rolling 2024 heavy metal and boutique blast beat thread

My big Bandcamp Friday splurge this month is the whole discography of Lady Beast, a Pittsburgh, PA trad/power metal band who've been around for like 15 years but I just discovered them tonight. I bought a compilation of their first two albums and an EP, their third and fourth albums, and another EP, all for about $20. If you're a fan of Crystal Viper, Christian Mistress, Huntress, and other trad/power metal bands with female singers, this will be your kind of thing.

https://ladybeast.bandcamp.com/

oooh a rainbow cover!

Best album credits of 2024 so far:

L.B. - Six Strings of Doomed Dementia
B.P. - Six More Strings of Delirium, Choir of Madness
L.V.L. - 4 Chthonic Vibrations of the Earth, Blower of the Blossoming Horn, Choir of Blasphemy
T.H. - Beater of Skins from the Depths of Hades to the Heights of Olympus
N.C. - Invocator of the Primordial Fire and Spells of Enchantment

From Dionysiaque's Diogonos, out next month on I, Voidhanger (of course).

I'd been off and on trying to fill a countries-of-the-world bingo card with music and movies to listen/watch, and this thread has been pretty great -- what's the most obscure country or region where you've found metal gems?

sorry this is not exactly within the focus of this thread, but i'm not sure where else to post it. i've been really into that vitriol album, and wanting to know what else sounds like it, i asked my partner's metalhead nephew what else i should check out. i had never heard and now really like hate eternal. i'd never heard gorguts. i like it ("colored sands") but i think i should probably try an earlier record.

he told me he hadn't really listened to them but that he keeps hearing about deathspell omega. so i copped "the last defeat" and oh my fucking GOD it's completely blowing me away. it's just the best thing ever.

I liked some of Deathspell Omega's earlier stuff - Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice and Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum - but vocalist Mikko Aspa is both a Nazi and a pedophile, so...

ah shit

xpost - unperson, have you heard that Dionusiaque album yet? was considering ordering it with some other stuff from I, Voidhanger but was wondering if it was worth it.

I haven't listened to the whole thing, but the two tracks streaming on Bandcamp are pretty good — I like the prominence of the bass.

Cool, thanks. I liked those two, was just curious if the whole thing held up like that. Usually try to bundle a few things when I order from them since shipping is pretty high.

If there's one thing everyone in the music industry knows, it's Do Not Tempt The Wrath Of Sharon Fucking Osbourne. I almost feel sorry for Kanye West.

. @kanyewest ASKED PERMISSION TO SAMPLE A SECTION OF A 1983 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF “WAR PIG” FROM THE US FESTIVAL WITHOUT VOCALS & WAS REFUSED PERMISSION BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY. HE WENT AHEAD AND USED THE SAMPLE ANYWAY AT HIS ALBUM…

— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) February 9, 2024

In case the tweet doesn't populate:

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:izxpomdyri45gzhppiiyattq/bafkreigvbgkxbklnjpotts5phxt3zrklo43fgowdsscyi2etulmqmpvgwy@jpeg

Was it Iron Maiden that she had people throw eggs at because they outplayed Ozzy at one of his festivals? She should start that up again.

There's a new Chapel of Disease album out today:

https://chapelofdisease.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-of-light

I liked their last one (...And As We Have Seen The Storm, We Have Embraced The Eye, released in 2018) a lot, so this was an instant purchase for me.

got the apartment to myself (well, myself and some sleepy cats), so taking the opportunity to loudly try out the new spectral voice (along with the new kali malone, which is metal adjacent and quite good). i love their demos comp and some of their splits, liked the first full-length tho thought it dragged a bit, and am pretty on board with the new one midway thru. currently at the big payoff moment in “sinew censer” 😈

they def lean more into the disembowelment sound than most of their contemporaries in the very crowded death doom field, which i enjoy

is this band really hyped or something? blood incantation connection? a quick glance at the bandcamp and rym comments is showing more negativity than expected from - i’m guessing - young skeptic types

I need to hear the new Kali Malone before I buy it. I like her organ stuff but this one seems like it might be a little too...active?

i had the same concern looking at the (long-ish) tracklist but the shorter choir pieces work as interludes for me and compliment the longer, slower organ drone tracks well imo

New Coffins album March 29! The first song is so gross (in the best way). I swear their guitar tone gives me literal chills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6FS5br7MYY

new Necrowretch is really solid blackened death, though it really does lean more on the blackened side

Always happy for more Coffins!

me too. i think Joan Chachi got me into them in one of these rolling metal threads back in the day

Yeah, they're one of those bands I never think about, but whenever I listen to them — especially Buried Death, the first record I heard by them — they give me such pure, simple pleasure. They've really achieved perfection in their sound.

Yeah I wish Buried Death was still in print, I missed that one but have followed them since.

other side of blasphemy -> buried death is my personal coffins sweet spot, but yeah, its all very enjoyable. there isn't a lot that you can count on in this world anymore but you can count on coffins, thats for sure.

This Rolling Stone interview with Kerry King surprised me. I've never read any interviews with him, because he's always given the impression of being kind of a steakhead, and I've never interviewed him myself (though I've talked to Tom Araya and Dave Lombardo). Anyway, Kerry King is not who I thought he was.

And the first single from his solo album (which has Mark Osugueda of Death Angel on vocals, Phil Demmel of Machine Head on guitar, Kyle Sanders on bass, and Paul Bostaph on drums) is surprisingly good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOwFC56MQgA

That's a really great piece on King, and the new track is really good. Mark from Death Angel really steps up on vocals, wow.

And meanwhile, new High on Fire, at long last!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHOj0O-qkC8

New single from Unleash the Archers! New album in May!

https://open.spotify.com/track/3PFhTnE0mWxkDOOhHDw3ua?si=e4d3f78f534a4021

Given some teases the other day, sounds like a new Witch Vomit might be announced today as well.

Definitely ready for HoF!

yup re: witch vomit

https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-sanctum

i'm taking one of my spawn to see xentrix tonight. i know nothing about xentrix. excited though!

Oh man. I saw Xentrix at the Marquee sometime in the 90s. I remember two things: 1) Dennis Gasser's hair 2) diving off a bass bin *over* the pit and landing square on my bollocks on the sweaty cement floor. I somehow escaped serious injury.

haha ouch! 'doing a chinaski' definitely not in my plans, but it looks like dennis gasser is still in the band though i think his hair retired some time ago

No word on when it will be released, but apparently Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull is a guest on "three or four tracks" from the upcoming Opeth album.

Well this has gotten ugly

https://lambgoat.com/news/41773/escuela-grinds-guitarist-denies-tour-driver-allegations-while-it-surfaces-drummer-is-a-free-mason/comments/#0

I do not recommend reading the comments under that story; what a cesspit.

i only saw one but really the shitheads acting like this is some minor band that metal media is only focusing on because they're 'woke' is complete horseshit. they're a solid band and went on a headlining tour last year and also played Hell in the Harbor and other festivals.

I can't say I know enough about the ins and outs of NYC venue permits and the like, but it certainly seems like someone has it out to get Saint Vitus shut down:

https://gothamist.com/news/beloved-brooklyn-bars-abrupt-shutdown-sends-bands-scrambling-to-book-new-venues

oh fuck no!

Yeah, the way the actual complaint is phrased reeks of pissed-off neighbor — and this being Brooklyn, it's probably someone new to the neighborhood. Real loser shit that's gonna have major consequences for that business and possibly others, if it inspires a broader Department of Buildings crackdown. 'Cause hey, maybe closing some Brooklyn nightclubs will distract the local media from how badly DOB has been fucking up when it comes to NYCHA (low-income housing, where landlords give low-bid contracts to their cronies who don't even do the work most of the time — there was a huge wave of arrests not long ago).

totally sucks about Saint Vitus. Figured something was up since the last couple of shows I went to there ended around 10PM on Friday/Saturday nights, even with stacked bills, so it certainly seemed like someone was hounding them with noise complaints. But as I am now in my 40s, I really liked being able to go see a metal show and not have to stay out until 1AM to see the headliner.

As a fellow member of the show going 40 year olds club, I too am happy to be done earlier, but this one sucks. I hate when new people come into a neighborhood and decide only they know what should be happening within it.

This reminds me of the new neighbors that tried to get Empty Bottle in Chicago shut down some years ago. Fortunately the venue won that one and it still around, hoping for the same for Saint Vitus.

totally. a mid show shut down on a Friday night is such an unnecessarily dick-ish move, too, especially if this whole thing is just over paperwork.

Fortunately, they've been booking more "Saint Vitus presents" shows at other venues in the greater NYC area so hopefully they can shift some of their shows over without too too much trouble for the time being. My wife and I are actually planning on going to see Vomit Forth and Jarhead Fertilizer at one of em on the Jersey Shore this weekend.

Apparently this is the dude responsible:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GGqwj1kWgAAoy9E.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GGqwj1kXMAE_iBb.jpg

And yes, this has exactly the backstory you'd expect.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GGqwj1iW0AAoa1X.jpg

If this is to be believed, maybe not a neighbor but a chud who's mad that Saint Vitus is "woke":

Funny how you can randomly stumble upon the guy who got Saint Vitus Bar shut down on Twitter.

You can look up this account’s replies and see he’s done nothing but bother the DOB and others about “exposing” Vitus. pic.twitter.com/ScpZnr6NkW

— a___ b____ (@blckbltnhlst) February 19, 2024

(ha xpost!)

ugh, somehow even worse than a NIMBY noise complainer.

also I see that this coward has already deleted their account.

would support harassing this guy daily

@jgrindstone666 you are a real awesome person and we would love to meet you.

— 𝐕𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐇 (@VomitForth) February 19, 2024

I do not recommend reading the comments under that story; what a cesspit.

you're generally right but the guy claiming to be Mortiis is worth a laff.

Figured something was up since the last couple of shows I went to there ended around 10PM on Friday/Saturday nights, even with stacked bills, so it certainly seemed like someone was hounding them with noise complaints.

i’ve noticed the same but thought it was just part of the general post-covid “we’re the city that does sleep now, and pretty early too” transformation

ugh this really sucks btw

I have just realized that Hoplites is a Chinese one-man band. Also that two millenia ago there was a conflict between the Han dynasty and a Greek kingdom called the War of the Heavenly Horses.

that lasted long

https://www.revolvermag.com/music/slayer-reuniting-2024-louder-life-and-riot-fest

It's been a long time since I've heard the debut tbh, I'd need to go back and give that a listen to fairly answer that. The new one is a lot like the second, imo, but more streamlined (about 10 minutes shorter overall) but also "bigger" (since there is only 6 tracks instead of 10). I don't know, to me it just sounds like another leap forward.

There's gonna be a new Black Dahlia Murder album in September; rather than recruit a new singer, former guitarist Brian Eschbach has moved to vocals. Here's the first song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCFivg0a_co

The new Body Count song is a pretty good Slayer song. Seriously, I'm surprised every time Body Count puts out a record just how good they are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kzTeaw0bbQ

also into this new (and imo superior!) era of body count. the last few records have all been so much fun.

Decibel gives the new Crypt Sermon a perfect 10. Can't say I disagree.

Body Count indeed have no right to be as good as they are, on paper they should be terrible 90s has-beens like Biohazard or Sick Of It All.

new Malignancy!!

\m/

i wish more of today's tech death sounded like this....90's-2000's style where the riffs still pack a punch and aren't just fretboard olympics over what Algerian Goalkeeper liked to call 'typewriter drums'.

I like stuff like Archspire and Desecravity but miss stuff that was more like mid-period Deeds of Flesh

You listen to Afterbirth, right? Because Afterbirth do this same kind of thing, arguably even weirder, and they rule.

https://afterbirthnydeathmetal.bandcamp.com/music

Ulcerate and Crypt Sermon dropping on the same day is pretty cool. Both probably top 5 EOY albums for me.

I love Afterbirth

really liking the Ulcerate

yeah it's really amazing that they still have that much to bring, they have been good for a minute and this is just MORE. crypt sermon also, have loved them since ruins of fading light, new one deserves the hype.

Crypt Sermon indeed is a winner. so fucking glad for them.

I love Afterbirth

― Iacocca Cola (Neanderthal), Friday, 14 June 2024 18:22

Underrated secret board.

i teed that up, was hoping someone would run w/ it ;)

I think what I like most about the Crypt Sermon is it kind of illustrates how distinct each album is. first album had hints of the epic stuff that would come later, and traditional heavy metal riffs, but there was a bit of Pentagram-y type doom embedded in there was well, and Brooks Wilson was almost kind of relegated to a background instrument on vocals, whereas Ruin of Fading Light, he was the focal point, riffs heavier and more abrasive underneath what he was doing.

this one's just so much moodier, like the last two songs are a perfect fucking closer. songs breathe a bit more, visit more places. Brooks is perfect, dialed back a bit for anybody who thought he was extra on the second album (note: NOT me), but very present and good use of harmonies throughout.

but all three albums are kind of their own thing, it's not like some of my fav bands where it's like the quality of the album is how well they do the new variation on the formula (i.e. Necrot, who prior to this looked like they might be unchallenged for my fav album of the year)