In this thread, we discuss all things metal.

[Flah]

my two favorite musics are jazz and metal (making atheist a secret favorite . . . )

I don't like "death metal" crypto/morbid/etc per se.
Don't get some "doom metal", but do like the sludgier side like Eye Hate God.
But so-called "black metal" with the philosophical/spiritual stuff, especially when mixed with thrash type blast beats.

I really like Epoch of Unlight, for example. I loved Arsis' last album, and pimped it all over the place. I hadn't heard the new one, flah, but I'm sure it kicks. I do like the thrashier quality of epoch though. I like god dethroned too, all that kind of stuff. Flah, samoth, ps, anyone that can recommend further black metal i'd like clue me in, as my ears are always open.

I don't listen to black metal but every 1-2 months, but today I woke up on the wrong side of the apocalypse!

At my age, the bands I'm trying to form are jazz bands, as nearing-40 year old black metal artists look goofy. But I listen to black metal on my stereo whenever I brake from studying bebop cuts.

Awesome black metal worth a look:
1349 - Hellfire
Fast blasting stuff like Immortal. When it's going good, it's like a wall of noise washing over you. The last song will put you in a trance.

Aborym - With No Human Intervention
Industrial tinged bm. Fans of Anaal Nathrakh should check it out for sure.

Axis Of Perdition
Anything from them is worth a look but their new one isn't as great. Awesome atmosphere. Def not something to listen to at night.

Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God
Frenchy bm that builds a great creepy atmosphere and has some killer spaced out melody.

Deathspell Omega - Kenose
One of the best releases this year. Deep vocals and huge epic songs.

Inquisition - Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer
More bm that will put you in a trance except this is stripped down midpaced stuff. Unique vocals, unlike anything I've ever heard.

Khold - Krek
Has a progressive tinge. Fantastic bass lines. They also get sludgy (!).

Leviathan - Tentacles Of Whorror
Killer atmosphere. One of the best active USBM bands around.

Lurker of Chalice - s/t
Members of Leviathan. Think Leviathan but not as brutal.

Nargaroth - Geliebte des Regens
Burzum influenced stuff. Long hypnotic washes of distortion.

Tangorodrim - Unholy Metal Way
Drunken thrashy black metal from Israel of all places.

Velvet Cacoon - Genevieve
It'll put you to sleep in a good way. It can be a bit of a mindfuck but it's well worth the listen.

Weakling - Dead as Dreams
The best thing that USBM ever produced. Huge epic songs that will appeal to fans of Opeth and the like. One of the guys is in The Fucking Champs now, haha.

 

[majutsu]

I'm checking those out flah!

BTW I also like the pure reinvention black metal like Naer Mataron which I am listening to now

 

[Flah]

Maj, have you heard the new Coprofago? It's seriously like Front Page/Extraction mixed with Meshuggah at times. It rips.

http://www.random.cl/cf/platten/The Inborn Mechanics.mp3
http://www.random.cl/cf/platten/Isolated Thorugh Multiplicity.mp3

 

[samoth]

Since Maj mentioned it, does anyone here like doom metal much?

I've never really seen much of a solid line differentiating doom metal from death/doom metal from death metal with doomy overtures from ... ad infinitum. I've never really been able to look at doom as it's own self-sufficient sub-genre, but more a primary ingredient added to other styles or sub-genres.

Doom Rock: I like some of Cathedral's older stuff up through Carnival Bizzare, however, except for their first couple releases, they'd fall under that esoteric genre of doom rock with St. Vitus and company. Celestial Seasons and St. Vitus both seemed pretty uninteresting, and Vitus sounded way too Sabbath-influenced. I've never in my life been fond of Sabbath or Ozzy.

Doom Unclassified?: LOL, I picked up the first EP and LP of the doom metal band Skepticism after hearing some good reviews by their label Red Stream, and it was pretty boring. I don't want to say bad... just utterly boring and devoid of substance. I have no idea what genre they would fall under, if even deserving of such an honour.

"Doom Metal": IMO, does not really exist in a pure form, per se. I refuse to admit Paradise Lost's first two albums were anything close to this "doom metal". I think the only band deserving here would be the classic My Dying Bride and their long-lost clone Anathema. Early My Dying Bride were one of the most original, innovative, and talented bands in the history of metal.

"Death/Doom Metal": My Dying Bride and bands of similar style could be classified here just as easily as being straight "doom metal". Probably nearly half of death metal could be claimed as having a death/doom metal style.

I won't even touch any amalgamations of doom and black metal, lol.

 

[Flah]

Doom is my second favorite genre. God I love it so. Slow and heavy >

I never liked Skepticism. There's so many bands that do funeral doom better than that now. Shape of Despair and Esoteric are miles beyond that. I also don't like MDB, Anathema, or Paradise Lost, haha! I get shit for that almost daily.

Cathedral is great. I like their newer stuff more than their older stuff. I don't care for Saint Vitus. Again, there are too many bands that do that sound better. Reverend Bizarre, Orodruin, and the kings, Sleep.

 

[samoth]

I'm a rabid Paradise Lost fan, mainly of the Icon and Draconian Times era, and a bit with As I Die material. One Second... I don't know. It's completely different coming as a follow up to Draconian (which I've heard repeated analogies to Metallica's black album), but still well done for what it is. Kinda like Ulver's follow-up being trip-hop (still love that album, largely 'cause of Blake), but on a commerciable level. I've never heard anything beyone One Second. I'm scared to, lol.

I played violin for over six years, so I've always had a thing for string instruments. My Dying Bride's incorperation of it brought a level of atomosphere to death/extreme metal that had never been done before -- and they did it good. I know quite a few people that never really got into them, so I dunno. I always thought it was pure genius, especially complimented with Aaron's vocal style.

Whenever I hear about the band Sleep I think of Tiamat. LOL. I don't know why. I had an album or two by the latter, and never cared for them at all. I don't even know if I've even heard Sleep before. They always seem to get brought up as an influence or progenitor of their style, but I never hear anything about them directly.

 

[samoth]

Also, if anyone has any interest in black metal, I would strongly suggest the book Lords of Chaos. Very well written documentary on black metal's origins well beyond and outside of the Norway scene. Lots of gibberish of Varg's writings, but that's easily skipped, lol. It's at least in it's second printing, likely third. Probably $15 or so at Amazon.com.

 

[Flah]

Ugh, Tiamat. I own a Tiamat album. Guess which one, haha.

I just came into the metal game too late to appreciate MDB, Paradise Lost, etc. I didn't get to grow up on that and I unfortunatly had to hear it after hearing a loooooooot of other stuff. Just how it goes. Coincidently, the strings are what kept me interested in MDB. I only owned The Angel and the Dark River though. I guess I should get around to checking out the rest. I hear good things about their new one. I'll give all that stuff another shot.

Sleep is pure stoner rock. Dopesmoker is a milestone in the genre. One hour long song. And not like a song made up of many different parts. I mean, it's just one long song, verse/chorus/verse/bridge style. It's gigantic.

Members went on to form High on Fire and OM.

 

[samoth]

Oh my god, MDB's The Angel... was their breaking away from their death metal roots. If that's all you've heard of them, DL or find some songs online from their best era. Also note MDB went back to DM an album or two after the 3.14159% Complete album or whatever it's called (never got it; recieved poor reviews as well).

*gets cd's out*

Their greatest masterpiece was Turn Loose the Swans (1993). The Angel... was their follow up to this in '95. As the Flower Withers (1992) is a good album, but it simply pales in comparison to it's follow-up.

Before As the Flower... were three cult EP's, released in CD form as Trinity. All three of these EPs are godly, but much more unrefined than latter material.

Personally, I would suggest listening to, DLing, or buying Turn Loose... for a look at the band in it's finest form.

One of their newer releases, The Light at the End of the World, was their re-emergence into the mixed gutteral vocal style that was once their trademark. I thought this was a really good album, but they lost their violinist sometime before this album.

I just checked Yahoo Launch, and they have a video from MDB's latest offering. I haven't heard or seen anything past The Light..., but hey, it's free. And, of course, they have a couple Manowar videos there as well

Sleep is pure stoner rock. Dopesmoker is a milestone in the genre. One hour long song. And not like a song made up of many different parts. I mean, it's just one long song, verse/chorus/verse/bridge style. It's gigantic.

Hmm... lol, I wonder if this or Swano's Edge of Sanity CD was released first.

 

[samoth]

But so-called "black metal" with the philosophical/spiritual stuff

Hmm... first thing coming to mind when I hear BM and "philosophy" is Varg Vikernes of Burzum fame, lol. I don't think I'd recommend any of his music to you, though, but he was very outspoken in this... kinda... stuff... okay, so I skipped that part of the book and we couldn't make it past the first couple pages reading his first written work, but it's something along these lines, lol.

The closest stuff I can think ITO 'spiritual' (WRT BM) would be mythology-based bands like Enslaved (THE originators of Viking Metal, ie. black metal with appropriate lyrics). Finntroll is along those lines, and I really want to pick one of those up, but don't have any... thus couldn't really recommend it.

Moving towards the experimental end of BM would be where my strongest rec's come from, though I would advise checking into to see if they fit your interests:

Ulver - The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. This is a 2-disc offering by Ulver (feat. Garm of Arturus and 3,198 other side projects, lol) covering the respective plates of Blake's literary masterpiece. NOTE: Umm... it's not black metal. Or metal. Or rock. It's, as they define, "trip-hop", a Euro-style thing. Nothing to do with rap or hip-hop, no worries.

Arcturus - La Masquerade Infernale. Personally, I would say this is one of the greatest in rock/metal history. Again featuring Garm, Hellhammer, and an all-star cast, this album defies definition. I simply cannot explain the music in a concise manner. Track 5 is titled "Alone", a poem by Poe.

I would also suggest some of Vintersorg's albums. His music is very science-oriented, and maintains a traditional BM sound with roots in Borknagar's The Olden Domain with mixed vocals. His older work is folkey and in his native language, while his newer material is mostly in english with a notable universe/space concept... which I would usually say is lame, but when he starts off an album quoting Maxwell, it's got my interest.

I know their reputation, but I would urge anyone with a taste for metal and classic literature of the macabe to listen to Cradle of Filth's Dusk and Her Embrace. Hey! I'm serious! They were good back then... they were the BEST in black metal. Forget everything you've heard about the band's name and try this album. Rarely do listeners fail to fall in love with the perfectly layered musical masterpiece that this album is... and the few who aren't fond of the vocal style of Dani are still awed by sheer power, beauty, depth and masterfully executed skill. (But I fell in love with this album, so I'm likely carrying a biased opinion).

And *cough* if you like strong male vocals, give a listen to Manowar's Nessun Dorma. Eric did a breathtaking performance of this classic Italian opera.

"Eric Adams is often named the best singer in heavy metal and is credited with being unable to sing anything off-key. One of his greatest feats was singing a part of the "Nesum Dorma" opera live as tribute to the Italian Manowar fans, and later recording the song for the "Warriors of the World" album." -Wikipedia

And hey, if Orson Welles was willing to narrate two pieces for them, they gotta have something going!