
I actually really like DFM. The energy and naive looseness of it really appeals to the side of me that spits in the eye of technicality, complexity and polish.
Funeral doom does seem to be well-suited for closing tracks on the playlists and it sometimes feels out of place when buried in the middle as it can result in a bit of a flat spot, whereas it gives a suitably mournful atmosphere with which to end when used as a closer.
I am happy to see some love for Ea, as they are one of my favourite funeral doom bands. They are a mysterious bunch though and have never revealed their identities. They sing in a dead Babylonian language that has been recreated by linguistic archaeology and variously claim to be from St. Petersburg in Russia, Wyoming and even Antarctica!
Hi Ben. Could you add US atmospheric black metallers Eissturm please?
I forgot to highlight it in my review, but I agree that the drums are pushed way too far down in the mix and the album suffers for it as a result.
After extensive refamiliarisation with some of these over the last couple of weeks, my 1982 hot dozen looks like this:
https://metal.academy/lists/single/343
1. Witchfinder General - Death Penalty
2. Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
3. Diamond Head - Borrowed Time
4. Saxon - The Eagle Has Landed: Live
5. Mercyful Fate - Mercyful Fate
6. Venom - Black Metal
7. Taipan - Taipan
8. Motörhead - Iron Fist
9. Witchfinder General - Soviet Invasion!
10. Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance
11. Pagan Altar - Pagan Altar
12. Tank - Filth Hounds of Hades
Could you also add US solo BM project Echoes of the Moon please Ben?
Sorry, but no.
Had this on this morning while I was painting the fence and enjoyed it mostly, although the bookends provided a bit of a challenge. The first two tracks were a bit power-metally for my taste and the third sounded a bit like UK punks Vice Squad. All was put right by the time we got to Graveripper though. The last three were a struggle too and I especially don't think I will ever get on board with Pantera. Sterling work anyway Vinny. I think the Pit may be the hardest playlist to program (after the Sphere) as it is quite a tightly focussed clan with less genre variation than some of the others.
Hi Ben, could you add italian melodic black metallers Dewfall please?
Despite my well-publicised obsession with chilean thrash metal and the fact that Mental Devastation have been around for well over a decade and a half, I haven't crossed swords with these guys before and so went into it with great anticipation. Now strictly technical thrash metal doesn't always appeal to me so much, as I like my thrash to have an inherent aggression and fire, that I think is often lost amongst excessive technicality. As is usually the case with chilean thrash, though, this certainly delivers on the passion and aggression front, whilst also displaying an impressive level of technical ability. The usual chilean hallmarks are all present, breakneck pacing, vicious vocals and pronounced basslines, all well-represented by a nice, clean production job.
Following a brief anticipatory intro the opener proper, "Symbiosis", tears out of the blocks with a riff that proceeds to tear any unprepared listener a new one. With exuberant, energetic guitar soloing and bassist Alejandro Lagos' aggressive vocal delivery this is proper celebratory and whiplash-inducing stuff. They are perfectly capable of dialling it back a little though with "Judge and Jury" initially hitting a more mid-paced tempo. It is at these lower speeds, however, that Lagos' limitations as a vocalist are exposed as he maintains the ragged delivery he uses on the blisteringly fast tracks, which doesn't really suit the mid-paced stuff at all well and feels a bit like a sonic splinter in the thumb of the album. They also attempt something a bit more progressive on "Pulsions" but the gentle opening section exposes the vocal shortcomings even more.
I don't think that the technical aspect of "The Delusional Mystery of the Self Part II" is especially pronounced, certainly as far as the songwriting goes as the riffs still rule the roost here. For my money, dual guitarists Matías Morales and Felipe Espinoza are the guys who provide the secret sauce. Their riffs are pretty good, but their soloing is the real draw for me, delivering a great line in short, sharp shocks without sapping the momentum from the tracks by becoming too self-indulgent, even during the track "Primitive Paths" where they really go to town. All-in-all this is a very enjoyable slab of chilean thrash with enough energy and aggression to keep pace with my favourites from that neck of the woods, but which is robbed of my highest marks by the vocal limitations which I occasionally found too jarring to excuse and the superfluous instrumental "Dõ" which, for me, had no place being here at all.
4/5
The monetisation of human interaction has killed off any kind of community feeling on 95% of the internet. I don't use any of the (anti-) social media sites because I have no interest in those kinds of interactions. Metal Academy is now the only site I use in an interactive way anymore because the small, but easy going, membership make it the only site I have found where the interactions approximate normal, everyday human behaviour rather than the point-scoring, antagonistic bullshit that proliferates elsewhere.
I am glad you say it isn't going anywhere Ben, because I keep thinking that you may close it down and then I wouldn't have anywhere to shoot the shit about my life's passion, metal music, as my missus hates it and my real-life social interactions outside of family have petered out to almost zero as I have got older. Sad, I know, but true all the same!
Well, Zach, being born in the early 60's I grew up in the very early days of metal and, especially during the NWOBHM years here in England's north-west, the metal brotherhood of which you speak was very much a thing. Heavy metal was generally mocked and reviled by the wider community and its fans were very often the subject of piss-taking and even violence from the likes of the punks, mods and skinheads in every town centre. Yet, whenever you went to see a metal band live you would see the same faces from all the little shithole towns in which we lived come together, have a beer before the gig and generally have a great time of it, free of the threats and taunts from the dickheads you usually had to put up with.
I distinctly remember going to see Motorhead in '77 as a spotty 15 year-old and was a little nervous as they had a reputation for having a violent biker fanbase, but even being one of the youngest people in the venue that night, my mate and I were made to feel a part of something really special and, yes, it was full of huge hairy bikers from some of the most notorious bike gangs in the UK, but we were welcomed and treated just like old friends by all the guys we spoke to. That feeling of brotherhood and sharing in something special that outsiders could never understand has stayed with me my entire life and although the metal world is very different now and the internet has brought people on the other side of the world into our lives, I still feel a special affection and respect for any other metalhead I encounter, whether online or in real life. The latter are, however, few and far between nowadays as most people, certainly in the part of the world I inhabit, seem to all want to live carbon copy lives driven by algorithms and popularity.
I guess a youngster getting into metal now would have a very different experience to my own because online acceptance and brotherhood is very different to the tactile experience of real human beings, sharing a beer in the pub before a gig, getting animated arguing about who is better, Di'Anno or Dickinson, or whether Motley Crue are even metal or just a bunch of poseurs and then going to the venue and moshing together like crazy men!
I guess at my age we all wish we could be young again but, in truth, I wouldn't exchange those early experiences I had as a metalhead, which influenced my entire life view, for what passes as community nowadays. So I would say, Zach, that yes, the metal brotherhood at one time was very much a thing, certainly as far as my own experience goes.
That cover is absolutely fucking heartbreaking man. What a sickening and utterly tragic waste of an exceedingly rare and truly one-off, albeit extremely troubled, metal individual. RIP.
Hey, Ben. Thanks a lot for adding all my recent requests. A couple more for you when you're ready:
Black Tar Prophet - Instrumental sludge metal from Nashville
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/black_tar_prophet
Bandcamp: https://blacktarprophet.bandcamp.com/
Blood Red Water - Italian sludge metal
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/blood_red_water
Bandcamp: https://bloodredwater.bandcamp.com/album/all-the-ills-of-mankind
Boghaunter - US doom outfit who only have one EP to their name, but I quite like it.
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/boghaunter
Bandcamp: https://boghaunter.bandcamp.com/album/boghaunter-writhe-ep
Cabeza de Caballo - Stoner doom from Spain
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/cabeza-de-caballo
Bandcamp: https://tormorecords.bandcamp.com/album/d-lmenn
Louded - Spanish sludge metal
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/louded
Bandcamp: https://louded.bandcamp.com/album/satanic-boogie-woogie
Sorry, it is actually a few more than a couple!
I have the most recent Darkthrone albums on vinyl and thought I would like to get the earlier stuff on that format to. Nicely timed is the release of this beast of a boxset, a copy of which I have arriving tomorrow.
The Fist in the Face of God (2026)
The nine albums from "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" through to "Sardonic Wrath" in vinyl format with a shit ton of other stuff. Really looking forward to this baby's arrival!
Thanks guys. I really appreciate you getting your picks in early.
Suggestions for April in by the 15th please guys.
My suggestion for April, Andi, is Plasmatics "Doom Song" from their "Metal Priestess" EP which is under "New Hope for the Wretched / Metal Priestess" on Spotify.
My review from the time of release:
Saturnalia Temple have been a favourite of mine for some time now. Their psych-drenched doom metal is as uncompromising as it is trippy and it is early days yet, but this may well be their best album so far. Recorded completely on analogue equipment, Gravity is a throwback to the heady days of late '60s / early '70s psych rock.
First track proper, after a short intro, is the eponymous Saturnalia Temple which, if you didn't know better, you would swear was a psych-doom song from about 1968. I can't really explain why, but I get a kind of doom Velvet Underground vibe from this track. Next is the nine minutes of organ-soaked fuzzy doom, Gravity, with it's cracked and croaky vocals, which suggests that man is pulled down by his failings like a huge mass exerting it's pull on his soul and, despite the warmness of the guitar sound, it feels like an ominous and threatening track. The repetitive, ascerbic Elyzian Fields with it's black metal-style vocals is a kinetic ending to side one.
Between Two Worlds begins side two and, after a chaotic intro, kicks into gear and hurtles along like a long lost Hawkwind track from their Space Ritual days with echoing vocals Bob Calvert would be proud of. The distorted hyper-fuzzy oscillations and cavernous, disembodied clean vocals of Bitter Taste are a little disorientating, particularly on headphones and could well be some kind of sonic experiment on the human brain! Oannes also features the same vocal style and a similarly repetitively hypnotic guitar sound as Bitter Taste, albeit with a warmer, more bassy tone and Alpha Drakonis is basically an ambient outro to end the album as it started.
Once more Saturnalia Temple prove they are one of a kind and are not content to plough the same doom metal furrow as the majority of their contemporaries. Gravity has a cataclysmically reverberating bottom end and properly disconcerting vocals to give the listener the impression of having heard something genuinely either profound or blasphemous. More successfuly evokes the imagery and atmosphere of HP Lovecraft than any number of albums that deliberately set out to. Original, unsettling and ultimately, an extremely satisfying doom metal record.
4.5/5
Any choices you wish to submit are fine by me Karl. Vinny has got the latest releases covered pretty well, so all in all we should have good coverage of all death metal eras.
Old school rules Karl baby!
It certainly does!!
I have been interested in this sort of genre popularity data for a while. Obviously the number of total metal releases has greatly increased over the years so I think the best indicator of genre trends would be when compared as a percentage of total metal releases, thus better reflecting what metalheads are listening to. Earlier years, such as the very early '80s would be almost 100% heavy metal which would then decline as each new genre assumes its presence and increases. This would also show if a particular genre enjoys a renaissance or resurgence within the overallcmetal community.
Any choices you wish to submit are fine by me Karl. Vinny has got the latest releases covered pretty well, so all in all we should have good coverage of all death metal eras.
April will see another Horde playlist, so suggestions by the 15th March please guys. As I said in the Fallen thread, if you could get them in to me earlier I would be enormously grateful.
An initial listen to Swallowed's "Lunarterial" left me somewhat dumbfounded and confused I must admit. From Vinny's effusive description of the album in the feature thread's introduction this was apparently right up my street, yet I really wasn't feeling it. The disconnection was so pronounced that I really doubted my own ears and my interpretation of what I had heard. Determined to get to the bottom of this, I persisted and have now clocked up four or five listens over the last few days, both through intently concentrated listenings and as background whilst doing other tasks. Whilst my initial reticence has been alleviated somewhat, the truth is, I am still not completely sure how I feel about this, or even if I will ever be able to make a definitive judgement on my appreciation of it. I think this is one of those albums where there are moments that make me think "OK, right. Now here we go" when things click and fall into place and show glimpses of the album I envisioned getting at the beginning, but on the flipside there are also parts of seeming random chaos that literally make me want to turn it right down in order to lessen the discomfort I am feeling.
Anyway, this is an album that draws on a number of extreme metal influences, old-school death metal, death doom, disso-death, war metal and even drone metal, all combining to produce an, undoubtedly intentional, disconcerting feeling that all is not well or right with the world. To this end, at least with me, this was inordinately successful, although the effect was to alienate me from what I was hearing rather than drawing me into its aural maelstrom. The transitions from doomy oppressiveness to outright blackened violence overlayed with jagged shards of dissonance just overwhelm me I am afraid. At times the band sound a lot like Mayhem at their most experimental, a phase of the norwegian black metal legends that I have never been a big fan of. In an inversion of Vinny's view it seems, my favourite track is actually the 25-minute closer, "Libations" which appeals to the doom and drone fan in me and within the drone-y confines of which the band's tendencies towards dissonance makes more sense to me and if it had been released as a stand alone EP I may even have toyed with the idea of purchasing it.
I would claim to be a fan of extreme metal, but I guess an album that really pushes deeply into unconventionalism such as this, makes me question whether that is truly the case. Things still have to make sense to me and for many stretches "Lunarterial" really doesn't. "Libations" aside, which is actually really growing on me, I can't in all honesty say that I would return to this in the future.
3/5
These fellas have so far escaped my chilean thrash net, so I am looking forward to giving this a few spins this month.
I don't think I have come across these guys before, but I am always up for a bit of canadian black metal, so I will endeavour to give this some ear time this month and try to jot a few words down.
Hey guys, I have rather a lot on my plate at the moment, so the sooner you can get your suggestions for April into me the better as it means I can work on the playlist when time allows. Of course I will still accept your suggestions up to the 15th as per usual if any earlier isn't possible, but any time advantage I could get would be appreciated.
March 2026
1. Lamentari - "Dies Irae" (from "Missa pro defunctis", 2020)
2. Sorhin - "Misantropi och död" (from "Apokalypsens ängel", 2000) [submitted by Karl]
3. Immortal - "Wrath From Above" (from "Damned in Black", 2000) [submitted by Vinny]
4. Craft - "Kill Everything" (from "Total Soul Rape", 2000) [submitted by Vinny]
5. Morrigan Wargoddess - "Morrigan, Warrior Queen" (from "The Legacy of a Warrior Queen", 2021) [submitted by Sonny]
6. Graveland - "Raise the Swords" (from "Following the Voice of Blood", 1997) [submitted by Karl]
7. Givre - "Louise du Néant (1639-1694)" ( from "Le Cloître", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]
8. Black Witchery - "Ascension of the Obscure Moon" (from "Inferno of Sacred Destruction", 2010) [submitted by Sonny]
9. Left Alone... - "Coldly as Embers Rise" (from "Empty Moment", 2016) [submitted by Sonny]
10. Ancestral Shadows - "Stronghold of the Black Abyss" (from "Wolven Mysteries of Ancient Lore", 2019) [submitted by Karl]
11. Judas Iscariot - "Benevolent Whore, Dethroned for Eternity" (from "Dethroned, Conquered and Forgotten", 2000) [submitted by Vinny]
12. Kriegsmaschine - "None Shall See Redemption" (from "Enemy of Man", 2014) [submitted by Sonny]
13. Ragnarok - "My Hate Is His Spirit" (from "Arising Realm", 1997) [submitted by Karl]
14. Tsjuder - "Daemon's Journey" (from "Kill for Satan", 2000) [submitted by Vinny]
15. Mithotyn - "King of the Distant Forest" (from "King of the Distant Forest", 1998)
16. Blaze of Sorrow - "Ascensione" (from "Eterno Tramonto", 2011) [submitted by Vinny]
17. Lifvsleda - "Fjättrad" (from "Det besegrade lifvet", 2020) [submitted by Karl]
18. Bestial Warlust - "Within the Storm" (from "Blood & Valour", 1995) [submitted by Sonny]
19. Évval - "Alone in November" (from "A Train in Desolation", 2016)
March 2026
1. Zoroaster - "Trident" (from "Matador", 2010) [submitted by Vinny]
2. Benthic Realm - "Untethered" (from "We Will Not Bow", 2018)
3. Coffins – “Drown in Revelation” (from “Noothgrush / Coffins” Spit EP, 2013) [submitted by dk]
4. Ufomammut - "III" (from "Eve", 2010) [submitted by Vinny]
5. Ilsa – “Cult of the Throne” (from “Coffins / Ilsa Split E.P., 2016) [submitted by dk]
6. Karyn Crisis' Gospel of the Witches - "Great Mothers" (from "Covenant", 2019) [submitted by Sonny]
7. Froglord - "They Came From Saturn - Lower & Slower" (from "They Came From Saturn - (Lower & Slower)", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
8. Encoffination - "Nefarious Yet Elegant are the Bowels of Hell" (from "Ritual Ascension Beyond Flesh", 2010) [submitted by Vinny]
9. Toothbrushes – “Thoth” (from “Noothgrush / Coffins” Spit EP, 2013) [submitted by dk]
10. Black Moth - "Blackbirds Fall" (from "The Killing Jar", 2012)
11. Agrimonia - "The Battle Fought" (from "Rites of Separation", 2013) [submitted by Vinny]
12. Warcoe - "The Wanderer" (from "Upon Tall Thrones", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
13. Witchfinder General - "Invisible Hate" (from "Death Penalty", 1982) [submitted by Sonny]
14. Ether Coven - "This House Is a Tomb of Memories" (from "Everything Is Temporary Except Suffering", 2020)
15. Cardinal Wyrm - "The Resonant Dead" (from "Cast Away Souls", 2016) [submitted by Sonny]
16. Doomsday Profit - "Spirits" (from "Doomsday Profit", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
17. Indesinence – “Vanished Is the Haze” (from “Vessels of Light and Decay”, 2012) [submitted by dk]
18. Ea - "Laeleia" - (from "Ea taesse", 2006)
I completely agree, but the death metal lyrics that deal with sexual violence I also find very uncomfortable. However the delivery of death metal vocalists make the lyrics less obvious to the casual listener I suppose.
I was listening to Venom's "Black Metal" yesterday and the song "Teachers Pet" also illustrates just how cringey even more conventional metal and rock lyricists could be at times.
This is one of the very few rap albums I own, alongside the two you mentioned, NWA's "Straight Outta Compton" and Ice T's "Original Gangster" and I agree with pretty much all you say here, Daniel. I think there is a worthwhile debate about the misogynistic lyrics when compared to the violent imagery in a lot of death metal that seems more tolerated. Is it because no one can really take the death metal lyrics seriously, making them feel less blatantly offensive, whereas the rap lyrics feel more real somehow?
Here's my review, I am particularly interested to hear Sonny's take on this one as I suspect it might push him a little out of his confort zone as he continues to stretch his legs in The Horde.
I have given this a go this afternoon and I have to confess that I have struggled with it during this initial listen-through. It feels a little bit too dissonant for my particular tastes, but I am loathe to judge it so quickly and feel that at least another couple of plays will be required for me to really make up my mind, especially on something that does sit outside my comfort zone where perseverance is often rewarded. I will return to it over the next few days and try to formulate some coherent thoughts on my experience with it.
My 1981 top 12 list is now ready to go:
https://metal.academy/lists/single/342
1. Motörhead - "No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith"
2. Iron Maiden - "Killers"
3. Plasmatics - "Metal Priestess EP"
4. Black Sabbath - "Mob Rules"
5. Taipan - "Taipan EP"
6. Venom - "Welcome To Hell"
7. Saxon - "Denim and Leather"
8. More - "Warhead"
9. Cirith Ungol - "Frost and Fire"
10. Holocaust - "The Nightcomers"
11. Riot - "Fire Down Under"
12. Saracen - "Heroes, Saints & Fools"
I have just noticed that there appears to be some discrepancy in release dates for the Taipan EP with RYM quoting 1981 but Metal Archives and here at the Academy the date is 1982. I think I will trust to the metal specialists and stick with '82 which sees it leaving this list which now looks like this:
1. Motörhead - "No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith"
2. Iron Maiden - "Killers"
3. Plasmatics - "Metal Priestess EP"
4. Black Sabbath - "Mob Rules"
5. Venom - "Welcome To Hell"
6. Saxon - "Denim and Leather"
7. More - "Warhead"
8. Cirith Ungol - "Frost and Fire"
9. Holocaust - "The Nightcomers"
10. Riot - "Fire Down Under"
11. Saracen - "Heroes, Saints & Fools"
12. Raven - "Rock Until You Drop"
Could you add french death metallers Bliss of Flesh please Ben.
Hi again Ben. Please add UK black metal solo act Blencathra.
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/blencathra
Bandcamp: https://blencathra.bandcamp.com/
Could you add US stoner / heavy metal band Blackwülf please Ben.
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/blackwulf
Bandcamp: https://blackwulfusa.bandcamp.com/album/sinister-sides
Hi Ben, could you add Luxembourg black metal band Black Candle please.
Rym: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/black-candle-2
Bandcamp: https://blackcandle666.bandcamp.com/
Hi Ben, could you please add Ukrainian black metallers Balance Interruption. RYM link:
https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/balance-interruption
Also US atmospheric black metallers Barrowlands:
My 1981 top 12 list is now ready to go:
https://metal.academy/lists/single/342
1. Motörhead - "No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith"
2. Iron Maiden - "Killers"
3. Plasmatics - "Metal Priestess EP"
4. Black Sabbath - "Mob Rules"
5. Taipan - "Taipan EP"
6. Venom - "Welcome To Hell"
7. Saxon - "Denim and Leather"
8. More - "Warhead"
9. Cirith Ungol - "Frost and Fire"
10. Holocaust - "The Nightcomers"
11. Riot - "Fire Down Under"
12. Saracen - "Heroes, Saints & Fools"
I was a fan of Fossilization's debut album, "Leprous Daylight", albeit with a couple of reservations, so I will definitely check this out soon to see if they have ironed the wrinkles out and turned in the top-knotch OSDM album that I am sure they have got in them.