Your five favorite metal records of the moment

I thought it would be fun to have a sort of rolling metal thread that incorporated older stuff as well as this-year stuff. As someone who's gotten deeply into metal over the past year, it's hard for me to participate in the 2012 rolling metal thread since I'm still playing catch-up on several decades of amazing music. But I feel like I'm discovering like three or four incredible albums every week, and I feel the need to enthuse somewhere. So, what are the five metal records you're listening to the most right now?

(1) Dissection: The Somberlain -- Does this count as "melodic black metal"? I was starting to worry I didn't like that style based on being lukewarm on the Enslaved, Emperor, Opeth, etc, I've heard, but THIS is flat-out incredible. I love that it has an Iron Maiden heart. I've played this probably six times in the past two days. I really need to hear Storm of the Light's Bane.

(2) Carcass: Symphonies of Sickness -- I still can't decide whether I like grindy Carcass or the Heartwork stuff best, and I still think I like Necroticism the best in my limited listening, but this is just really fun. I love how joyous Carcass's music is despite the grisly lyrics; they tear into the music with such infectious zeal.

(3) High on Fire: [/i]The Art of Self-Defense[/i] -- My first record from these guys (I just picked it up the other day), and man does this hit the spot. It seems a bit tighter and more focused than Sleep, more single-minded, a little less "taking a journey"-ish.

(4) Morbid Angel: Altars of Madness -- I really cannot stop playing their first three records. When I'm not sure exactly what I want to listen to and start scrolling through the iPod, I've been picking a Morbid Angel record with egregiously disproportionate frequency. These guys seem totally serious and joyless, but it somehow totally works for them.

(5) Autopsy: Mental Funeral -- I LOVE this. I love when death metal gets slowed down and a little doomy but still maintains its death-ness (well, judging from this and how much I love Winter's Into Darkness); more recommendations in this vein would be hugelyy appreciated.

"I really need to hear Storm of the Light's Bane."

yeah you do. its even better. i just call it blackened death. or deathened black.

those are four great classics that everyone needs and a high on fire album. (just never been a big fan. i've tried.)

Are you a Sleep fan? HoF is definitely the oddball in the group, and I kind of think of it as not-metal somehow; I mean, I realize that it is, but it scratches a very different part of my brain than most of the other metal I've been loving. I find myself in the mood for it less frequently than the other stuff too. But really-loose-soloing-hovering-about-midway-up-the-neck-over-thick-riffs is catnip to me when done well.

i like the epic sleep thing. the only one i feel like i need to hear. i like Om okay. though i did sell all my albums at my record store so i guess i don't love them.

what i've been playing and enjoying. old tapes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRXXfkb7XCo&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p05G7tzL3Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLkYv9KRymc&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIf-wKfS7XQ&feature=relmfu

none of which are essential? i dunno, essential for someone out there obviously. maybe the nasty savage is essential. i like it a bunch.

the leeway album is in no way essential.

Entombed - Wolverine Blues
Possessed - Seven Churches
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
Carcass - Heartwork
Kreator - Extreme Aggression

^ my top five AT the moment, not OF the moment obv

oh but totally essential and stuff i've been playing would be posessed circa 1984-86. man, just the best. been playing a live tape of an 84 show a bunch.

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

Scott, I can't wait to watch those youtubes once I'm hooked up to my speakers. I'm already predisposed to like them from the graphics alone. Ah, Dopethrone! I like that one too, but I don't quite get the INTENSE reverence for it just yet I suppose.

Oh yeah, Possessed; they're on my short to-check-out list too.

TS: "Death Metal" by Possessed vs. "Black Metal" by Venom

vs. "Power Metal" by Pantera?

I've found my enthusiasm for Venom fading a little as I've been diving deeper into stuff that came later. I'm finding them harder to take seriously--which I think is probably part of the point (I know they weren't "really" Satanic), but I feel like their stuff lacks depth sometimes.

I got to do something awesome last night. It was snowing like a beast in NY, and I was on a bus on the way back from Pennsylvania riding through it in the dark and cold, watching it come down. And I listened to Transilvanian Hunger and it never sounded better to me than it did then.

Five things I'm loving:

Gore Mean Man's Dream still a sick record after all these years SL reish is amazing
Liturgy Aesthetica kinda ashamed that I've ended up liking this record so much, but I put it on in anticipation of the TJ 20th anniversary show and it's great hipster metal or no
Eagle Twin The Unkindness of Crows
Aluk Todolo Finsternis
Altar of Plagues White Tomb

that aluk todolo is so amazing. the new album is intense. man oh man love that stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow1g4xd7gTM

I haven't heard any recent Utech stuff but that label can basically do no wrong.

my favorite label. for like the last 3 years in a row.

new aluk is on ajna offensive.

What recent Utech stuff would you recommend?

definitely get the new Gog album. which is coming out soon. or pre-order it or whatever.

the sky burial album from last year is one of my favorite things ever. that album is a trip.

new aluk is on ajna offensive.
--scott seward

I have that but I prefer Finsternis.

I love the other Gog Utech record so I will have to look for that.

oh and the architeuthis rex album. urania. very very disorienting. if you always need to know where you are don't get that one. but if you don't mind being split from your body than definitely get it.

i'm a Gog super-fan. william fowler collins/gog collab album is well worth seeking out as well.

New VagusNerve in December as well!

don't listen to Scott re: High on Fire, they're amazing.

love this thread idea! I haven't been listening to metal so much the past month except for I went on a two-night binge of The Silent Enigma and I seldom let a few days pass without some Mercyful Fate. I am playing the Hooded Menace record a lot.

I haven't been listening to much metal at all either. 2012 just isn't the year for me. but there was a snow storm the other day and I had to walk over a bride, so clearly I had to play a darkspace album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXdCBAUW244

haha walk over a BRIDGE, I am not a monster that walks over brides

but check out that darkspace clip if you've never heard em. everyone should listen to darkspace.

actually, watch the cool space grafix on the first vid but listen to this one instead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rwt_UjLPrk

didn't realize the killer slo-mo slayer outro got the axe in the first vid

tonight just ain't my night

thoughts on deathhammer? can't decide if they are pretty righteous or kind of generic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzYMnGn5NSI

(5) Autopsy: Mental Funeral -- I LOVE this. I love when death metal gets slowed down and a little doomy but still maintains its death-ness

Wow, thanks Alan; that Darkspace is phenomenal on first listen. And thanks for the Asphyx recommendation, Siegbran. Anyone have an opinion on the best Gorguts record to start with?

Obscura, if you don't mind atonality and bizarre compositions and genius. The second one (Erosion of Sanity) if you're a little more into straight Death Metal.

don't sleep on from wisdom to hate either. dials the skronk down considerably from obscura but it's still top-notch and also has a much sludgier sound. you might dig that since the autopsy death/doom mix is really doing it for you.

glad you dug darkspace btw. they scratch an itch little else does for me, pretty special band.

I have to admit, I have innate misgivings about the *idea* of Obscura, given what I've read about its similarity to free jazz/skronk. I have lots of time for free jazz/skronk (though less than I used to, I think), but it's hard for me to imagine it not sounding a bit like a formal exercise. I'm alwas suspicious of those records, though, that allow people not very steeped in a genre to say, "now THIS, this is showing how [genre x] can stretch boundaries"... Whatever, I probably just need to listen to the damn thing!

yeah, just listen to it. it's incredibly and doesn't really sound like naked city or whatever. it's certainly a death metal record at the end of the day.

re: asphyx: the records from the reunited lineup are definitely solid but I have to say that the production on each was a turn-off for me. they definitely have that modern metal sound - no warmth or space in the mix, big slab of sound. guess I gotta listen to the old stuff already.

Production in metal is something I've been thinking about a lot. It seems like a hard genre (broadly speaking) to produce, and I remember reading something how only that one guy could really harness the sound of those first-wave Florida death metal bands, but lots of people hate his production. Then there's the stuff I gravitated to first like Priest and Sabbath and Maiden (early at least) which is definitely more "'70s hard rock" production (are there bands still recording metal in such a sort of drily documentarian way, or did that die off?). Then there's all the second-wave Norwegian BM stuff which is legendarily "poorly" recorded but part of the aesthetic--which I love for certain records but find for others that it feels forced and genuinely unpleasant to listen to (e.g. Nattens Madrigal by Ulver--I can understand not wanting super-clean production, but those melodies are so lovely and it feels like this very willful attempt to uglify them). I don't know that I've encountered much with that "modern metal sound" but it sounds like the loudness war is alive and well in the genre.

cosign on perennially underrated From Wisdom to Hate

Obscura's great but I don't like to admit it because it's one of those records that people who won't listen to straight-up beautiful death metal say is SO GREAT because it sounds at points more like stuff they already know

every gorguts album is well worth owning.

don't forget to listen to siegbran's other favorite band if you haven't already:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi2REgByOqs&feature=related

Obscura's great but I don't like to admit it because it's one of those records that people who won't listen to straight-up beautiful death metal say is SO GREAT because it sounds at points more like stuff they already know

― Inconceivable (to the entire world) (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, November 9, 2012 9:41 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Zackly how it's scanned to me in reading about it, but having you guys who listen to metal with metal ears recommend it means I will now check it out. I can't believe how many amazing records are still out there for me to discover. It's almost stressful.

Scott, I LOVE that record. I got it some months back and wore the hell out of it, so it's not in my "current top 5" or whatever, but it made an enormous impression on me. I'd never heard anything like it.

yeah I mean you can't hold that against it, it was a pretty fucking ballsy move at the time & it's still great

I have to admit that I'm guilty more than I should be of negative predisposition toward a record based on the surrounding discourse or how it's generally critically framed.

obscura is amazing. and quite the listening experience. i don't let its thurston moore status or whatever bother me. actually i have no idea if thurston is a fan. but you know what i mean.

Atriarch - Ritual of Passing
Neurosis - Honor Found in Decay
Aluk Todolo - Occult Rock
Old Man Gloom - NO
Pig Destroyer - Book Burner

i've never had a problem recommending "crazy" metal albums to people who don't listen to metal. or hip metal or whatever. i don't care what their motivations are. darkspace are a good example. would totally recommend them to people who just like heavy ambient music. they could appeal to lots of folks.

Obscura is only "hipster" death metal in retrospect anyway, right. It wasn't like it came out and was critically acclaimed by the Wire or whatever.

I heard about it from a certain Mountain Goats lead singer though haha.

Gore Mean Man's Dream still a sick record after all these years SL reish is amazing

totally, been listening to this loads after the 80s poll, also Band of Susans, Bitch Magnet (yeah I know, not metal).

Morbid Angel: Altars of Madness

Seconded Clark, great record. I would recommend Obituary's Slowly We Rot if you like early Morbid Angel.

Also:

Flower Travellin' Band - Satori
Tweak Bird - Undercover Crops
Harvey Milk - Life... The Best Game in Town

New Eagle Twin is p great as well, though I need to listen to it more.

Siegbran (or anyone else): is The Rack as good a place as any to start with Asphyx?

NM, you mentioned that one upthread; thanks! Will get.

don't know if i'm ever digging five at once but here are a few metal albums on my phone

ulver: bergtatt - don't have the time of day for straight up black metal lately but this has always been a favorite because 1) ulver is the best band 2) their particular idea of black metal, at least on this record, is more rolling & cinematic, less icy hypnosis
azarath: blasphemers' maledictions - still mad i didn't know about this record last year. astounding, exploratory death.
anata: the infernal depths of hatred - THIS FUCKING BAND Y'ALL. jazzy death metal that is kind of just on the edge of floating off into pestilence territory. tight, brutal, mind-turning
iron maiden: killers - yep

also i cannot get into this year's asphyx record. when it's death-y or crusty, it's great. when it's doomy it's boring

also definitely a member of the "from wisdom to hate kicks ass, don't sleep on it" crew

Seconded Clark, great record. I would recommend Obituary's Slowly We Rot if you like early Morbid Angel.

Also:

Flower Travellin' Band - Satori
Tweak Bird - Undercover Crops
Harvey Milk - Life... The Best Game in Town

― Neil S, Friday, November 9, 2012 11:44 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I do really like Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death by Obituary; I just don't looove them outright like I do Morbid Angel. And yeah, I just recently discovered Satori too--what a ride that is.

ulver: bergtatt - don't have the time of day for straight up black metal lately but this has always been a favorite because 1) ulver is the best band 2) their particular idea of black metal, at least on this record, is more rolling & cinematic, less icy hypnosis

That first song absolutely slays me. And the album art is amazingly gorgeous.

new Pig Destroyer, new Black Breath, all albums by Horseback (on a big kick right now), and now thanks to this thread Gorguts and Dissection.

anata: the infernal depths of hatred - THIS FUCKING BAND Y'ALL. jazzy death metal that is kind of just on the edge of floating off into pestilence territory. tight, brutal, mind-turning

otm. don't know why these guys don't get more shine

the effort, or non-effort as it were, to uglify (render primal) the melodies and general atmosphere on Nattens Madrigal is exactly what i love about it. it's like the music has found electrifying rapport with nature and has become more beautiful for it.

Saint Vitus - Lillie: F-65
Celeste - Misanthrope(s)
Candlemass - Nightfall
Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I
Nachtmystium - Silencing Machine

Loving the new Nachtmystium a lot. So far, more than any of their others

Listened to the latest Cannibal Corpse again this morning. They are on such a hot streak the last few years. Hooking up with Erik Rutan was one of the best ideas they ever had.

I def need to hear that

"I really need to hear Storm of the Light's Bane."

yeah you do. its even better. i just call it blackened death. or deathened black.

― scott seward, Thursday, November 8, 2012 8:13 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I just got this yesterday... Man, it's a beautiful record! His ability to write a stirring tremolo riff is uncanny. I need more records full of amazing tremolo riffs. (I mean, I guess that's a meat-and-potatoes part of black metal, right? I have this idea that In the Nightside Eclipse will scratch the same itch although I haven't had much luck getting into later Emperor.)

i reckon you will love 'in the mightside eclipse'

in terms of uncanny swedish amalgams of black/death, try grotesque's 'in the embrace of evil'; it's not beautiful in the way the dissection albums are, but the sheer ferocity of it is a thing of beauty.

('nightside', obv.)

Cool, thanks... I suppose I should finally listen to De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas soon too.

Today at work I was running some analysis code on gothic symphonic metal songs. Which lead me to:

- Regardless of Me: Pleasures and Fear
- One Without: Sweet Relief
- Sengir: Guilty Water
- Alight: Don't Fear the Revenge
- Amaranthe: Amaranthe (Special US Edition)

In The Nightside >>>>>>> later Emperor (although the next record is still pretty good.)

Definitely get Setherial "Nord" which is basically "In The Nightside Eclipse part 2".

Also, peak-era Marduk (Opus Nocturne/Heaven Shall Burn) were the kings of tremolo riffs.

gman mentioned Candlemass upthread... After being totally floored by Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, I got the next two records but I'm having tons of trouble getting into the vocalist for those, whereas the vocalist on that first record just clicked for me immediately. It's hard to say why; they're roughly equivalent in over-the-top-ness I suppose.

Oh, Siegbran, I forgot to mention a record I really enjoy on the tremolo-riff front: Nattestid Ser Porten Vid by Taake.

Yep Nattestid is a great record. Too bad about that grating, shitty digital brick wall-compressed guiter sound though.

Has anyone else noticed how good black metal tends to sound at really low volumes? I've found myself playing it very quietly from time to time so as not to bother my neighbors--and an album like Nattens Madrigal I find hard to play loudly simply because of how piercingly shrill it is (I'll get my dress and go home)--but it really works. I think "Jesu Dod" was the first time I really noticed this--all these little interlocking tendrils of tremolo riffage seemed to surface, whereas at louder volumes I noticed more the full-on rush and pummel of it.

peak-era Marduk

As far as I'm concerned, Marduk are pretty much peaking right now. Bringing in Mortuus was probably the smartest move they ever made. (Here's my review of Serpent Sermon

I just picked up In the Nightside Eclipse yesterday. Wow, this is great. I got my head around black metal by way of Darkthrone and Burzum (and to some extent Bathory), so it's actually been a little of a challenge getting used to the technical prowess of things in this vein. But this manages to be nimble and technical while still totally crushingly intense. The one-two punch of "Beyond the Great Vast Forest" and "Towards the Pantheon" is astonishing.

I always loved the lyrics to Nightside, those stream of consciousness ramblings by Mortiis were sadly missed on the later material, which is veers towards Manowar-in-corpsepaint.

I very much dislike those 2 cover songs that were tacked on the reissues, they're recorded by the later 'comeback' lineup with Alver/Charmand/Trym and don't fit the sound and feel of the album at all.

nightside set the bar so friggin' high. hard to reach those heights. or depths...or whatever. there's many who tried to prove that they're faster and they didn't last and they died as they tried.

Covers also add nothing to the originals either. Very bland.

Listening to Nightside right now. Amazing record.

Siegbran, I was marveling at the lyrics yesterday; I love them too. They read like black metal freestyle.

been addicted to this youtube channel lately. not all amazing stuff and a lot to wade through but i have fun wading. if you are a fan of fuzzy tapes its a winner:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Oiceoptoma/videos?view=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnNfsuU7Ih0&feature=plcp

there's many who tried to prove that they're faster and they didn't last and they died as they tried.

setherial could knock your socks off its true. just some of their intros alone like having a bomb go off in your face.

but now you've got me digging around for those marduk reissues that i've got in a box somewhere. they sent me a bunch of them at the time. i really want to hear heaven shall burn...

Siegbran, I was marveling at the lyrics yesterday; I love them too. They read like black metal freestyle.

It's barely English as well, with lines like "into the frozen nature chilly" - I'm sure I had some of that last night.

I will definitely be getting that Setherial record. My relatively recent delving into metal has led me to buy more new CDs than I have in a long time; it's really not productive nor within my budget to try and procure 2nd-wave BM stuff, early death metal, etc, on vinyl.

Also, Storm of the Light's Bane is just completely, totally flooring me. "Thorns of Crimson Death"! It's one of the most perfect metal songs I know of. I need more things like this. Is anything else classified as "Gothenburg Sound" anywhere near this good?

First two Sacramentum records.

(Finis Malorum and Far Away From The Sun)

Is Battles in the North comparable in quality to In the Nightside Eclipse? Never heard any Immortal...

from Immortal you want an album called At the Heart of Winter.

and an album called sons of northern darkness. and an album called pure holocaust

great career

"Is Battles in the North comparable in quality to In the Nightside Eclipse? Never heard any Immortal..."

There are no bad Immortal albums (and Battle is great as is the sorta transitional follow-up Blizzard Beasts)

I don't love the super early Immortal stuff (Battles in the North, Blizzard Beasts, Pure Holocaust) as much as the middle-period and later stuff (Damned in Black, At the Heart of Winter, Sons of Northern Darkness, All Shall Fall). But it's all good to great. They rule.

They are by far the most consistent of the first wave of Norwegian Black Metal bands.

Clarke have you heard Abruptum?

yeah, it's easy to get stuck on Immortal for whole stretches at a time, there's so much good stuff in there.

as far as really melodic black metal goes, i wholeheartedly recommend Windir (and more specifically their album Arntor).

I was playing some major catch-up on about 40 albums worth of thrash for a few weeks, and sort of burnt myself out on it, but will be returning to these soon I'm sure:

Coroner - Grin (1993)
I'm a big fan of a most of this Swiss band's stuff, but was late in getting around to hearing this, which is much more prog than thrash. Kind of lost between the cracks and underrated. I'd guess Gojira might be fans.

Voivod - Killing Technology (1987)
Another band in the crossroads between thrash and prog, I bought Nothingface and Angel Rat right when they came out, but for some reason didn't dig into the older material. I loved their nerdy sci-fi approach, and enjoy the rougher, thrashier sound of this one.

Paradox - Heresy (1989)
Toxik - Think This (1989)
Kreator - Coma Of Souls (1990)

I don't love the super early Immortal stuff (Battles in the North, Blizzard Beasts, Pure Holocaust) as much as the middle-period and later stuff (Damned in Black, At the Heart of Winter, Sons of Northern Darkness, All Shall Fall). But it's all good to great. They rule.

And of all the Norwegian Black Metal bands, they look the most like a pro wrestling tag team. Demolition, specifically.

They also have a healthy appreciation of the staginess (ridiculousness doesn't seem the right word) of their gimmick, going by the interviews in that Decibel Hall of Fame article from a few years ago.

Just jumping in here to say that for everyone who loves the "deathened black" of Dissection--you really need to get the first Necrophobic album Nocturnal Silence. It's soooooo good.

nice tip on that Necrophobic album, Nate! i've had their name somewhere in the back of my head for many years, but never paid any attention till now. so many incredible riffs.

Clarke have you heard Abruptum?

― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Monday, November 19, 2012 10:33 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I haven't, but I'll be sure and change that. Thanks to all for the Immortal tips too. Necrophobic sounds amazing! There are really just so, so many albums I still have yet to discover. (On a proto-metal tip, I finally found a nice vinyl copy of Blue Oyster Cult's Secret Treaties yesterday--it's definitely as good as everyone says it is.)

I had a righteous haul today during a quick visit to a local record store... All used on CD:

> Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
> Suffocation - Despise the Sun
> Immortal - Blizzard Beasts
> Cathedral - Forest of Equilibrium
> Scorn - Evanescence

Hah Scorn. I love that record (might even like the remix record more though.)

secret treaties is the greatest

This Mayhem is pretty much blowing my mind right now.

Blizzard Beasts seems to be the least loved album in their discography but even though it doesn't sound like anything else they did it's strangely compelling - they sound a lot like an icy Morbid Angel.

it's nearly four in the morning and I'm listening to Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame which I rep hard for even though its peaks aren't as high as Stronghold's

Re: Summoning, some more news on their website:

This month Protector will record the guitars for the new album while Silenius is working on the lyrical concept.
As soon as possible Napalm Records will put a one minute trailer to advertise the new CD on the their homepage, that hopefully will happen around december.

oh man! the music's written! I can't wait for that - there's really nobody like them, as far as I know.

summoning's 'stronghold' is one of my top five at the moment. the others being:

- hooded menace - 'effigies of evil'
- anathema - 'the silent enigma' (prompted to check it out by aero and siegbran's enthusiasm for it. love it. at the moment it's my favourite example of this kinda thing, just over katatonia's 'dance of december souls' and my dying bride's 'turn loose the swans'.)
- the chasm - 'procession to the infraworld'(these guys' amazing, flowing, psychedelic DM deserves more love, imo.)
- darkthrone - 'a blaze in the northern sky'

i need to get 'blizzard beasts' and 'diabolical fullmoon mysticism'.

darkthrone - 'a blaze in the northern sky'

This one is all-time

Blizzard Beasts is highly underrated.

I'll play it soon if I can stop listening to De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas for a second... Atilla Csihar's vocals are unreal! I love them. I wish more BM and DM vocalists stepped ouside the rigorous confines of their respective styles like he does here. And the music rocks WAY harder than I was expecting it to for some reason. The production is perfect.

Attila's pretty much amazing on everything he's on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW-8gp2qiZo

Yeah the production of De Mysteriis is excellent, for years every BM band went into the studio with that record under their arm - "like this please".

Atilla Csihar's vocals are unreal! I love them. I wish more BM and DM vocalists stepped ouside the rigorous confines of their respective styles like he does here.

YES. The weird almost throat-singing growls he does in Freezing Moon kill me.

First off, Suffocation are insanely good. I really liked that EP I bought, so I picked up Pierced From Within yesterday--totally floored. The singer has a pretty much perfect (for me) DM growl that stays just this side of over-the-top. The production feels a little more balanced than the other Scott Burns stuff I know, too. Which leads me to another question: you know how things like Transilvanian Hunger and De Mysteriis are held up as examples of perfectly produced BM? What are the DM equivalents with regard to production (if there are any)?

That Sunlight Studios (so Left Hand Path being the originator) sound is probably the closest DM equivalent.

this week :

cattle decapitation - monolith of inhumanity
pig destroyer - book burner
carcass - symphonies of sickness
incantation - onward to golgotha
suffocation - effigy of the forgotten

...been on a death metal tip lately

This week for me:

Incantation, Vanquish in Vengeance
Melvins, (A) Senile Animal
Fear Factory, Soul of a New Machine
Destruction, Spiritual Genocide
Sepultura, Chaos A.D.

Damn, it seems Far Away From the Sun by Sacramentum is painfully out of print... I really want that! Anyone read that book Swedish Death Metal by Daniel Eckeroth? It's on my Xmas wish list.

I also just discovered the metal reviews on anus.com... Wow, that's some intense writing. I enjoy the way he really tries to describe how the music works on a structural/musical level, and his depth of knowledge is impressive.

I did just pick up Battles in the North too after liking Blizzard Beasts pretty well, and I love it, "Cursed Realms of the Winterdemons" and "Blashyrkh" in particular. I probably need to check out Enslaved's early stuff next, right?

I have the Ekeroth book. It's terrific, and there's a 3CD compilation that (I think) Season of Mist put out that's pretty great, too. I reviewed it for AMG (and the review also appears on the Amazon product page):

"This compilation is a three-CD companion to an equally exhaustive book of the same name, and each in its own way is an authoritative and wholly enjoyable tour guide to a scene the reverberations of which have echoed throughout the entire metal world since the late 1980s. The Swedish death metal scene has given us some of the most melodic, fist-pumping, anthemic, and classic music to ever emerge under that subgenre's banner, from At the Gates and Arch Enemy to Entombed, Grave, Dismember, Unleashed, Therion...the list is seemingly endless. And yet, many of the bands featured here will be new to the average listener, because compiler Daniel Ekeroth is attempting to chart the earliest days of the scene and pay respect to bands that never broke out of their homeland (if, indeed, they were even renowned beyond their home towns). Consequently, the entire first disc is taken up by never-before officially released tracks from demo tapes, originally circulated by hand and by mail in the pre-Internet era. Bands like Grave, Therion, and Nihilist (who would become Entombed) are heard alongside more obscure peers like Carbonized, Afflicted Convulsion, and the aptly named Obscurity. The second and third discs offer songs by Marduk, Dissection, At the Gates, Unleashed, and many more, and again, acts known only to diehards like Toxaemia, Liers in Wait, Crypt of Kerberos, and Repugnant get their moment in the (midnight) sun. Virtually everything here boasts the thick, distorted guitar sound that was the trademark of the Swedish scene, though some bands display greater ambition than others, experimenting with keyboards, progressive song structures, and greater length (with the longest track here, Dissection's proto-black metal epic 'Black Horizons,' coming in at a patience-testing 8:10). There are some big names absent, whether it's because of licensing issues or Ekeroth's personal tastes, notably Amon Amarth and Opeth; in the latter case, it's easy to suspect aesthetic choice at work, since they were ignored in the book as well. Ekeroth's tastes clearly run to the primitive and the obscure; he's one of those "they were better before anybody knew who they were" guys, which is one of the things that makes this trip through the history of the Swedish metal underground a bounty of surprises, no matter how knowledgeable you may think you are. But even a total newcomer will find much to enjoy here."

Oh awesome, thank you! I just bought the last copy on Amazon (plus the last copy apparently of Stormcrowfleet by Skepticism--for the free shipping, of course). I didn't realize that comp existed and it'll be nice to have it as I read the book since I'm unfamiliar with almost all of the bands.

The book is an awesome read. The 3 CD set, however, is kind of exhausting frankly. I think I've listened to it once all the way through.

I plan to use it as a reference to get a little context for the bands I'm reading about... I have about as much of a chance as making it through a 3CD anything as I do reading the entire book in one sitting.

Apparently, the whole Far Away From The Sun album is on YouTube. Can't vouch for the sound quality tho.

I wish I could get over it, but I can be pretty anal about that. Especially if it's a record I'm really excited about, I just want my first experience of it to be as ideal as possible. I find it oddly fun to wait for the reward of my searching and patience too. </weirdo>

skepticism! you're in for a (slow and depressing) treat.

Delicious! Do you guys ever find yourself laughing when you're listening to really brutal DM? I'm walking around the city right now between visits for work with Suffocation in my headphones, and it's just so freaking BRUTAL and sick sounding that I'm finding myself cracking up with joy over it. It's fucking fun!

totally! the 'angry' part of the metal equation has been grossly overstated imo. I mean, I get why people not into it might think it comes off that way... and nu metal didn't really help things. but most of this stuff is all about big, fun riffs, crazy drums, headbanging, fist pumping, pulpy horror subjects, etc., etc. definitely joyous in its own way.

strangely, i think that i went from finding metal vocals (of various later styles) obtrusive irritants to 'part of the music' in two respects at the same time: being able to laugh at them and being able to take them seriously.

This Skepticism record... It feels kind of lame to say this, but I didn't really know music like this existed. Definitely unlike anything I've ever heard... But it's great!

They're a great band, also a rare example of how keyboards should be used in metal. May I recommend their Aes EP?

Also you might want to check out Thergothon.

Been meaning to... I stumbled upon an old list that Siegbran made of a bunch of great metal records; what a feast!

siegbran's great metal list

BTW, j., I like your comment about both laughing at extreme vocals and taking them seriously at the same time. Those vocalists seem to run the gamut, too, with regard to balancing those two things. Someone like David Vincent seems to not have a lick of "it's okay to laugh along with me" in his delivery, whereas someone like Lord Worm plunges so far into the realm of the inhuman/ridiculous that I can't see it not having an element of humor underpinning it.

Siegbran's fav Voivod album not in my top five Voivod albums.

immolation - 'majesty and decay'
convulse - 'world without god'
repugnant - 'epitome of darkness'
teitanblood - 'seven chalices'
voivod - 'dimension hatross'

A few recent acquisitions that have me jumping off the walls:

(1) Atheist: Piece of Time -- From what I've read of this band, I suppose I was expecting something a little more "jazz-lite" or somehow not powerful, but happily this is crushingly awesome. The band can turn on a dime, but it never feels too flashy in its technical prowess. The guy's voice is prett great, too.

(2) Unleashed: Where No Life Dwells -- This is just solid, satisfying, meat-and-potatoes death metal. I'm digging in to the Ekeroth book about Swedish death metal so I'm looking forward to discovering a bunch more bands.

(3) D.R.I.: Dealing With It -- I've always read about these guys as a big "crossover" band but somehow never checked them out until just now (I happily found this LP used). This sounds pretty much like straight old-school hardcore to me, but it is nonetheless an insanely addictive listen, just really spilling over with creativity and catchiness. It's hard to say what makes it special, but it really does rule.

(4) Immortal: Sons of Northern Darkness -- One great freaking riff after another. The last song blows me away.

(5) Gorguts: The Erosion of Sanity -- There's a little bass break in "Orphans of Sickness" that is one of my current favorite moments in any metal song.

I also think Mean Man's Dream is one of the most unintentionally hilarious album titles ever for some reason.

First off, Suffocation are insanely good. I really liked that EP I bought, so I picked up Pierced From Within yesterday--totally floored.

ok this is sweet

"orphans of sickness" is alltime

Are there any metal albums that sound significantly influenced by Miles Davis' "metal" stuff (Dark Magus/Agharta/Pangaea)? I think that could be my way in to metal.

FunkyTonk, that's a tough question... I don't know if there's all that much overlap there, to be honest. I'm not all that big on "gateways" in music, though. It's a nice theory, but I think the best way to appreciate a genre is just to jump right in. Forget about how it relates to what you already know and are comfortable with. Try to appreciate it for what it is. Relish the disorientation and lack of comprehension. My favorite, most cherished, "landmark" records have pretty much uniformly been "what the fuck is THIS?!" experiences on first listen.

Thanks. I've been at this for a while and gateways are what works for me.

Btw, I already like some metal (Gojira, Pelican, The Locust, High On Fire, some Gothenburg stuff), just not enough to, you know, ever want to actually LISTEN to it.

Different question though: could some one point me toward some modern instrumental metal that is technically/compositionally complex but that also puts a high premium on emotion/soulfulness?

I should have added rhythmically complex to the above.

I've been hearing great stuff about Gojira--definitely need to check them out. I've still never heard it, but Obscura by Gorguts is supposed to be pretty out-there and harmonically unhinged in a way that I can imagine someone into Miles's deeper, freer '70s stuff might be able to dig...

If you have a really, really loose definition of metal, Ice's first album Under the Skin kind of reminds me of Miles (when it doesn't sound like dubby Godflesh), but more On the Corner than the ones mentioned above.

new Fontanelle rec on Southern Lord is deep Miles tribute from Sunn/Jessamine/Earth/Iceburn dudes

Yeah, that Fontanelle record is fantastic. Not even remotely metal, but awesome.

'modern instrumental metal' - cmon, just get used to the vocals.

One the Kevin Martin/Justin Broadrick/Ice tip, be sure to check out God's "Possession", and the less jazzy "Anatomy of Addiction". I could swear both albums were on Spotify (U.S.) only a week or two ago, but I can't seem to find them anymore.

There are two other God albums - Loco (live) and Consumed - but they're super hard to find these days.

Ulcerate's Destroyers of All - technically, compositionally and rhythmically complex, as well as surprisingly soulful/emotional.

Not instrumental but yes, you should try to get used to the vocals. As with most extreme stuff their vocals are basically a percussive or textural instrument anyway.

I third the Fontanelle, coming more from the prog side, but certainly dips into the Miles fusion era. Diagonal's The Second Mechanism on Rise Above/Metal Blade also has some fusion, but definitely heavy on the prog.

Texas stoner metal band Wo Fat have a post-Bitches Brew element to some of their latest stuff, but even going back to their first album in 2006, they covered "Runnin' The Voodoo Down."

Chopping and blending Miles' voodoo brew even finer among other elements like space-rockin' Hawkind and Pink Floyd are Ufomammut. Their latest double is not to be missed.

Listening to Gojira on this goddamned day though. I picked a good week to get on anti-depressants.

has anyone already said, Scott Walker's 'Bish Bosch'? if not, that's the one for me.

curiously enough, 'Fontanelle' (which get a mention upthread) is a word found in one of the songs' lyrics. : )

candlemass!!!

"There are two other God albums - Loco (live) and Consumed - but they're super hard to find these days."

There is also a remix EP of Anatomy of Addiction called Appeal to Human Greed that's quite good.

Happy new year! Just three for now... Curious to what you guys are digging (and, of course, always hungry for recommendations...)

(1) Enslaved: Vikingligr Veldi -- Holy HELL this is an astonishing record. I love how there are just these long, long stretches without vocals. I love how they go from searching, exploratory (but not wanky) passages straight into full-on blasting. I love that they repeat figures longer than you expect, sometimes a lot longer, creating that really immersive effect (like on "Inn I Slottet Fra Drommen" by Burzum). Ridiculously good. The early 2nd-wave Norwegian BM has just been blowing my mind lately; all these amazing classics which are totally new and fresh to me.

(2) Samael: Blood Ritual -- So glad to have discovered these guys. It's mid-pacedness really appeals to me, and its such a lean, streamlined, just completely effective and ultra-dark sound they've cultivated on this record. The riffing is tremendous, very much in an early Celtic Frost vein. And the vocals are pretty exceptional as well--not ultra-aggressive or theatrical, just perfectly dark/evil. I feel like these guys are underappreciated.

(3) Cryptopsy: None So Vile -- This is just a fun, sick ride, but the thing that's really been standing out to me is the drumming; the fluidity and the nuanced-ness are jaw-dropping, but not so in-your-face technical that the plot gets lost.

Yeah these are all classics. Vikingligr Veldi is another one of my all time favourite BM records. Samael "Ceremony Of Opposites" should be your next stop, it takes all of the good points from Blood Ritual to a new level.

In terms of (slightly) older records, currently revisting these:
Sjenovik - Jouissance (thick dark slow-paced BM)
Strid - End Of Life (slow hypnotic depressive BM from 1993, this is a total classic and everyone should hear it)
Lustre - Welcome Winter (slow hypnotic depressive BM, clearly modelled after ^^^^)
Rottrevore - Iniquitous (crushingly HEAVY old school death metal)
Nightfall - Macabre Sunsets (weird death/doom hybrid, with that typical cavernous 90s Greek sound)

I had an unreasonably good used CD haul today at one of my favorite shops:

Assuck: Anticapital
Blut Aus Nord: Ultima Thulee
Cryptopsy: Blasphemy Made Flesh
Death: Symbolic
Enslaved: Eld
Incantation: Onward to Golgotha
Judas Iscariot: Thy Dying Light
Manilla Road: Invasion
Morbid Angel: Formulas Fatal to the Flesh
Possessed: Seven Churches
Trouble: The Skull
Ulver: Kveldssanger

I don't even know where to start!

Yeah these are all classics. Vikingligr Veldi is another one of my all time favourite BM records. Samael "Ceremony Of Opposites" should be your next stop, it takes all of the good points from Blood Ritual to a new level.

― Siegbran, Thursday, January 17, 2013 4:48 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

And thanks as always, Siegbran; I will pick up Ceremony of Opposites stat.

right now, man its easy to pad this list out with my Pagan Altar obsession:

Pagan Altar - Pagan Altar
Pagan Altar - The Lords of Hypocrisy
Pagan Altar - Mythical & Magical
Wo Fat - The Black Code
Fen - Dustwalker

Wo Fat live almost sells me on Wo Fat in the studio. Not quite though, because live they were otherworldly. Trance inducing, and telepathically tight on changes and extended jams.

Shit, sounds like I need to see them live then, as I've really fallen for their last two albums.

If they head up your way do not miss them. I figure they'll likely hit the road outside of Texas when they return from Europe at the end of April.

I will definitely keep my eyes open, thanks for the tip. Sometimes I give up tracking the tours for these blog hype stoner bands because they always end up so much more popular in Europe and spend their time over there.

It's great to see people discovering pagan altar. I remember people freaking out that they got in the alltime metal poll ahead of pantera and glam metal.

I thought I had replied more fully to the Miles Davis-influenced metal recommendations about 90 posts back. Thanks to all who offered them.

I had heard and liked the Fontanelle previous to this thread. Very Complete On The Corner box. As others said, definitely not metal. And for me, nowhere near as intense as the Miles from which it takes inspiration. But cool.

Really liked some of Wo Fat. Especially "The Spheres Beyond". That's as close as I've come to hearing the heavyish Miles-influenced sound I have in my head.

Going to check out some of the other recommendations as I'm able. I've been thinking for years that based on what I've read about him, I should be able to get into some Justin Broadrick stuff, so I'm looking forward to hearing God.

On a somewhat different note, I just... /discovered/ this Cloudkicker album last night: http://cloudkicker.bandcamp.com/album/the-discovery
It's not Miles-influenced, but it's pretty cool modern instrumental metal.

Also Chimp Spanner, which despite having a terrible name and some overly polished sounds and some rather vacuous passages, is also pretty cool modern instrumental metal. Not deep, but fun.

Oh, and I really liked the instrumental version of Periphery's self-titled. Which caused me to wonder: are there other metal albums that have been released in both vocal and instrumental versions?

The deluxe version of Nightwish's latest album came with a second disc of instrumental versions.

Which, considering the trouble they have holding onto vocalists, could really come in handy for them going forward. "Here are the backing tracks - rehearsal is Monday at 10."

- sacramentum - 'far away from the sun'; finally got a copy! (it's just been reissued on vinyl and cd). it's every bit as good as siegbran said it was. shot through with veins of beautiful icy tremolo melodies. really inventive drumming too.
- disma -'towards the megalith'; this has grown on me a lot. really like the production - actually audible, meaty, bulldozery bass.
- vader -'de profundis'
- spawn of possession - 'incurso'; not often in the mood for stuff this technical, but when i am, it's cracks-me-up amazing.
- judas priest - 'sin after sin'. recent 2nd-hand vinyl acquisition. rules.

(1) Sacramentum -- Far Away From the Sun: Despite the reissue being really LOUD (ugh!), this is just beautiful.
(2) Gorguts -- Obscura: Wow!
(3) Evoken -- Embrace the Emptiness: I can't stop listening to this. I love the moments in which the clean, ringing guitar peeks through.

Just three for now... I'm on the precipice of an enormous funeral doom phase.

ever heard this one, clarke?

http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/The_Gault/Even_as_All_Before_Us/84669

i'm digging the aeternus from this year, after it didn't do much for me at first.

it's got a lot going for it before you even get to less-tangibles. the production is great, modern through and through but not radio-overdriven - the bass is really resonant and as if to make up for the occupied low end, the drum sound is really thick. the drummer seems to be very subtle - surely this is one of those albums where drum hits were engineered as separately as possible in some cases, so that musical differences could register? because he changes it up a lot in small ways. the guitar tone is nice and dirty. the songs have a very human-scale feel to them, pretty loose and riffy in the stretches before they make (frequent) shifts in rhythm/structure/etc. obviously very technical but somehow in a way that they let drive the songs, and be proportioned to the contours of the songs. nice growling.

i even like the spanish guitar interlude, and usually acoustic interludes on metal albums just embarrass me.

i totally concur on the aeternus album. others i've been enjoying in the past year or so:

new(ish)
- progenie terrestre pura - 'u.m.a.'
- summoning - 'old mornings dawn'
- lustre - 'wonder'
- carcass - 'surgical steel'
- autopsy - 'the headless ritual'

old (but new to me) discoveries (revelations!)
- tormentor - 'anno domini'
- dream death - 'journey into mystery'
- master's hammer - 'ritual'
- enslaved - 'frost'
- grave - 'into the grave'

Oh man, I love Dream Death. Check out the demo comp they had a while back, it's great.

cool, i will. really dig the album (was trying to track down a copy for ages....)

weakling

Isengard - Vinterskugge
Darkspace - III
Darkthrone - Sardonic Wrath
Hellhammer - Satanic Rites demo
Belketre - Ambre Zuèrkl Vuordhrevarhtre

*beams with pride* Darkspace got a hold of you then :D

Which of those other records d'ya think I'd most dig?

hmm, maybe the Belketre. None of the others are as extreme as Darkspace, but Belketre is almost uncomfortably dark and lo-fi. Truly "black" metal. (just as good is their split with Vlad Tepes)

I'm enjoying all kinds of death metal lately. Carcass, Suffocation, Incantation, Cruciamentum. I couldn't stand any of this stuff six months ago. My ears must be changing shape.

Also Triptykon, Celtic Frost, Sodom, Exciter, Mercyful Fate.

ooh ty!

intro was truly beautiful. second song is like a BM take on The Fall :D

can see myself really getting on with this

holy shit this is magnificent

it hits the same wonky pleasure-spots that the most haggard, fucked-up Fall does, seriously. feels like a malignant, semi-lucid Other swaggering demonically to bathe me in wrongness

Gigan - Multi-Dimensional Fractal-Sorcery And Super Science
Mithras - Behind the Shadows Lie Madness
Aevangelist - Omen Ex Simulacra
Absu - Tara (as usual)
Megadeth - Rust in Peace (ditto)

Verhzleyavbtreleambreb is not only a fucking incredible song, but possibly the most unfuckwithable songtitle since 'Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos'

incantation - mortal throne of nazarene

I love that record. There's something deep and primeval about Incantation. Maybe because the vocalist sounds like Treebeard.

on a big metal kick.

morbus chron - sleepers in the rift
cosmic church - ylistis
moonblood - blut und krieg
darkthrone - panzerfaust
teitanblood - death

autopsy -'tourniquets, hacksaws and graves'
morbus chron - 'sweven'
annihilator - 'alice in hell'
mayhem - 'deathcrush'
behemoth - 'the satanist'

also,
necrovation - s/t
slaughter - 'strappado'
the obsessed - s/t
paysage d'hiver - 'einsamkeit'
pestilence - 'consuming impulse'

rigor mortis!!!

Teitanblood - Death
Thorns - s/t
Harvest Gulgaltha - Necrosophic
Rotting Christ - Thy Mighty Contract
Dream Death - Somnium Excessum

Brutality - Screams of Anguish

xp I feel like I should note that this is the first Rotting Christ album I've ever owned, having taken some weird disliking to their music back in the day that I'm over. Great stuff!

http://lastrit.es/reviews/7257/spectral-lore-iii

still feeling this so much this year

https://jackholesrealm.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/c0021227-solar-system-and-nicolaus-copernicus-spl.jpg

If I had wishes, I would shout to you and scream
But now I realize, you're like young dying streams
I'm in the real world, with people, crises and scars
Copernicus, I don't care about your stars

Vorum - Poisoned Void/Undergang (new one with Danish title)
Dark Descent death metal. Undergang takes me back to first hearing demos by Entombed, Grave, Funebre, etc, real gutteral grave gnarl. Vorum is just vicious old school death.

Inquisition - Obscure Verses for the Multiverse
A couple of songs on this approach Bolzer's "Entranced by the Wolfshook" for weird melodic ideas that sound new to metal. Also greatly appreciate the weird, warping riffs generally.

Stargazer - A Merging to the Boundless
These guys are so great. I feel like this walks back what I didn't like about "A Work of Great Ages," a more defined production highlighting the contrast between the fluid, proggy bass guitar and mildly discordant, off-kilter riffs.

Root - Hell Symphony
Finally got a copy of this. Czech old school black metal, featuring the weird barks of Jiri "Big Boss" Valter, founder (and no longer member) of the Czech branch of the Church of Satan. I was listening to Triptykon recently and realized some of the bits with clean vocals actually reminded me of later Root.

Necrophobic - Nocturnal Silence
File under bands I somehow never heard until recently. Great black death stuff, first time I listened to it in the car I wound up driving around for ten minutes so I wouldn't have to stop it before the album ended.

Okay I used the word "weird" like fifty times, sorry.

wait so you liked the one before 'work of great ages' better?

Nah, I should've separated that. I didn't like Work of Great Ages as much, kind loses the band in that murky production. New one's great, though.

kind of loses, that is. It's like 85 degrees and 99% humidity here, I think my brain's melting.

At the moment i'm listening to:

Tribulation - Children Of The Night
Taiga - Gaia (over-the-top Siberian depressive black metal)
Obsequiae - Area Of Vernal Tombs
Vile Creature - A Steady Descent Into The Soil
Below The Sun - Envoy (really beautiful cosmic doom, again from Siberia)

*Aria*

I love this Vorum track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaOECtl6Q4A

^^^^ awesome. They've really got a knack for making their stuff sound vicious.

Tribulation - Children Of The Night

I really like this record but it doesn't really stick with me; not necessarily a bad thing if you can kind of rediscover an album repeatedly.

Going to have to check out Below the Sun and Taiga later.

I quite liked last years "Ashen Light" by Taiga so good to see they have a follow-up so quickly.

i don't have five right now but i genuinely can't stop listening to coroner's mental vortex and razor's shotgun justice

Those are great albums, man, easily worth 250% of many other metal albums.

I got the Violent Restitution reissue recently and it's awesome but I keep going back to Malicious Intent too. It's less polished and straight-up thrashy but still vicious.

Well I've been hooked on Razor's Evil Invaders lately, our Canadian thrash stars are not aligning! Metal record I constantly find myself coming back to is Vhol's debut. Happy to hear a new one is coming out this year.

blut aus nord: 777 cosmosophy
morbus chron: sweven
motley crüe: too fast for love
paradise lost: medusa
gorement: the ending quest

I think Cosmosophy is my favorite of the 777 series.

morbus chron: sweven

yeeeeeah

I listen to too much metal but here's five I keep coming back to recently:

Skepticism - Stormcrowfleet
Thergothon - Stream from the Heavens
Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain
Falls of Rauros - Vigilance Perennial
Adramelech - Psychostasia (has a weird style of riffing similar to Nespithe but more listener-friendly)

I'm pretty certain that one day Blut aus Nord will click with me but I find them pretty hard going tbh

I actually had that reaction to BAN for many years - thought it was interesting but it didn't really grab me. The 777 series and Deus Salutis Meae finally did it.

Love that Adramelech album!

I've never understood why Indian aren't huge - because of their un-searchable name?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB9ElBNon-E

SubRosa - More Constant Than the Gods
Slayer - Decade of Aggression
Ashbringer - Yügen
Sárr - Avitun
Sepultura - Arise

xp tbh I never checked out Indian because the (not great) name led me to think they were on some generic stoner business... that's why more ripping than I was expecting.

Anyway this week:

Uncle Acid - Wasteland
Mortuous - Through Wilderness
High On Fire - Electric Messiah (& a lot of Blessed Black Wings too)
Voivod - The Wake
Dog Soldier - Barking of the Dogs of War (strong 80s UK metal punk vibes)

*way not why

Recently started going through my 2018 'to listen' list. So far:

Kroda - Selbstwelt
Dautha - Brethren of the Black Soil
Hamferð - Támsins likam
Argonavis - Passing Through the Igneous Maw
Arkona - Khram

Panopticon - The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness
Portal - ION
YOB - Our Raw Heart
The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can’t Any Longer.
Thou - Magus

Would love to mention Deafheaven and The Armed but a bit too false for this

Gorguts - Colored Sands
KEN Mode - Loved
Helms Alee - Sleepwalking Sailors
Cult of Luna - Mariner
Immolation - Atonement

Ghost- Opus Eponymous (still my favorite of theirs)
Peste Noire - Ballade Cuntre li Anemi Francor (recent discovery)
Tribulation- Down Below (their streak continues)
Khanus- Flammarion (very promising debut)
King Heavy- s/t (haven’t been able to get into the new one but this is still a classic)