The 2011 Mordy's Metal Listening Club - New albums every Monday!

By popular demand it's back. Lots said they would take part in the metal poll results thread so who wants to start it off today and take a week in future? Volunteer now!

I think 2 albums would be better than 3 as others found it difficult to keep up, but 1 means if you don't like that album you lose interest that week.

Also please don't pick 2 albums by the same band or from the same genre for similar reasons as above.

Give me a week near the end of February, too busy till then.

one album per week is plenty imo. any more than that will only ensure that the thread dies a cold and lonely death in due time (i.e. whenever the new release schedule starts to really heat up). also, people be lazy.

but if theres only 1 and people already know they dont like it they will just not bother with it and probably wont check back.

I'll volunteer

Viceroy goes first - bring it on!

two albums, two different genres? OK give me a few minutes to think...

We play both types of music--Heavy and Metal.

Ephel Duath - Pain Necessary to Know

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pSIb8Pzwrt8/SbVfORcr1BI/AAAAAAAAA0g/q4vzgGNWVX0/s400/pain.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/5VzYzzSxkPWXdKvCBZn3xN

Cathedral - Supernatural Birth Machine

http://img1.imagebanana.com/img/6zje80dn/CathedralSupernaturalBirthMachine.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/6g4H0obXjdTwCzc62UKqZ7

Interesting choices - I've been meaning to listen to both for a while. Can do 2 albums next week or after.

you can do next week then, just dont forget! So many last time wanted a shot but said put me down for 2 months time but then forgot and never came back and the club fell apart.

Listening to Ephal Duath now. First thought: Metal Squarepusher. I would've been absolutely crazy about this when I was seventeen.

Which sounds like faint praise but it's not, they are obviously a good band. I don't know that they can sustain my full interest over an album if they keep up the same mood and pace however.

Downloaded these--will try to listen on the train tomorrow.

That Ephal Duath is crazy! Just sampled it because I had no idea what to expect; first thought is Zorn-esque Naked City/Mr. Bungle jump-cut skronkprog, second thought is those "____ shreds" videos. I'll give it a full listen in the morning, and I'm sure it'll be more of the former than the latter.

I think I still have ephel duath's the painter's palette kicking around the shelves somewhere. remember thinking that it got old quick. will give this one a spin and chime in.

never heard that particular cathedral album either.

I would like to do a week sometime in the future if possible.
I will download the Cathedral and I have the Ephel Duath.

Excellent. I'll do a week, too. Haven't heard the Ephel Duath, and have heard the Cathedral but probably not more than twice! Will listen Tuesday!

I remember liking The Painter's Palette a whole lot, and being really disappointed/put off by Pain Necessary to Know. Will have to revisit. The Squarepusher comparison definitely syncs up with my memories, though.

Okay, so I have listened to the Ephel DUath disc twice now... What do I do now? Write a little review?

Just over 90% on the torrent download. Cannot use Spotify, apparently, since I am in the USA.

I couldn't get into the Ephel Duath. Maybe if I knew it was some sort of game performance piece like Zorn's Cobra I could appreciate the jumps and juxtapositions, but as is I just couldn't find a path or hook to bring me in to their music.

The Cathedral is a mixed bag. Lee sounds a bit tired and rough throughout, and even a standout like "Stained Glass Horizon" can't quite redeem stuff like "Fireball Demon" or "Suicide Asteroid". I like the first side better than the second.

xp yeah, tell us what you thought!

I'll take a week, happy with whenever you can slot me in.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12209143

Are record clubs the new book clubs?
By David Sillito BBC arts correspondent

A growing number of music-lovers unhappy about the way album tracks are enjoyed in a pick-and-mix fashion have decided to take action.

The rules are strict. No talking. No texting. You must listen to every song on the album.

Classic Album Sundays treat our best-loved records like great symphonies and are being set up in London, Scotland and Wales.

Groups of music fans sit in front of a vinyl turntable, with the best speakers they can afford, dim the lights and listen to a classic album all the way through.

This monthly club in north London is run by Colleen Murphy and for her it is a strike against "'download culture", the sense that music has just become an endless compilation of random songs used as background noise.

"Everyone, stop multi-tasking, sit down, open your ears and do some heavy listening."

The set album this month was Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. We sat in silence even as David Bowie's record was turned over to side two.

The seats were soft, someone had lit some incense. Some people closed their eyes, others nodded in rhythmic appreciation. There was a sense of being collectively submerged in Bowie's music.

"You're not even allowed to use the bathroom here, it's too noisy," says Ms Murphy.

Kate Bush's The Hounds of Love was a previous choice, and a popular one amongst the regulars. Most had heard bits of the record but few could remember sitting through it all the way through.

It is a topic that has been making the papers. Pink Floyd went to court to try to protect the integrity of albums such as Dark Side of the Moon. For music critics such as Neil McCormick of the Daily Telegraph they were totally justified.

"These are works of art at their greatest level. You can pick up a Dickens book and read a little bit of it and get some pleasure but you will not get the same pleasure as you would picking it up and reading it from beginning to end."

He took me through his vinyl collection, the albums you have to listen to all the way through. Top of the list was Blue by Joni Mitchell, then in no particular order came Get Happy by Elvis Costello, Dark side of the Moon, Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks and all of Led Zeppelin. The list was a long one.

"They've created works that have a beginning, a middle and end, that have nuances, themes, that take you on a journey that's as great as any novel, any opera, any drama."

One of the greatest crimes he feels is to split up the suite of songs at the end of the Beatles' Abbey Road, because each song drifts in to the next.

The little tune Her Majesty is a simple little coda to ease the tension left by the Beatles farewell to their fans, the song The End. At the end of the song there is a gap and a final crashing chord, then to relieve the tension comes 23 seconds of this little acoustic ditty. On its own it begins half way through that final chord.

"It makes no sense," says McCormick. "To split them is simply shocking, meaningless."

But to Peter Robinson of the website Pop Justice this is the past speaking.

"Most albums, you've got a pretty good idea. The bad songs are pretty bad, you know. We're busy people. Let's just get rid of them."

Every album he owns is split, analysed and re-ordered. This, he says, is progress. The listener is in control and we do not have to sit through bad music. If he were to spend time with a "classic rock" album, he says the solution is simple.

"What I would do is open the track as an audio file, take out any drum solos, look for any guitar solo, take it out, close it and put it back into iTunes."

Albums, he says, have often become meaningless. Some songs are given away as free downloads, track listings can change with bonus tracks being added or changed. You can, he says, listen all the way through but do not feel obliged to obey the whims of a pop star.

But back at the pub in Islington in London, we were coming to the emotional climax of Rock and Roll Suicide at the end of Ziggy Stardust.

The £12,000 speakers were revealing little nuances of sound that some of us had not heard before.

The remastered vinyl seemed to capture the feel of the 70s and I had stayed awake for almost all of it. Heads nodded, a foot quietly tapped and as the final string chord faded out the lights were turned back on.

For Gina Tapsley, it was a revelation: "Listening to an album like this shows me something new, it's always an emotional experience."

DJ Shadow, The Stone Roses, Kanye West, Carole King. The blackboard was already filling with suggested classic albums for the months to come.

I could appreciate the jumps and juxtapositions, but as is I just couldn't find a path or hook to bring me in to their music.

I had a similar, if less extreme, reaction. There were passages I enjoyed, but wish each track had some kind of distinct texture or mood (or, here's a radical idea, chorus) so I could tell them apart a little bit. If someone asked me what my favourite song on it was I would have to say I had absolutely no idea.

xp Ugh that sounds horrible, would hate to have to listen in enforced silence to any record TBH, and it sounds like it's attracting a load of boring, smug rockist types listening to records which confirm their prejudices.

Totally different to Metal Club!

peter robinson is still a wanker

Couldn't make it through Ephel Duath, I apologetically report. I couldn't find any visceral connection with the music, and then the screamo vocals sealed its fate. Pretty sure I already discovered this once in my life, but it's worth revisiting things you think you hate, at least occasionally. I do sometimes find out I was, or have become, wrong.

Listening to the Cathedral album again now. Not my favorite of theirs, by a long shot. I prefer to hear a little more of their whimsy animating their songs, and on this one the braying/lumbering heavy thing seems to kind of stomp over most of the potential nuance. I liked later Black Sabbath better than earlier, too.

Also: Pop Justice would probably like to take all the trees and hills out of classical paintings, too. Sitting still and listening to an album all the way through in peace on a really good stereo is a perfectly decent idea, and I don't see any reason it should have to be smug or boring. I don't see any reason it should be forced on anybody, obviously, but it sounds like the participants were there as consenting adults. Except for the reporter, whose petulant fidgeting is audible in his typing.

hey glenn pop over and repost that on Do you like listening to albums in full or do you just hate the album concept in 2011? that i started for this

xp Glenn, nothing wrong with sitting and listening to an album- it's just going to a public place and listening to one of the records the article cites seems to me the ultimate in displaying your so-called superior music tastes- though I'm an obsessive last.fm user so should probably STFU.

btw thinking hard about my selection for this thread!

so, the ephel duath... though my love for the 2nd and 3rd mr. bungle lps runs deep, no matter how hard I've tried over the years, I never much cared for naked city. that goes doubly so for naked city with screamo vox. oh well.

I could see this working with if there were more standout moments to make up for the heavy lifting. or if the vox weren't so one-note. (love the last time of orchids lp, for example.) but there isn't enough for me on here.

and the cathedral isn't bad but it is somewhat unspectacular to my ears. would probably take any of the other albums I've heard over this. (the first couple, endtyme, and the guessing game for the record.)

would def like to do a week sometime as well, btw.

Okay, I don't love either of these records though the Cathedral is easily a better listen. "Stained Glass Horizon" is fucking epic and really heavy, "Urko's Conquest" sounds like something that coula been on "Born Again;" when the multi-tracked solo hits, it's a really cool touch. "Cyclops Revolution" has a riff and song structure that could make a party metal anthem for some forgettable strip band of the '80s if the production wasn't so muddy and Lee could sing. But the second half of the disc is forgettable.

The Ephel Duath just tries too hard. Really, I get what they're trying to do. The problem is that I don't particularly love the bands that do it well (Math Metal is a tough sell on these ears), let alone these guys.

I will probably pick up the Cathedral CD from Amazon though... It's selling used on Amazon for less than $4.

24 Jan - Siegbran
31 Jan - NYC Native
07 Feb - Glenn McDonald
14 Feb - Neil S
21 Feb - Alan N
28 Feb - Aldo

I'm sure I've heard that Cathedral before. Had a friend who was really into them around that time, saw em live a few times too - supporting Paradise Lost and possibly Carcass. . I remember appreciating their proggier stuff more than the doomy stuff - there was an ep with a 20 minute track on which was pretty fun and unhinged. My main problem with them was always Lee Dorian's voice. I'll probably give this album a go before the week's up.

Goalkeeper you should take a week!

Anyway, the point of my choices were to pick to somewhat-obscure albums I liked from bands I love. There's certainly better Cathedral albums, and Ephel Duath's other works may be more interesting and have more grooves and what not but The Pain Necessary... was the first thing I heard of theirs and the whole style blew me away. I agree that The Painter's Pallet a superior album, but this one isn't bad and if you remotely enjoy it you should check out some other ED stuff... Math Metal is hard to pull off, for sure, but I don't think they have ever failed to deliver, IMO.

That Cathedral album is supposed to be the "light listening" pick, as to me it represents Cathedral at a stage where growth was needed but they were basically rebelling against that sentiment at the time and produced an officially "dumb and juvenile" album. It was the album they released right when they were starting to earn some serious respect as masters' of trad. doom --- and they went ahead with a classically bizarre/ugly 80s metal album cover (in the mid-90s!) complete with purple mecha-dragon and some kind of death procession (for an album that was consciously attempting to scrape the bottom of the pulpy barrel for doom/psych/horror tropes). I think of it as a "fuck you" to convention and recognition that they probably felt they deserved ten years previously (and I can't disagree with that sentiment!) I think Ned's old review of it is basically totally OTM so I will repost it here:

Having ridden out the initial explosion of grindcore to the point where stoner rock became its own revived genre, due credit for longevity has to go to Dorrian and his compatriots, not least because Dorrian helped out said genre with his Rise Above label and such signings as Sleep. As for his own band, on Supernatural, Dorrian leads everyone through more semi-tributes to the Black Sabbath sound; Dorrian's own ghost-of-Ozzy vocals often get as close to outright mimicry as possible, though generally he avoids straining for the high notes when possible. Drummer Dixon and bassist Smee do their business with relatively little fuss; if nothing else, having better production standards than the original Sabbath did allows their work to always bust forth pretty well. Jennings, meanwhile, is as monstrous and crunching as always, while wise enough to let in lighter moments from time to time, as with the mid-song break on "Stained Glass Horizon." If the subject matter and delivery is a little more self-conscious than, say, that of the Melvins, Cathedral at least has the courage of its convictions, right down to the neo-prog inner sleeve art (dragon heads, historical figures, demons, and angels in a Bosch-style landscape, and so forth). Highlights: Well, if one likes Sabbath, liking the whole album (or alternately dismissing it out of hand for the real thing) will pretty much be the end result. Though a few stand out even more, such as "Cyclops Revolution," with appropriately distorted monster-doom vocals at points, and the appropriately spooked-out vibes of "Nightmare Castle." One thing's for sure: if one wants classically pulpy SF/horror/fantasy scenarios for lyrics combined with brain-melting sludge, this is the place. Thus, song titles like "Urko's Conquest," "Birth Machine 2000," and the "can it be any more appropriate" metacrunch of "Suicide Asteroid."

I am really happy a lot of you took the time to listen to these albums. They might not be the pinnacle of each band's career but I thought of these, personally, as forgotten gems and not "mid-career pablum." Others are free to disagree, of course! The best thing about listening clubs is that they spark a discussion and that, to me, is ultimately more important and why I didn't just post consensus-favorites in the metal cannon.

Can't wait for next week's picks by Siegbran!

I like the Cathedral more and more. I'm enjoying this big dumb nostalgia-metal much more than I would have done when this came out (kinda lost interest in Cathedral after The Etherial Mirror). Great guitar solos! The godawful vocals ruin Ephel Duath for me, if this was an instrumental band like Zu I'd be more inclined to dig deeper, but I can't listen to the singer more than ten minutes, sorry.

Viceroy I'll take a week at some point, but usually people forget to take their week or cant do it so I need to fill in. So i'm first reserve if that happens.

24 Jan - Siegbran
31 Jan - NYC Native
07 Feb - Glenn McDonald
14 Feb - Neil S
21 Feb - Alan N
28 Feb - Aldo

I wonder what Siegbran is going to choose

I'll do this at some point.

24 Jan - Siegbran
31 Jan - NYC Native
07 Feb - Glenn McDonald
14 Feb - Neil S
21 Feb - Alan N
28 Feb - Aldo
07 March - Doran

I'm not going to force a certain popular beat combo from Ukraine on everyone, I'll stay firmly within the perimeter of ILM taste as manifested in the poll results. Although I can't pick any US album, as every half-decent, self-released garage band has already made it into the top 100 - but i digress.

Tomorrow evening, around nine euro time.

you can post anytime you like

Any thoughts on last weeks albums?

How about it AG? What'd you think? You're always keen to do this but rarely chime in.

i dont have anything worth saying tbh. I didn't want to come across all negative but Cathedral are always let down by the vox, and this album isnt one of their best. the ephel duath didn't sink in either im afraid. Others said why far more eloquently than I ever could.

Opinions are always welcome - what you don't like about something might illuminate it for someone else, or spur a comment that allows you to better understand your reaction. I get the "others said it better" thing, but it's still good to pipe up.

started one of those listening rooms http://listeningroom.fettig.net/room/ILXMETALCLUB/

come in and upload tracks for everyone who is interested!

come join neil & i and spin some tunes

OK here we go.

First up, a band from the frosty woods of Norway. Back in the early nineties they recorded a remarkable album that laid out the blueprint for countless other bands, that would go on to much bigger success and recognition...and no, it's not some obscure troupe of firebreathing black metal terrorists, it's...

http://www.newsinenglish.no/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/aha1.jpg

...a band with three guitarists
...a band with a Norwegian Grammy nominated singer, who is now a professor in Psychology
...a band that after this album would morph into an experimental electronic jazz band

The 3rd & The Mortal - Tears Laid In Earth (1994)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_clRzS2awgPo/RnHCIURkfLI/AAAAAAAAANw/AQfxJXvvdsM/s400/3rd%2BAnd%2BThe%2BMortal%2B%5B1993%5D%2BTears%2BLaid%2BIn%2BEarth.jpg

Next up:

Depressive black metal is (somewhat inherently) rife with lo-fi, skill-free, bedroom-recorded 'suicide music' by whiny goths or polite indie types afraid to step on any toes with homicidal, deicidal or genocidal 'true Metal' lyrics. This Finnish band however handles its razorblades in a much more manly way, providing some crushingly heavy grooves to self-mutilate to, along with some welcome speed blasts here and there.

Totalselfhatred - Totalselfhatred (2008)
http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/images/covers/totalselfhatred-totalselfhatred.jpg

have wanted to listen to that 3rd & the mortal record for a while now but never got around to it. never heard of totalselfhatred but it sounds right up my alley.

that totalselfhatred cover is sweet

come join Siegbran in http://listeningroom.fettig.net/room/ILXMETALCLUB/

this would be great if it could iron out the bugs. my browser keeps freezing too

it's fucked

you appear to be playing big country

Everything Is Fucked.

</Warren Ellis>

I've never seen you look like this without a reason.

Kerr xpost

And tbh I won't hear a bad word against The Crossing.

damn your hometown parochialism aldo!

So I'm guessing The 3rd and the Mortal were an inspiration for Nightwish and their ilk. Way more tastefully done than any of that kind of stuff I've heard, obviously. I've never been mad keen on operatic female vox, but musically it's showing a really impressive grasp of atmosphere and dynamics so far. Tentative thumbs up.

Also superb drumming.

Seriously, The Crossing. Non-metal alert. Although if people can get behind Thin Lizzy's twin guitar attack it's not that much of a leap of faith.

Can't wait to check this out! I missed out on the listening club web stream so I'll have to get a hold of these on my own. have been meaning to check out 3rd and The Mortal for ages... I'm also a big fan of depressive black metal...

Thanks Siegbran these looks like some awesome pics!

I always thought The Gathering was the band most obviously influenced by T3&TM, esp Mandylion. And indeed the drummer is one of the main attractions of this band, can't think of anyone else that drums this subtle on a doom record.

I found torrents for both of them pretty easily. Will check 'em out! Never heard either so it should be a treat... Still wondering what I will unleash next week!

After two listens I'm going to have to place the undeniably impressive Tears Laid in Earth in the 'admire more than like' file. It's almost entirely due to my probably irrational aversion to the vocal style - apparently I'm fine with a bloke pretending to be a brimstone-gargling monster, but a woman hitting a few high notes strikes me as overwrought.

I'm liking The 3rd & The Mortal this morning. It's not something I'd normally go for but it's so well done that I can't resist. And I'll echo the drumming kudos - really, really nice work. The mix overall is great, with clarity and muscle as needed, but nothing running rampant and overpowering the whole. Thanks for choosing it Siegbran; there's no way I would have come across it on my own.

Okay, I just made it to the end of "Oceana" and they lost me. What a horrible piece of crap to end with, and it goes on for fucking ever. Their 6 minute songs seemed long - 18 minutes was interminable.

Enjoying the Totalselfhatred record for the most part. I still don't like Black Metal vocals (and probably never will), but the instrumental tracks are really strong. I just imagine he's singing "WHHHHHHYYYYY DOES EVERYBODY HATE MEEEEEEEEEEE" over and over and enjoy everything else they're doing.

I haven't listened to TLIE for ages so for me it's a bit of a test if it still holds up, and it still does for the most part. Oceana is def the weakest song, the vocals are way too high in the mix, but it really is quite unique in retrospect, I can't think of many metal bands with so much restraint and dynamics. I'd imagine that such a recording today would get all pastered in and compressed to death.

Kari Rueslatten's solo albums are all completely awful btw, turns out it was really the five other dudes that made this record so interesting.

I can't think of many metal bands with so much restraint and dynamics

This was my favourite aspect of it.

I enjoyed The 3rd And The Mortal vibe, but actually listening to it all the way through is difficult because it lasts a week or so, pr at least feels like it. I would play this when I felt like listening to Gothic music instead of metal, which I guess isn't too much of a surprise. I still cannot shake the feeling that I should like it even more than I do. I cannot find the CD online for anything less than $25 so I don't think I will pick it up.

I liked the Totalselfhatred quite a bit more. It sounds to me what Paradise Lost might have sounded like if they decided to help pioneer funeral doom after they released the wonderful 'Gothic' instead of go off into a more mainstream direction. This disc is beautifully depressive, the musical embodyment of that great black & white photo of the beautiful woman who lept to her death from the Empire State Building in the '40s, landing sprawled out like an angel on a car that she smashed. I want this a lot but man is the CD expensive...

I'm definitely getting the Paradise Lost connection as well - like their early stuff, it makes me feel like I've been lost in the Mines of Moria for several days. This is how I think pure black metal should sound; dense, immersive and evocative. Very well produced as well. Not something I'll listen to that often, but an excellent example of its milieu.

about to finish up the totalselfhatred album. excellent.

I was expecting something a little more burly after reading siegbran's description, and though a far cry from wimpy, the album isn't quite bedroom immolation either. but I got over that quick. more blistering stuff like "spirituelles equilibrium" towards the middle helped too.

anyway, this one really does pull off the melancholy vibe without veering too close to ambient mush (which I like too, don't get me wrong) or going too saccharine. the guitars even reminded me of a thicker, more minimal take on the early katatonia sound. always a plus.

just wrapped up 3rd and the mortal. I have to admit, I was working while listening and the details on this one washed right over me. but I enjoyed it overall. will have to listen closer sometime.

the drumming was indeed good. it helps that I'm a bit of a sucker for the big reverb plastered on em.

I have heard the 3rd and the Mortal album before. I remember that I thought it was cool but unmemorable, and that's all I remember about it. I just listened to it again. What I remember about it hasn't changed.

Totalselfhatred I'm liking, in much the same way I like Lifelover, although I think the element of terror in Lifelover's vocal style is the thing that really makes their sound and aesthetic, and for me there's less personality in Totalselfhatred's rasp-shriek thing.

Wow I really liked the 3rd and the Mortal Album. Very good stuff! I really like the sad orchestrations and commplex arrangements. This is the first album of this band I've ever actually heard and I think its a good introduction, if its representative of their stuff. I think I have to check out more.

Haven't listened to Totalselfhatred yet...

Since I am in the United States which doesn't do Spotify, I ripped my CDs and posted them at my own domain. Feel free to aquire these elsewhere if you desire and please purchase the CDs if you are so inclined.

Riot - Thundersteel (1988, CBS Records)

http://clubcitta.co.jp/001/riot09/img/thundersteel-top.gif

Impaled Nazarene - All That You Fear (2003, Osmose Productions)

http://www.cmdistro.com/images/xlarge/15271.jpg

First impression of Riot is that they are way too old school sounding for my tastes, sorry. Think I've heard IN before, they're certainly decent. Reminds me of Meshuggah.

Never liked Riot, and having once misheard the chorus of the opening track as singing "Buns of Steel!", I'm not sure I can ever hear it as anything else.

I had thought I didn't like Impaled Nazarene, but I was literally just listening to Road to the Octagon and liking it, so good timing. Will listen to that as soon as I'm finished with my Buns of Steel workout.

That Riot disc blew me away when it came out and I still play it a lot... It's a transition for the band, recently reunited with a new vocalist, and the album perfectly encapsulates (to me, anyway) the classic '70s metal that they were founded upon with a screamy singer and most importantly amazing double-bass drumming that was all the rage in the then-burgeoning and bubbling overground underground. I play it for all my friends who like Power/Trad Metal and they universally enjoy it, though sure, folks who don't like that won't find much there.

The Impaled Nazerene is just a ridiculous riff-fest with lots of great screams and prominent bass you can hear, a black metal album that sounds more like it was made by Motorhead if they wanted to be a thrash band. Was one of my favorite albums the year it came out, which must have been 2004 in the US because it's on my P&J ballot for that year. Unsurprisingly, I was the only person to vote for it! :)

Yeah, that IN album is fun! Black metal as thrash is a perfect description. I'm into it.

Haven't listened to IN in ages, this should be good!

Oh, and Mordy, put me down for another week please. It was somewhat agonizing to narrow it down to two releases and I already have several more I wanna inflict on youse guys... :)

Mordy hasnt even shown up on the thread yet! You wanting a go Mordy?

Ha! I thought he was the OP given the thread title! Well, direct the ? to you instead, AG.

Well he did the original one but left organising to me, but he can takeover it gladly if he wants to!

AG is doing a great job, so keep doing it. And sure, put me down for a week. But someone'll have to remind me when it gets close to my date.

Riot was such a great band. Impecable playing, riffs a go go, lock step rhythms but still swinging; however, I've never warmed to any of the vocalists besides Guy Speranza. Fire Down Under is an all-time classic in my book, but Tony Moore doesn't do it for me. Glenn OTM with "Buns of Steel!" - can't unhear it.

Looking forward to Impaled Nazarene when I get the chance.

Gave Impaled Nazarene a go this morning. Made it through five songs. I get the appeal, but I knew 30 seconds into the first song it wasn't my thing. They do throw some seriously great thrashy riffs in which kept me going for a while, but in the end I couldn't continue.

Did follow it up with No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith, which is funny now that I've reread the Impaled Nazarene comments upthread.

This Riot record is fun -- pretty derivative (they love themselves some priest and maiden), but they do it well (obviously because they have a lot of experience).

I liked the Impaled Nazarene but it's not something I could listen to all the time, mostly because of the vocals. I need to be in the right mood.

The Riot record had its moments but parts weren't quite "metal" enough for my taste. A problem with a lot of late 80s records for me. More of a production problem probably, I'm sure they were great live.

looking forward to finally listening to the albums this week...
I'll let you know what I think of them, haven't heard either one before!

didnt like the impaled nazarene at all unfortunately, but i did give it a go.

Riot - Thundersteel - Wow I liked this a lot! It will probably be on regular rotation from now on when it comes to personal listening. Traditional heavy metal with touches of power metal. Their sound is great, the Halfordian vox and the riffs are great -- I think some of the solos and bridges drag on a bit, though the displays of virtuosity and technical ability are nice. The title track is fantastic, the songs that are not about the occult or fantasy stuff are pretty boring IMO. Will have to check this band out further!

Impaled Nazarene - All That You Fear - This didn't really blow me away like it did for some people. I enjoyed it alright - thought some portions were top notch. Thought there were too many blast beats and it didn't really resonate with me very strongly.

I won't reveal my picks for next week until Monday, but I'll be taking the timeship back to 1993.

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/j/jackyl/album-jackyl.jpg

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/j/jackyl/album-jackyl.jpg

I think you've been neglecting the maintenance on your wayback machine, Siegbran.

Our listening agenda, this week:

Anacrusis - Screams and Whispers (1993)
http://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/9/1/291.jpg

Thought Industry - Mods Carve the Pig: Assassins, Toads and God's Flesh (1993)
http://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/6/5/7/16577.jpg

Download the full Anacrusis catalog free and legal here: http://anacrusis.us/media%20files/MP3/Albums/Albums.html

Thanks J3ff!

I knew there was something I was forgetting to mention.

Listened to the Anacrusis on the ride in this morning and, for the most part, I liked it. Its great for me to hear stuff like this from the years when I wasn't paying all that much attention to metal. I'm not sure I would have liked this at the time, but it sounds pretty good to me. I like the progressive elements and I'd much rather listen to this than, say, Dream Theater (maybe not the best comparsion). My only complaint is that I really wish they'd have had the money to actually hire an orchestra instead of their flimsy approximation of one. The nadir of the album, for me, is "Too Many Prophet" - those horrible "string" stabs pulled me out of the song again and again, and the riffs were just a little too chunky, proto-nu-metal for my liking. But songs when they are really hitting all their marks, like "My Soul's Affliction", really work well.

I actually own both of those CDs and saw both of those bands live (Anacrusis in NYC in New York, I think supporting Overkill, in 1991; Thought Industry at a sparsely attended headlining show at Little Brother's in Columbus in 2001) but I haven't listened to either release in ages.

This week I shall. Looking forward to playing the Thought Industry for Ms. Native who likes industrial music but hates prog and I recall (possibly erroneously?) that the band had tendencies towards both.

She already loves it for the Dali album cover!

Both of these made indelible impressions on me when I first heard them, but have been out of my rotation for at least a decade, so I'll be revisiting them this week along with everybody else.

a week late but I'm listening to the riot record. j3ff is otm - this is derivative but fun. nice solos and I especially like the melodic maiden guitar bits. nice drumming too but I don't like the mannered drum production. can practically picture a dude laying down a drum track in a studio when I hear that weak kick drum.

have the impaled nazzarene on now. diggin the distorted bass on "armageddon death squad"!

Listened to both a few times... Want to be more verbose than this - and I shall when I have a little time - but I absolutely love the first half of the Anacrusis and (only) like the second half; whereas the Thought Industry doesn't do that much for me.

found the impaled nazarene record pretty tough to get through. very samey. and the punk touches were somewhat unexpected but not really to my liking.

I know what you mean

14 Feb - Neil S
21 Feb - Alan N
28 Feb - Aldo
07 March - Doran

At some point we should do a month for 2011 albums

I would like another week my good man!

Okay, the Anacrusis starts off like gangbusters with a few songs that I am still hearing even when the disc isn't playing. "Sound The Alarm" is classic sounding, like Blue Oyster Cult if they were a thrash band, especially around the chorus where the singer sounds best (not a good technical singer, I guess, but his voice works for the most part). And the riff of "Sense Of Will" is a show-stopper; would put this on a mix tape for sure. "Releapse" seems vagulely like Metal Church to me with the odd sway to the riff and "Division" seems like vintage Dimebag in the 'Cowboys' era.

However when they get to the orchestral stuff and really proggy ideas the rest of the way through, I hear a band that lacked the budget and maybe a little of the talent (though these guys can play and perform!) to execute to perfection some grandiose ideas. And it drags a bit and gets a little too epic, often at the same time, which is odd.

As for Thought Industry, I have to give it up for them predating mathcore by a few crucial years. And I like the fact they're playing Scrabble on the inside cover though I don't like that they're playing four-handed - that makes it much more of a game of luck than skill. And these guys are obviously all about skill, so it contradicts the album!

But with a few exceptions, this kind of music is hard on these ears because I like music to get into a groove and stay there sometimes and it frustrates me when a band can write a great riff like Thought Indistry does in the awesome-named "daterape cOOkbOOk" (that's how they capitalize things on every song) - clearly the best song on the album - but then get away from it just to show me their chops. I get that you guys can play and like Black Flag off-kilter time signatures but I just wanna bang my head.

I didn't hate it, though; I just don't see myself playing it very often.

It's Monday!

No sign of neil

Sorry guys, v busy at work coupled with upgrade to Windows 7 and attendant PC problems have bumped this from my schedule. I have a couple of records in mind, will try and post this lunchtime (UK time) or early evening.

Okay, here we go, apologies for the late start. Sorry if they're too obvious or not Trv Kvlt enough. One is an older album I've recently discovered, another is more recent.

Obituary - Slowly We Rot

Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/user/nstewart/playlist/797ZIBKZhz2jFvqecQIHsF
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/Obituary/Slowly+We+Rot

http://www.remnantsofreason.com/images/reviews/Obituary-Slowly_We_Rot_cover.jpg

I'm not normally a fan of death metal, probably due to not having heard huge amounts of it, but this record grabbed me as soon as I heard it. A really satisfying guitar tone, melodic whilst really heavy, and insane vocals.

I understand it's Obituary's classic record, and I would very much like to hear recommendations of other records in this vein to check out.

Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans

Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/1Mg8jm9DqyzooRb6jOh04e
last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/Ahab/The+Divinity+Of+Oceans

http://www.demonpigeon.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ahab-the-divinity-of-oceans.jpg

Apparently this is "funeral doom", a much maligned genre on ILM IIRC, but this is a really good record. Classic doom tropes, which in the context of a band whose whole schtick is Moby Dick worship, are strangely affecting, and vocals which sound as if they come from the ocean's floor.

Probably nothing earth-shattering, but a really immersive record IMO.

Anyway, have at it!

Ahab are fantastic. I heartily endorse this selection. I know the Obituary is an absolute classic of the genre but unfortunately it's a record/style I dont like. Plenty of friends who loved it/made me hear it way back. But I shall try it ahain.

Funny, I almost put on that Obituary record just a half hour ago! Instead I opted for something I will probably pick if I get a second week to choose, so I won't say what it is. :)

I own both of these which makes it two weeks in a row for that. I also love both of these but haven't listened to 'Slowly We Rot' in ages...

Is funeral doom "maligned" here?

I think smithy tends to slag off funeral doom and doom in general. But he doesn't represent everyone.

He doesn't represent me! I heart funeral doom soooo much (when done properly).

I think skot is a fan

and i would bet both of them love Obituary

xxp Yeah, perhaps just general "lol doom go back to yr Sabbath records, why don't you listen to something interesting?" sniping tbh. Ahab would certainly be an example of a band doing funeral doom properly.

Smithy says that about most genres though! It's his thing. Cant see skot ever saying it though about funeral doom. Skot finds good things in every genre.

And well he should.

Obituary!!! \m/

Have been slowly digesting the picks of the last two weeks. Riot is a...riot, great stuff I like that they're a bit more gritty than most and so energetic, I'll be playing this more often. Impaled Nazarene are long time favourites of mine but this one doesn't fully convince me. They're still tight as fuck and good 'n thrashy but it's all not nearly as good (or fun) as Ugra Karma or even TKNNN. Anacrusis was pretty good on the first listen, but I'll have to let this one sink in. Not listened to Thought Industry yet.

I really didn't like Obituary back in my death/thrash youth, the only reason I can remember for that is the vocals sounded a bit like Bobcat Goldthwait. They had a hilarious song that went "I don't care! I reeeeeeaaaally don't care!" I'm going to relisten with an open mind though.

Sorry, I missed last weeks altogether, most remiss of me!

man, I love obituary. I like a bunch of death metal just fine but these guys totally swing and that is the factor that sets them apart from the pack for me.

not that there aren't plenty of death metal bands that swing. because there are. but obituary just swing so hard.

I think I prefer the end complete tho. as someone who has frivolously spent many hours of his life listening to crappy hardcore bands, the intro to "killing time" is irresistible.

and I've listened to that ahab record fairly consistently since it came out in '06 and it has never really clicked for me. which is weird because call of the wretched sea is all-time classic doom imo.

looking forward to giving it another go and see if my opinion changes.

whoops. got my dates wrong.

call of the wretched sea is 2006. the divinity of oceans is 2009.

I would strongly encourage people check out call. even if divinity doesn't do it for you.

Nice one, will do, thx.

Description of Obituary as swinging above is OTM BTW!

Any recommendations for Obituary-esque records to have a listen to?

Slowly We Rot was the first death metal album that really got me into the genre. I still remember getting a vinyl copy of it in the Roadrunner offices in 1989 when I, a lowly editor of a lowly fanzine, traveled from my suburban Virgina home to go north.

The ultimate goal was to see Metallica doing a surprise show at the Stone Balloon in Delaware, but we went up a day early - me, another fanzine editor from Maryland named Jeff who did 'Metal Meltdown' fanzine and a friend and photographer named Dave (who is still a good friend).

Jeff actually put himself on the cover of his own zine (the issue to the left, not the one questioning Gene Hoglan's status as a God with a cover photo that Dave took, if I am not mistaken):

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_R0qYzTIWCZE/S46MO1sWAmI/AAAAAAAATGg/n9adM4oq86c/s1600-h/068.JPG

We stopped at Jeff's house on the way up to pick him up and he played us some stuff before we hit the road. One of them was "Stinkupuss" and I thought it was the most evil, amazing thing ever.

We went up a day early and wound up at LaMour in Brooklyn to catch D.B.C. on Sunday. Watched them, crashed at my grandmother's house in Queens and then went into Manhattan where we visited the offices of Noise Records (I got an awesome Kreator 'Extreme Aggression' shirt that made everyone back home jealous) and also Roadrunner where their publicist gave me my own copy on vinyl among other things.

Never did get to see Metallica, even though I had tickets saved for me, because I was not 21. I still remember getting letters from friends who were like "Did you see me onstage when I sang along with Seek & Destroy" and I was angered about it.

But the trip was STILL worth it! Because D.B.C were fun, it's always good to see grandma (little did she or I know at the time but two months later I would move back to NYC and crash with her while I got my shit together) and I got THIS AMAZING ALBUM FOR FREE! (Getting free shit was still pretty amazing to me at the time.)

Still, this album holds up for me because of several factors:

1) That awesome sound. The production is all set to bludgeon, for sure, but the guitar sound is dry as a bone, chunky and thick likc blood clots.

2) John Tardy's vocals. Death metal in the early days had a lot of post-Venom hoarse screamers, but Tardy was a fucking ARTIST, man. His moans made all others before him (and most since) like fairy tales compared to the genuine horror that escaped from his gasping maw.

3) The non-lyrics. Just now I searched for lyrics, but I find it hilarious that any exist because Tardy just made sounds with his voice. Sometimes they approximated words. I am still convinced that in the title track, Tardy is grunting "Volleyball! Join Me! Slowly We Rot...." Listen right not and you will too! (He also screams "Guitar!!!!" really loud before the wheedle-wheedle-wheedle guitar break-solo too.)

4) The pace! In the late '90s the underground still had a lot of faster-than-thou going on in the speed and thrash circles (and also in the then-nascent grindcore scene, though many in the US were late to pick up on this because it was tough to pick up those early Earache releases in many locations) and "Slowly We Rot" saw Obituary smart enough to slow things down. Not to the levels of doom metal, but at a great mid-paced grind that allowed for the heaviness of the rhythm section to really take hold of you and smack you around.

This is just a fantastic album, one of the cornerstones of Death Metal, and I still play it, and not just for the personal memories either.

Dammit, here is what is supposed to be at the red X above:

http://brianoneill.us/068.JPG

And now, thanks to this thread, I did a search and found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/LOT-10-METAL-MELTDOWN-FANZINE-THRASH-DEATH-KLUKE-HEAVY-/170592103457?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b814ec21

And of course I am buying it and reconnecting with Jeff, whom I haven't spoken to in decades! Thanks, ILM!

Amazing stories dude :-)

aww, great post.

Those eBay fanzines remind me how much I love metal typography. Someone who knows more about it should do a blog!

I bet alan bought 1 of those fanzine lots ,10 left!

21 Feb - Alan N
28 Feb - Aldo
07 March - Doran

Anyone else (who hasn't had a shot ) want to volunteer for a week?

Now have to bring the Ahab for my drive to work...

I have the cardboard sleeve promo version of the Ahab. It says on the back it is "Funeral Nautic Doom Metal" which is kinda funny.

Half the disc has voiceovers, which isn't funny... :( But I will persevere.

I bet alan bought 1 of those fanzine lots ,10 left!

kinda tempted tbh.

listening to the ahab now. title track is pretty great.

riff with the pinch harmonic on "gnawing bones" is pretty killer. I think it's a pinch harmonic, anyway. don't play guitar.

I do like this album. especially the clean parts which are usually v. pretty. but the big moments are too few and far between and I find it hard to focus my attention on it when listening.

first album still feels a bit more focused to me.

have the obituary record on. this is a total classic.

the only thing I don't like about it is the scott burns production. too clean, too airy. not a fan of the guy's stuff in general and that's unfortunate because he was producing every single record by every single one of these bands for a while there. oh well.

anyway, too much negativity. "gates to hell" = http://thmg.photobucket.com/albums/v708/2001somws6/th_headbang.gif

Any recommendations for Obituary-esque records to have a listen to?

apologies if this is too obvious... but if you like obituary, I think you'll find a lot to love on the first two autopsy albums. especially mental funeral. similar "death + catchy head-nodding riffs" mix but the production is crustier and the doomy parts are doomier.

then again, I think everyone should listen to autopsy.

and did suffocation name themselves after "suffocation"? it even has a breakdown at the end!

"suffocation" is also http://thmg.photobucket.com/albums/v708/2001somws6/th_headbang.gif

this whole album is http://thmg.photobucket.com/albums/v708/2001somws6/th_headbang.gif

John Tardy's vocals. Death metal in the early days had a lot of post-Venom hoarse screamers, but Tardy was a fucking ARTIST, man. His moans made all others before him (and most since) like fairy tales compared to the genuine horror that escaped from his gasping maw.

otm. obituary vox rule.

Slowly We Rot is a awesome record, and for me between Death and Obituary, they wrote the book on what would be death metal.. Honestly, I didn't get into them til a few years back.. But I'm so glad I did. This shit is gold, and they are very very important in Metal as a whole (imo), especially for the sub genre, and this record proves it.
And the kids know it too! A kid I give drum lessons to, his bass player was wearing a Obituary shirt the last time I saw them play- they're in and around 16-18 yrs old.. And ALL those bands with the impossible to read logos that look like a shit ton of antlers thrown together, owe that shit to these guys too, cuz that logo imo started it all..

This record also has the classic RoadRunner records sound.. We would bug out on how all the RR records sounded almost exactly the same production wise. For me, I like 'Cause of Death" a bit better-'Copped in Half'- are you kidding me? lol! that shit owns..

In the late 80s, me and my friends were very very loyal to our Bay Area thrash bands, and the Florida stuff seemed weird to us with its growling vox and technical stuff and the really slow stuff(at the time it seemed slow, lol).
I remember having a conversation with a good friend of mine about 10 years ago about imagining being a kid from Florida at that time, and holding those bands in the same regard as we did Vio-lence and Exodus. Our bases for what was 'heavy' were developmentally different, just due to what we were exposed to. So we compared everything to what we knew here in the bay area, and we often didn't think it matched up.. (but we all agreed even back then, than Hoglan was a God...lol)

Its amazing to me how land mass and water mass have become sooooo much smaller in this digital age of the innerwebs.. Kids can check it ALL out with out worrying where its from..

Anyway, what the fuck was I talking about... lol
Hails!

I'll see about the Ahab...

Ahab, 'The Divinity of Oceans'.. what a beautiful record!! I've only heard pieces of these guys but never sat down and really checked em out. The production is what stuck out for me; amazingly recorded, and flows real nice in its entirety.
And holy shit, dudes voice... AMAZING!!
I checked out the record before this as well, 'Call of the Wretched Sea' good record, but not as fully realized as 'Divinity..' probably due to the lack of production in comparison.
Great band, I regret not getting into them prior. I defintly like this style of Doom vs the likes of Sunn O)))..

I prefer Call.. actually (i own it on vinyl). Always regret missing out on the vinyl of the demos album, that really is great.

Hey now no slagging Sunn 0))) off!

Sean you want to curate a week in the club? Just pick 2 metal albums (of differing styles like everyone else has been doing).

The problem with the Ahab record is that it fades into the background when I try and listen to it. I think that's my fault at least in part, since I think I have to be in the mood to listen to music that is delicate and ethereal (shoegazer and avant-garde noise fits into this category as well) and I'm just not in that kinda mood right now.

So I actually forced myself to stop working on my bills, checking email, making silly posts to ILM and it's not hard to realize that this is a great record, frought with subtle emotional peaks and valleys.

Maybe I am just a sucker for the Nautical theme, but I like to think that this album in its entirety resides in "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" - not the poem, but the Maiden song when Brice *recites* the poem, and you hear the creaking ship, waves washing against the doomed ship, the heavy thump and lifeless lump amidst mournful clean guitar parts and somber bass line. Yes, this entire album takes that one feeling of melancholy and expands upon it with utter despair. To be sure, if Chris Columbus ever heard "Divinity," he woulda stayed in Spain.

That said, when the poem is done, the Maiden song then commences to kick ass. Whereas Ahab still is stuck in the malaise, drifting at sea without a climax. Which is a little unsatisfying, but I don't think they ever claimed this to be The Love Boat, now did they?

So this is really good stuff even when I'm not in the mood tro hear it. I imagine when I want to play this, it will wreck my world.

I'll take a week, Kerr.. Tell when, and remind me.

21 Feb - Alan N
28 Feb - Aldo
07 March - Doran
14 March - SeanWayne

Okay.. awesome, the week of my birthday. So I might be able to remeber to do it.. lol.

The Ahab/Sunn O))) juxtapositon makes sense to me; the two are definitely doing different versions of slow and heavy. Evoken and Skepticism and Ea are doing yet another one. I like the Evoken version best, myself: heavy on ambience and atmosphere. Sunn O))) is not as pretty or haunting, but still richly textured. Ahab's version skews too close to stoner/sludge for me; abit too lumbering rather than majestic, a bit too slow rather than ominous.

To add a little bit about my two picks, since I forgot when I picked them that I was going to be on vacation for half my week:

I think the soul of the Anacrusis record, to me, is that amazing, choppy, slashing guitar tone. Not sure anybody else ever mastered that perfect timbre and articulation. Combine that with the bits of keyboards and progressive experimentation, and you kind of end up with a revisionist redemption of Cold Lake.

The Thought Industry record struck me at the time as a recapturing of the weird impulses in Faith No More and Primus, which arguably came from metal in the first place, putting them back into the service of metal. I think about the crazed genre-hopping and mood-shifting in this album a lot, and particularly how they were able to pull it off in both the technological and artistic context of 1993. If you try to do this in 2010, you have precedent to work with. I think Thought Industry were pretty much making it all up themselves, and that this self-inventedness helps gives the whole thing an overarching stylstic coherence.

Heh, got an email back from Metal Meltdown Jeff. After the getting-caught-up pleasantries, he added this:

P.S.S. Somebody just bought four sets of METAL MELTDOWN! Woohoo!!!

Which one of you is responsible! :)

Alan or Smithy!

nah, I didn't bite.... yet.

Thanks for the recommendation Alan, I'll be checking out some Autopsy.

np - hope you're into it!

I'll post mine in a bit. off from work today so I won't be at my computer all day.

ok, got a minute.

immortal, damned in black

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/7745/immortalalbumok6.jpg

pulling teeth, paranoid delusions paradise illusions

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SkVXcvguvno/Sccl__hl0HI/AAAAAAAAAs4/f-yJ-2XSCI8/s320/l_48868735720f40a89f8540ac64850370.gifhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jE9PR3e00Bk/ScsVR8kNPnI/AAAAAAAAB4g/BO6v2PNYNAQ/s320/desconexaorio-saopaulo.blogspot.com_.jpg

think both of these are somewhat underrated.

had a different record lined up instead of the immortal but I caught immortal/absu the other night and it got me thinking about how damned in black is rarely mentioned when immortal are discussed.

typically one or more of the following get the nod instead and I can see why: a) sons of northern darkness (because it's a tighter take on the same formula, tbh), b) at the heart of winter (their most ambitious/proggy record, if that's what floats your boat), or c) one of their older records (more raw, less polished)

but there is a lot to like on damned in black! title track is killer, for one.

as for the pulling teeth record - nobody mentions these guys on ilx. maybe people really do rate em, honestly not sure.

Downloading torrents of each now!

just gave the pulling teeth another spin.

here's what works for me:

the solos! they rule.

the variety. nice mix of styles blended in a way that doesn't scan as hodgepodge.

the vox. I know the hardcore vox will be a turnoff to some but like em on here. not too polished, not too forced, with some real venom. the way it should be done.

some of the production flourishes. I particularly like the echo chamber effect occasionally applied to the vox. ("just what the fuuuuck / what the fuuuuck" etc.)

here's what doesn't work for me:

some of the production flourishes. the crowd rantings on the last track are a little heavy-handed/godspeed.

the first half of the last track drags a bit in general.

hmm. that's a bit tough on the eyes. whoopso.

I have listened to the Immortal record probably seven or eight times now and while I like some of it (because proficient thrashy black metal always has some good nutritional value) I just don't hear anything that would make me go back to it.

All my attention to that record has meant I haven't listened as much to Pulling Teeth, which I shall now...

OK, I'm up...

Lawnmower Death - Ooh Crikey, It's...

http://www.metallyrica.com/covers/lawnmower%2Bdethooh%2Bcrikey%2521%2Bit%2527s%2Blawnmower%2Bdeth%2521.jpg

This got brought up on another thread and it got me thinking about it again. Not enough to listen to it, mind.

Caspar Brotzmann Massaker - Koksofen

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xSpWY1epn2g/TFK0tWH7BrI/AAAAAAAAAhU/y467xru6oiU/s1600/front.jpg

Great Power Trio record.

think something funny's gone on with that first image...

How bizarre.

Just checked and it displays fine on the iPhone.

Koksofen is one of my favorite albums ever! Saw Brotzmann at CBGBs around that time too and it was brooding and catarctic and awesome. Looking forward to revisit; I last played it for Ms. Native on a road trip only a few months back.

Also, glad to see you took the "make the albums different" suggestion to heart by pairing that and Lawnmower Deth! :) I don't have that one but will download it. Very familiar with their stuff though. Should be fun.

As for the Pulling Teeth, it sure ain't like the usual Deathwish fare, that's for sure! I appreciate their desire to mix it up beyond the usual chugcore thuggery but wish they would incorporate the grandiose ideas they have specifically in the epic album closer "Paradide Illusions" within the more typical sounds instead of merely separating them.

There was a placeholder image for the Lawnmower Deth release that, if you load the real one, goes away, replaced by the real one in your cache.

I am not a techie but I assume that the site has something there to dissuade from hot linking.

ANyone showing a link to a dating site, click this and go back to this bage and the right image shoudl, load:

http://www.metallyrica.com/covers/lawnmower%2Bdethooh%2Bcrikey%2521%2Bit%2527s%2Blawnmower%2Bdeth%2521.jpg

Rather, don't click on it but directly C&P the text. Then it will work.

Listened to the 'Koksofen' disc while driving, which was not great for anyone behind me because the dramatic shifts in tempo and tension made for more stopping and starting than a New York rush hour.

Speaking of New York, wasn't Brotzmann connected in some way with Branca and/or Sonic Youth? I thought he was but cannot find out anything online. I *did* find out online that he later did something with Page Hamilton which actually doesn't shock me as much of 'Koksofen' sounds like Helmet if they weren't so rigid and inflexible.

The German spoken wordiness throughout the album also is a cause for excitement, makes it sound more disturbing somehow (wonder if it's all just cookie recipes).

Don't know if it's metal, per se, but I loved this record when it came out and I still do now.

As for Lawnmower Deth, I heard some of their stuff - I used to have this on vinyl before the flood destroyed it:

http://www.thecorroseum.com/comps/coversbig/arathernasty-front.jpg

Unsurprising for a band that started life on a split with something called Metal Duck, this is all disposable fun party Frash (as Kerrang! used to spell it). I imagine this group to be the UK equivalent to Stormtroopers Of Death without he pedigree, the riffs or good production.

Didn't hate it but I don't think I'll buy it.

Oh, and is anyone else here anymore? Or did I kill the club?

you cant kill anything in 2 minutes

brian how did you get into metal?

I was just sad that nobody else posted in four days...

Here is my metal story:

I grew up in a strange household where dad loved that new rock and roll music as a kid but he married a woman who hated all forms of music (really, she had no time for music at all. A friend asked her about music in the background of movies and she said it distracted her.) and then he stopped caring uch about music save for what was on the radio. I had no older brother or sister so getting into music at all was pretty unlikely.

As a very young child in Hollis, Queens, I was in the middle of the disco era. I decided that I, like all of my black classmates (I was the only white kid in my class at PS 35) liked disco music.

A next door friend, Clifford, whose mom worked in some capacity for ABKCO Records at the time (she used to show off signed Rolling Stones contracts to friends to impress them) heard that I was into disco and he was offended. He, four years older and far wiser, was a rock fan and he was going to make me one as well.

Cliff dragged me into his house and made me listen to the LPs that he and his older brother had. It was then that I heard stuff for the first time, stuff like Yes "Roundabout" and Led Zeppelin "Stairway To Heaven" and even the B-52's "Rock Lobster" which the 10-year old me adored (as does the 42 year old me) and made me walk away happy to say "Disco Sucks" before it was a cliche, ironic, or wrong.

Not long afterwards, I was prone to strange hobbies, such as listening to AM radio late at night and trying to see how far away the radio stations were (I was always thrilled when I heard a Canadian station).

I was also somewhat OCD and loved lists even at an early age. So listening to American Top 40 with Casey Kasem was something I got into the habit of doing at a young age. Naturally, I kept a book where I counted down along with Casey, keeping meticulous record of chart movement, debuts and weeks on the chart.

(I was ignorant that I could have bugged dad for a subscription to Billboard Magazine which would have had all I craved and even more.)

This was all taking place in the early '80s. I remember just about every song on this list and this listwith alarming clarity and I had an unhealthy fascination with Stars On 45 (I was so psyched when it made it to #1, even though it was just for one week).

Well, two songs changed everything:

AC/DC's "Back In Black" spent only a couple of weeks on the countdown, peacking in the high 30s if memory serves. And around the same time, Billy Squier had a longer run with "The Stroke."

It was when those two songs entered the charts and my life that I made a profound discovery: Loud guitar shits all over "Bette Davis Eyes."

With that as my backbone, I was either going to be a metalhead or a stripper. I and everyone who knows me will agree I made the right choice.

At that point I started listening to rock radio (the countdown was on the local Top 40 station) and I started discovering all of the usual '70s classic rock suspects and the then-current stuff from the likes of Van Halen, Judas Priest, Dio, Accept (the first cassette I bought was "Metal Heart") and soon afterwards, the commercial metal of the time (Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, Ratt).

When I was in High School, I fell in with the stoners since no other peer group would have me. They expanded my Black Sabbath and Ozzy knowledge beyond the stuff radio stations played at the time ("Paranoid" and "Crazy Train" pretty exclusively) and also started exposing me to the burgeoning underground metal scene.

I was 14 in 1983 and 18 in 1987. If anyone can think of a better time to be a metal teenager than those years, I would argue you were wrong forever and there is no way you could change my mind.

I was also lucky enough to be situated in the suburbia outside of Washington DC as a teenager (having moved from Queens with my family when I was about 12). I went to high school with a kid named Kenny Thomas who actually took guitar lessons from Brian Baker of Minor Threat and Dag Nasty.

Between him and some punk friends in school (one of whom played me Fear on a field trip on her walkman and I immediately fell in love), I also was one of the first long hairs (to be fair, it was a mullet then - it was the '80s!) to get into the DC hardcore scene, the even-harder New York stuff and older punk. When metal and hardcore finally crossed over, I wondered what took everyone so long?

Hard to believe that two songs would have such a profound influence on my life from that point on but there it is.

How about you, Al?

As paul simon didn't say dont call me Al!

Pretty simple really - Nirvana. Got a cd player in our house in like 1987 or something. Had a few U2 & Queen cds that i listened to all the time so I got my own stereo at xmas, the first in my year at school bizarrely (nope we werent rich or middle class or anything ) so that got me sorta into music in that I would get my folks to buy me cds sometimes but it was all chart stuff like the aforementioned U2,Queen,Bon Jovi and the odd NOW or Hits comp and various greatest hits cds of bands.

Then in 1991 (aged 18) we moved to Hamilton (handy cuz i was a season ticket holder - a long story). in the summer with no football on i had some spare cash, and my new found non footy friends were into glam metal heavy rock some thrash basically average kid kerrang/raw readers stuff. Some of it i really hated (always hated the glammy shit as my mate at school was into it despite never reading a music mag in his life (he still hasnt) so i dunno how he heard of this stuff as i cant see radio playing it at the time. but a few things like ride the lightning,master of puppets sounded good and i did like def leppard as i had a well worn dub copy of hysteria from someone at school.
My footy mates (bar 1 metal/punk/indie guy) were all into indie. Madchester indie & the smiths.

then i heard my metal mates playing nirvana. bang. a revelation. i had been listening to the rolling stones & sex pistols and this music was just what i needed. I borrowed stuff off friends then started buying lps,tapes,cds of albums that got good reviews in RAW and Kerrang. Got into AIC just before dirt came out, bought all the other grunge stuff i could find, got big into faith no more,soundgarden,janes,pearl jam, then i dug deeper screaming trees etc Helmet,ministry,nin then the footy mate i mentioned loaned me pixies,husker du,sabbath,slayer,anthrax,megadeth,stone roses lps and i realised i liked that kinda indie rock and metal as much. Manics became my band along with Nirvana Quickly realised that pantera sucked despite everyone loved them while i listened to godflesh etc.

Then i heard aphex twin,lfo,fsol etc and i would listen to electronic stuff but non-dancy stuff til i heard underworld & orbital in like 93? Another life changer, but i did not abandon the grunge/indie/alt rock/metal stuff at all. got way into kyuss and monster magnet and all the stoner rock before getting into doom (while i still would listen to all that older stuff) i then got into pfunk,krautrock, jazz ,alt country and when i first got Napster i got long sought after albums i needed to complete collections of (like redd kross - neurotica that i finally did find on lp 10 years after getting their other records,but p2p meant i heard it a few years earlier). once i got my fill of finding stuff i knew i wanted but didnt have i then started to look for new music like post rock and the whole stoner/psych/doom/noiserock/post metal boom coincided with me listening to heavier stuff again resulting in really getting back into doom & sludge and finally hearing black metal that i liked.

not very interesting and im sure no one will have read of all that but there you go. and i cba proofreading that or spellchecking or fixing anything else :) I leave that to the actual people who write for a living!

that period in 91/92 was awesome because there was lots of bands that crossed the indie/metal divide.

Its really weird how once i hit 30 i started listening to heavier and more extreme stuff. It led to digging out old stuff like godflesh,swans etc that suddenly was influencing new stuff.

oh and i forgot to mention my industrial phase that was just before getting into electronic & dance music, i was a late starter for gig going. My 1st gig was the young gods in 1995. 3rd gig was like oasis @ irvine beach or something haha

I think mordy should tell us all how he got into metal. it is his club.

made me walk away happy to say "Disco Sucks" before it was a cliche, ironic, or wrong.

It was never right.

rmde

viceroy your metal story?

I bet you were waiting for this: sorry, I've just had a band biog and two features dropped on me for early next week, I'm going to have to do my selection later in the month... I will do it though if you'll still have me.

Everyone needs to know my take on Mushroomhead and Tankard.

who wants to do next week then?

I was born on sad wings of destiny which carried me up to the heights of Golgotha where I and my power-slaves laid waste to all falseness, no posers stood a chance of receiving a mercyful fate from me! The power of my sword was mighty and yet after this electric funeral had commenced, my bloodlust had not been quenched, my appetite for destruction not appeased! It was then I dug deep into the black caverns of venom and the deadened boggy marshes where funerals are not held and bodies are only buried alive. These cannibal corpses roamed and feasted on gore and decay and I nearly became one myself but instead I was inflicted with St. Vitus' dance, henceforth I writhe in pain and misery -- tortured by my past, and terrified of my future.

damn stryper fan

Just back from holiday, listening to Obituary and Immortal now & searching out the Lawnmower Deth (no high expectations for that, I've heard some before), Ahab and CBM (both new to me).

The Immortal is indeed a bit snowed under in their discography but then again it's probably their least 'interesting' record - all solid songs but the production is a bit flat and I'm not a fan of that clicky drum sound. I've been working my way back through their discography and found the only real stinker is Blizzard Beasts - which I loved when it came out.

Obituary brings back a lot of memories - for me this record is forever associated with Pestilence - Malleus Maleficarum & my trips to school as I had these 2 back to back on a C90 tape.

btw my metal introduction was pretty standard - mid 80s as a kid Venom, Metallica, Sabbath, Maiden, Kreator...then moving on to Sepultura, Vulcano, Obituary, Death, Bathory, Pestilence, and then in the early 90s yr usual Black Metal revival stuff, doom, death, etc.

I'll do this week if nobody takes it, Al.

(Everyone else calls you AG so I wanna be a contrarian, mange.)

go for it!

07 March - NYCNative
14 March - SeanWayne
21 March - Doran

Oh shit I'm next week already? lol

can I get another round in the future at some point? I feel like my obscure picks were kinda crappy last time and I really wanna knock a week outta the park with awesomeness.

you can take the 28th if you want if noone else wants that week

I'll wait and see if anyone wants to sign up... thats not a particularly good Monday for me.
NYCnative I am excited for your picks!

Well, shit. Just saw I was the Chosen One... Let me get on this now!

As before, you can click on the image to download the album as MP3s. As before, I encourage anyone who likes these to purchase them.

I am going to cheat a little bit with the first one:

Whiplash - Power And Pain (1985, Roadrunner)
Whiplash - Ticket To Mayhem (1987, Roadrunner)
http://preview.gomusicnow.com/5611743/cover.jpghttp://www.metalkingdom.net/album/cover/d43/28257_whiplash_ticket_to_mayhem.jpg

Although there are two distinct albums, they were reissued on Displeased Records in 1998 together on one Compact Disc with the price of a single album.

Course Of Empire - Course Of Empire (1992, Zoo Entertainment)
http://www.moesrealm.com/img/album_covers/courseofempire.jpg

Unsung thrash heroes Whiplash are most notable for providing an 18-year old Tony Scaglione to Slayer the first time that Dave Lombardo left. They are lesser known for, on the debut album, having all of the members named Tony!

The line-up would change on "Ticket To Mayhem" and the sound would get more technical. The debut bludgeoned, the second record had some interesting ideas, all executed at a million miles an hour.

Both albums are essential for anyone who wants to see some of the more unheralded thrash bands that emerged duriong that glorious time when the Big Three were already leaving the underground behind.

As for the Course Of Empire, at the time they, along with The God Machine whose amazing "Scenes from the Second Storey" came out the next year, helped the merging of shoegaze, alternative and metal. Although the Texas band would put out several more releases, this one struck me when it came out as something really special.

I have not listened to it in some time so I will be revisiting it while some of you check it out maybe for the first time. Hope we all like it!

They are lesser known for, on the debut album, having all of the members named Tony!

hahahaha. successfully guessed that these guys are from the tri-state area using this piece of info.

Heh, nice guess!

Listened to the CoE in the car and it's not really showgazing, though it is catharctic at times.

Coarse of Empire i'd have never heard of... trippy stuff, A lot going on, and that great early 90s production.. Not really anything I could get into, but I can see the appeal for the late 80s early 90s alternative fan that hadn't bee3n exposed to grunge yet.. I guess this represents that time of electro-enhanced recordings, loops, samples-good quality gear and recording techniques, right before it got stipped away for real tones again.
Cool, but not for me...
But wanted to check this firt before the Whiplash...

Power Thrashing Death!! Oh what a great title.. LOL!!!!!!!!

how oftern does that happen? The second album doesn't sound as ggood as the the first, production wise..

Anyway, The Whiplash is good, but I can see why they didn't get the glory.. They were still hanging on to the NWOBHM a little too strongly, while other bands were really making their own thrash statements and blazing new ground.

Snake pit!! lol! so silly!

The Whiplash did make me second guess my picks for next week though... HA!

By the way, the second Whiplash disc starts at "Perpetual Warfare," an intro which is Track 10. If you find yourself getting bored with the start of the disc (though I adore "Last Man Alive," "Spit On Uour Grave" and "Nailed To The Cross" muchly), start it over there.

My fave track on the second release is "Buring Of Atlanta," which is just Godly post-Iron Maiden gallop as speed metal. A friend plays this at his metal vinyl sets in Philly and the crowd always loves it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByUD7JemXzU

listened to the Course Of Empire this evening, I liked it but it was nothing like the god machine, not in its class either, however i did like it enough to think i might get more from repeated listenings so i will do just that

Always loved this version too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL-xxB4Xymo

One group, two bands three records... Is that cheating?

You guys might be hip to these cats, but this is my favorite local band, for the past year I guess, San Francisco's Kowloon Walled City and their silly alter ego, Snailface

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c58/SEanB510/gambling-cover-0500.jpg

The first LP by KWC, sludgy goodness, with a hardcore angst, and tuned down to Q. Self recorded and put out on their own label(well the guitar player/singer Scott's label).. you can download this record as well as their debut EP. Great, great band!!

GAmbling on the Richter Scale- http://inthewalledcity.com/music

And really cool guys.. I've gotten to know them a bit, and these guys are pretty chill, take this band very seriously, but yet they are a bunch of goofs.. Thus the outlet of the side band, the stoner rock good times of Snailface..
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c58/SEanB510/Snailface4.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c58/SEanB510/II.jpg

The story on the Snailface records, and I'm not sure if its by their own accord or if its an actual thing, but theses records are done in a contest fashion.. Basically, they have the whole month of Feb, to write, record, mix, master and reproduce a full length, self produced record. No booked studio time, must be done as if it were a home recording. Which is a feet onto itself, but these jackasses second record is a concept record of sorts, exploring all the worlds mythological bipedal hominids-the Yeti, Amonimal Snowman, Skunk Apes and of coarse Bigfoot... these lyrics are smart and hilarious, sung by the bass player and other guitar player. Its hard to imagine its the same group of guys that are KWC.. The production and the sometimes similar low tuning is the only thing that can give it away..

Snailface I
http://media.inthewalledcity.com/snailface.zip

Snailface II
http://media.inthewalledcity.com/snailface2.zip

THese are my picks for my week, of March 14th 2011, enjoy and discuss... Thanks!!!

I know the kowlooned wall city (excellent band) but i dont know the spin offs, so thanks will check out now

Did I pick some duds? lol!

I am in the middle of an insane week at work and home but will check these out as soon as time allows...

still to play the snailface!

Sean how are Kowloon Walled City live?

They're pretty good live, solid, not amazing, but really really good. I've seen them about 5 times now, and they're pretty cool.. they get those tones live pretty well too... And their vibe is cool, very raw, bare bones, no frills. The singer/guitarist, Scott has funny shit to say sometimes in between songs, but without being a goof. cuz these guys are pretty goofy when you talk to em off stage.
THey are very non-pretentious, which is sooo refreshing. They definitly vibe their music and the crowd energy. If the crowd is chill, they are a little more rerseved, when the crowd is going off, they go off a little more.

btw... Although the idea was neer to play live, the clammering and constant pressure had Snailface do a one off show, complete with wacky costumes, narrations, and cool lights... I missed the show, and I've regreted it ever since.. My life is so much worse now cuz of it.. lol

And why didn't this thread get moved over to the metal board?

long story but the metal board is in its last throes . Most of ILX is against it so it will be deleted, just hope that doesn't mean all the threads get deleted too

its cool... I thought it a good idea, but whatevs..

21 March - Doran

Anyone wanting to do other weeks?

oh I thought I was lined up for another one sometime in the future...

21 March - Doran
28 March - Viceroy

that ok?

yes.

looks like viceroy is up whatever happened to doran? he didn't take his turn

Rescheduled
4 April - Doran

argh my pics are going to be a bit late, I have a bunch going on today... Sorry... expect them in a few hours.

I got no love for my picks... lol!

Sorry this is so late! Enjoy some classic slabs...

JUDAS PRIEST - SAD WINGS OF DESTINY

http://xenoraiser.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/sad-wings-of-destiny.jpg

Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/5k3WFIHmmuHrUWSj5McaAe

CARCASS - SYMPHONIES OF SICKNESS

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eER-8r2oEi4/SvRZqAOFzxI/AAAAAAAAAMU/bF9QGMQZf3U/s400/carcass+symphonies.jpg

Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/0hZQj8vgT0AEU4DYKBo9Ir

Update: Sorry, I've been moving house, dealing with a heavily pregnant GF who has twisted her ankle, the recent passing of a relative and am in the middle of finding new premesis for the Quietus to move to, as well as the usual maelstrom of deadlines and bullshit.

I'm not trying to shirk my metalacular duties but it may be that I have to have my go in a few weeks. I'm spending like ten or fifteen minutes a week on ilx max at the moment.

Horns up.

no worries. If anyone wants to volunteer for future weeks now is the time

Stay strong, Doran!

Good picks, Viceroy. I've been re-listening to Heartwork recently (which is excellent), the only Carcass record I know, so looking forward to hearing this one.

As for Priest, I'm ashamed to say the only one off that record I'm familiar with is "Victim of Changes", and that was from owning this rather good Kerrang! compilation from the 90s.

Who's going tomorrow and if nobody can I? I wanna do a girly metal week.

do it

So I've been doing some thinking about female-fronted metal recently (mostly bc I discovered that I have like a dozen girly metal albums on my computer) and specifically the split between gothic female-fronted metal (like Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, the new Within Temptation) and more epic symphonic female-fronted metal (primarily thinking about Therion here). I'm not sure if adding female vocals should change anything (and in some bands like Arch Enemy it barely makes a difference) but with these bands it clearly does. Anyway, my first pick for this week is:

The Gathering - If_Then_Else (2000)
http://www.cmdistro.com/images/xlarge/2434.jpg

Which is kinda the classic of the genre imho (for ppl who like: Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, the terrible Epica). The other pick is a brand new album that a few ILX metallers were digging on chatz about a month ago. It has some cantorial + klezmer influences but they're pretty well-integrated and unless you're really familiar with the genres they may be undetectable. Also, I feel I should note that it is entirely instrumental (but never boring instrumental -- it's tightly written throughout).

Pitom - Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes (2011)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412Ad-4cMiL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

I don't have spotify links but both should be easily available to find + hear online. Particularly interested in getting people's thoughts on the gothic "girly" metal thing, esp recommendations that might be more proto-examples (or just earlier albums doing similar things). nb that the female vocals are really important on this so that, say, Cradle of Filth which is probably an important influence to this, isn't really an example (tho maybe after they added that new vocalist they might be).

girly jeff to thread!

listening to pitom now. i can see mike patton & co digging this

the gathering album is on spotify http://open.spotify.com/album/1u9c4y0KRL6xXF6Qc577sT

The Gathering album is a great choice, it has some phenomenal moments, like "Analog Park" and "Saturnine".

Pitom was really interesting, i think if you dig math-rock you will enjoy this

Doran isn't around, anyone want a shot?

you should go!

im not even sure anyones still participating tbh. Maybe we should have a break for a few months?