The Official Metal Topic

[Queen of Liars]

For me it's:

Crack The Skye > Leviathan > Blood Mountain > Once More 'Round The Sun > Remission > The Hunter

 

Once More... might overtake Blood Mountain the more I listen to it though.

 

I've spent since Monday trying to figure out what the opening to The Motherload reminded me of and I finally got it: March of the Yeti by earthtone9, which was the opener to their last album. It's got that same drum fill into an awesome rocking riff thing going on. Completely unrelated, but it really reminded me of it and it was bugging me not being able to figure it out.

[Laughing Man]

maybe blasphemy but it's Leviathan > Remission > Blood Mountain > Once More 'Round the Sun > Crack the Skye = The Hunter for me

 

I've really never been able to get into CtS, not so much because of its progginess, but just because it lacks nearly everything I like about Mastodon

 

it riffs but the riffs lack power

 

plus the production/mix really bothers me, everything sounds so.. rubbery if that makes any sense at all

 

 

 

speaking of Mastodon, Remission deluxe reissue announced, going to be fully remixed and remastered by the original producer

 

timing is kinda disappointing because I just bought the album a couple months ago, but at the same time I honestly don't think it needs remixing/remastering so I have no reason to pick the reissue up anyway

 

 

 

also speaking of Mastodon: new song ft. Gibby Haynes will be available to download for free on September 8 as part of the Adult Swim Singles Program, and although it hasn't been announced yet I expect they'll follow through on their plan to release an EP of songs that didn't make Once More 'Round the Sun sometime this winter (whatever happened to all those song titles they announced? "Scent of Bitter Almonds"? "Buzzard's Guts"? "Northside Star"? "The Weight"? were they just changed or are they outtakes?)

 

it truly is the Year of the Mastodon

Edited June 28, 2014 by Ryuujin

[Queen of Liars]

Well, I just have to completely disagree there =P I'm far more into what they were doing with Crack the Skye. The step up in progginess really sealed the deal for me.

 

The reissue sounds like a good opportunity for me to finally get Remission. It's the only one I'm missing and it's been a real pain finding a reasonably priced copy. For some reason their first three albums are hard to find here, even used copies online.

But then I also tend to try and avoid remasters unless they're definitely needed, so we'll see.

[Johnny Truant]

The Weight has to be a Motherload demo, idk about the other ones

 

and id like a physical copy of remission but if they ruin the mix I'll be upset because remission's sound is quintessential sludge sound imo

[~Takava Nirhii~]

The Weight has to be a Motherload demo, idk about the other ones

 

and id like a physical copy of remission but if they ruin the mix I'll be upset because remission's sound is quintessential sludge sound imo

"Quintessential sludge"

 

I see what you did there.

Edited July 1, 2014 by ~Takava Nirhii~

[Johnny Truant]

haha yes

 

 

 

so From Parts Unknown is melting my face off

[Laughing Man]

goin to pick up a copy of that myself in just a half hour or so

 

super super stoked, how would you rank it amongst their discog from what you've heard so far?

[Johnny Truant]

I think its my favorite out of all of their stuff

 

the production is so much better than I could have imagined, every single song just crushes. Kurt Ballou is a master of his craft

 

and they experimented a little, like on the first half of Moor with that odd, creepily whimsical piano, and the poppy chorus of Old Light (ft. my dude, the B-Fals aka Brian Fallon)

 

and the last lines of the album (not the last lines if you're a cool kid who got the deluxe edition) deserve special mention

 

"All I want is for everyone to go to heck

It's the last place I was seen before I lost myself

All I want is for everyone to come to heck

There we can be free and learn to love ourselves"

 

what a closer, man...

 

 

TL;DR 11/10 they delivered everything I expected from them and much more

Edited July 2, 2014 by Johnny Truant

[Angel Beat]

Saw Metallica live last night. They were bloody fantastic.

[Laughing Man]

just randomly stumbled across this absolute gem of an album, Ultra Silvam by a Swedish band called Ştiu Nu Ştiu. it was mixed by Kurt Ballou of Converge and mastered by Magnus Lindberg of Cult of Luna, and the best way I can describe it is a mixture of gothic rock and post-metal with a singer who reminds me a lot of Chelsea Wolfe on some tracks.

 

like this is seriously good. I was completely enamored with it from the first track. might even be album of the year material.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Ryuujin

[shadow pridak money gang]

"No, You Are Not Special" is such a jam. Wow.

 

I can definitely see what you mean from the Chelsea Wolfe comparison too. This is really good.

 

-Tyler

[Laughing Man]

so At the Gates have finished recording their new album At War with Reality and currently it's being mixed by Jens Bogren, who has produced and mixed in the past for artists like Opeth, Katatonia, Dark Tranquillity, and Paradise Lost among others.

 

also I guess this has been known for a while, but I only just found out that the album is produced by Slaughter of the Soul producer Fredrik Nordström. that gives me even more hope.

[Obsolescence]

The new Kobra and the Lotus somehow dropped back in June without me noticing. Haven't listened to it enough to form a full opinion yet, but thus far, I'd say it is a good album, if inferior to their fantastic prior effort.

[Laughing Man]

At the Gates' At War with Reality confirmed for an October release (exact date TBA), which is a lot sooner than I expected. I imagine we'll be getting a formal announcement with artwork, tracklist, etc. sometime this month.

 

 

and on that note, what has everyone been listening to in the way of metal recently?

 

I've been getting back into metal pretty hard lately after mostly listening to other genres for a while. been diggin bands like Katatonia, Hypocrisy, Swallow the Sun, Carcass, Septicflesh, Napalm Death, Celtic Frost, and so on. a lot of doom metal, death metal, and melodeath in particular.

[Obsolescence]

Can't go wrong with Swallow the Sun or Septicflesh. Personally, I've been on a Sabaton binge recently. So refreshing to hear power metal without high-pitch vocals.

[Laughing Man]

here guys, have some name-your-price (with no minimum) melodic death/doom metal from Russia. sounds a lot like Heartwork-era Carcass mixed with early Swallow the Sun. good stuff.

[Angel Beat]

So here I am, wanting to go to Wacken Open Air next year.

 

Turns out, the tickets were sold out in 12 hours, a new Wacken record.

 

So no Wacken for me. ;.;

[Laughing Man]

release date for At the Gates' new album At War with Reality, which recently completed the mixing and mastering process, has been set as October 28. additional details should be expected within the coming weeks.

 

 

additionally, Katatonia have announced that the Last Fair Day Gone Night live album recorded in 2011 - which has been available only on vinyl since last year - is finally seeing the light of day as a 4-disc set, to be released September 15 (though Amazon currently lists the release date in the US as September 30). on top of 2 CDs and a DVD of the performance, the second DVD will be a full-length documentary about the history of the band from their inception to the present day.

 

normally I don't buy live stuff, but I'm actually kind of interested in this.

[Queen of Liars]

Been listening to Cult of Luna's Vertikal a lot lately and I'm gaining new found appreciation for it. I mean, it was my second favourite album last year, and it's still in no danger of overtaking Ihsahn's Das Seelenbrechen so maybe it's not much of a change, but I am definitely digging it even more than I was back then for whatever reason. It's pretty sweet to come back to an album a year later and be even more musically and thematically captivated by it than the first time.

Anyone got any recommendations for something similar? Not even necessarily in genre or musical terms, but more in terms of the really bleak mood and atmosphere.

 

 

Haven't listened to much new stuff recently, but I can say that although disappointing, the new Judas Priest album is not nearly as awful as the two singles would have suggested. Mind you, it's still not very good at all, but it's somewhat decent at least.

Edited September 1, 2014 by Cheshire Cat

[Laughing Man]

Been listening to Cult of Luna's Vertikal a lot lately and I'm gaining new found appreciation for it. I mean, it was my second favourite album last year, and it's still in no danger of overtaking Ihsahn's Das Seelenbrechen so maybe it's not much of a change, but I am definitely digging it even more than I was back then for whatever reason. It's pretty sweet to come back to an album a year later and be even more musically and thematically captivated by it than the first time.

Anyone got any recommendations for something similar? Not even necessarily in genre or musical terms, but more in terms of the really bleak mood and atmosphere.

 

haven't actually heard Vertikal in a long time so I can't remember exactly how it sounds in terms of atmosphere, but the album Ultra Silvam by Ştiu Nu Ştiu that I mentioned a few posts back is a very diverse album with a bleak atmosphere and some stylistic similarities to Cult of Luna. it was mastered by Magnus Lindberg from that band as well.

 

 

 

also RIP Chimaira. they've been on the decline for a while now, but it sounds like they've finally imploded altogether. for the second time in the band's history, the entire lineup sans frontman Mark Hunter has collectively jumped ship. this linup isn't even the same one as before, 100% different, and it only lasted two years and one album. Mark is turning into the Billy Corgan of metal, it sounds like he must be impossible to work with.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Ryuujin

[Queen of Liars]

Gave Ultra Silvam a listen. Definitely not very similar to Vertikal (maybe with the exception of Loose/Loop), but also definitely a really good album.

Thanks a lot for the recommendation, really digging it. You know, I should probably check out the bandcamp stuff you post more often.

[Laughing Man]

yes. yes you should.

 

glad you like it!

 

 

 

edit: as expected, Chimaira have officially called it quits.

 

 

 

edit: in brighter news, SikTh are going to be reissuing The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild on October 27 and Soilwork are apparently releasing an EP of B-sides from their latest album entitled Beyond the Infinite on September 24. so far the only known release of this is on CD in Japan, but I imagine it'll get a digital release everywhere else as well.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Ryuujin

[Bambi]

Might as well start posting here or something.

First off, I'm pretty upset about Chimaira breaking up.

Next, I guess I might as well tell you all my favorite metal bands. Number one is Fear Factory, and then in no particular order, The Agony Scene, In Flames (up to Clayman), Dark Tranquillity, and Lamb of God. I wouldn't say the rest are favorites because I haven't heard a lot of their stuff, but I also like Death, Living Sacrifice, Septic Flesh, Mastodon, Chimaira, Meshuggah, Katatonia, and Machinae Supremacy.

Aaaaand speaking of Machinae Supremacy, I'm in an ongoing argument about whether they're actually metal or not. The guy I'm arguing with said "if it's not heavy metal, it ain't metal". I'm still newish to metal (only been listening for about two and a half years) so I pointed him to their Wiki page and their Metal Archives page, which has them classified as "Power Metal with various influences".

His response:

"No... Metal has been slashed down to so many genres which include styles that really are not metal in the first place. death "metal", black "metal", industrial "metal", and mess of other false metal genres are not metal. the so-called Heavy Metal Archives are wrong. And "power" metal is simply heavy metal. Kids today wouldn't know real metal if it bludgeoned them.  

 

This is metal:

(links to Judas Priest)

this is not metal:

(links to Suicide Silence, Black Veil Brides, and Cannibal Corpse)

 

And calling THAT post metal is like saying Motionless in White is metal"

 

So yeah. Anywho... I was expecting to get a Dark Tranquillity CD in the mail today, but unfortunately it didn't show up. I'm also debating whether I'll get one of these two In Flames CDs, and if so which one: Colony or The Jester Race.

Edited September 5, 2014 by Bambi

[Laughing Man]

Next, I guess I might as well tell you all my favorite metal bands. Number one is Fear Factory, and then in no particular order, The Agony Scene, In Flames (up to Clayman), Dark Tranquillity, and Lamb of God. I wouldn't say the rest are favorites because I haven't heard a lot of their stuff, but I also like Death, Living Sacrifice, Septic Flesh, Mastodon, Chimaira, Meshuggah, Katatonia, and Machinae Supremacy.

 

only up to Clayman? Reroute to Remain and Come Clarity are both good albums and I'll always defend Soundtrack to Your Escape as being way better than people make it out to be. then again, it was my first exposure to In Flames so I may be a little bit biased.

 

Aaaaand speaking of Machinae Supremacy, I'm in an ongoing argument about whether they're actually metal or not. The guy I'm arguing with said "if it's not heavy metal, it ain't metal". I'm still newish to metal (only been listening for about two and a half years) so I pointed him to their Wiki page and their Metal Archives page, which has them classified as "Power Metal with various influences".

His response:

"No... Metal has been slashed down to so many genres which include styles that really are not metal in the first place. death "metal", black "metal", industrial "metal", and mess of other false metal genres are not metal. the so-called Heavy Metal Archives are wrong. And "power" metal is simply heavy metal. Kids today wouldn't know real metal if it bludgeoned them.  

 

This is metal:

(links to Judas Priest)

this is not metal:

(links to Suicide Silence, Black Veil Brides, and Cannibal Corpse)

 

And calling THAT post metal is like saying Motionless in White is metal"

 

dude's an idiot. his definition of metal is ignorant, skewed, and just flat-out wrong. not even worth arguing with.

 

So yeah. Anywho... I was expecting to get a Dark Tranquillity CD in the mail today, but unfortunately it didn't show up. I'm also debating whether I'll get one of these two In Flames CDs, and if so which one: Colony or The Jester Race.

 

go for The Jester Race. those are their two best albums imo, but The Jester Race is classic Gothenburg melodeath. their masterpiece.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Ryuujin

[Bambi]

 

Next, I guess I might as well tell you all my favorite metal bands. Number one is Fear Factory, and then in no particular order, The Agony Scene, In Flames (up to Clayman), Dark Tranquillity, and Lamb of God. I wouldn't say the rest are favorites because I haven't heard a lot of their stuff, but I also like Death, Living Sacrifice, Septic Flesh, Mastodon, Chimaira, Meshuggah, Katatonia, and Machinae Supremacy.

 

only up to Clayman? Reroute to Remain and Come Clarity are both good albums and I'll always defend Soundtrack to Your Escape as being way better than people make it out to be. then again, it was my first exposure to In Flames so I may be a little bit biased.

 

I've heard their newer stuff and the Siren Charms singles, didn't really dig it. But if those album are good I'll definitely check them out.

 

 

Aaaaand speaking of Machinae Supremacy, I'm in an ongoing argument about whether they're actually metal or not. The guy I'm arguing with said "if it's not heavy metal, it ain't metal". I'm still newish to metal (only been listening for about two and a half years) so I pointed him to their Wiki page and their Metal Archives page, which has them classified as "Power Metal with various influences".

His response:

"No... Metal has been slashed down to so many genres which include styles that really are not metal in the first place. death "metal", black "metal", industrial "metal", and mess of other false metal genres are not metal. the so-called Heavy Metal Archives are wrong. And "power" metal is simply heavy metal. Kids today wouldn't know real metal if it bludgeoned them.  

 

This is metal:

(links to Judas Priest)

this is not metal:

(links to Suicide Silence, Black Veil Brides, and Cannibal Corpse)

 

And calling THAT post metal is like saying Motionless in White is metal"

 

dude's an idiot. his definition of metal is ignorant, skewed, and just flat-out wrong. not even worth arguing with.

 

That argument basically ended with "You might have been into metal longer than me but you're still wrong."

[Laughing Man]

 

Next, I guess I might as well tell you all my favorite metal bands. Number one is Fear Factory, and then in no particular order, The Agony Scene, In Flames (up to Clayman), Dark Tranquillity, and Lamb of God. I wouldn't say the rest are favorites because I haven't heard a lot of their stuff, but I also like Death, Living Sacrifice, Septic Flesh, Mastodon, Chimaira, Meshuggah, Katatonia, and Machinae Supremacy.

 

only up to Clayman? Reroute to Remain and Come Clarity are both good albums and I'll always defend Soundtrack to Your Escape as being way better than people make it out to be. then again, it was my first exposure to In Flames so I may be a little bit biased.

 

I've heard their newer stuff and the Siren Charms singles, didn't really dig it. But if those album are good I'll definitely check them out.

 

Siren Charms is shaping up to be awful and the last two albums before it ranged from bad to mediocre. I know a lot of people disagree with me, but I personally think Reroute to Remain, Soundtrack to Your Escape, and Come Clarity are good-to-excellent albums. Come Clarity in particular I think strikes a really nice balance between their older style and their newer style and ends up being their best since Clayman.

 

they're nowhere near the songwriting and creativity level of their first four albums (five if you count the magnificent Subterranean EP/mini-album) but they're still enjoyable albums in their own right.

[Bambi]

Siren Charms is shaping up to be awful and the last two albums before it ranged from bad to mediocre. I know a lot of people disagree with me, but I personally think Reroute to Remain, Soundtrack to Your Escape, and Come Clarity are good-to-excellent albums. Come Clarity in particular I think strikes a really nice balance between their older style and their newer style and ends up being their best since Clayman.

 

they're nowhere near the songwriting and creativity level of their first four albums (five if you count the magnificent Subterranean EP/mini-album) but they're still enjoyable albums in their own right.

Alright, I'll give them a shot sometime. Right now I want to listen to a little more from The Jester Race before deciding if I'll get it (strangely enough it'll be cheaper to buy it bundled with the Black-Ash Inheritance MCD).

Edited September 6, 2014 by Bambi

[Laughing Man]

 

Siren Charms is shaping up to be awful and the last two albums before it ranged from bad to mediocre. I know a lot of people disagree with me, but I personally think Reroute to Remain, Soundtrack to Your Escape, and Come Clarity are good-to-excellent albums. Come Clarity in particular I think strikes a really nice balance between their older style and their newer style and ends up being their best since Clayman.

 

they're nowhere near the songwriting and creativity level of their first four albums (five if you count the magnificent Subterranean EP/mini-album) but they're still enjoyable albums in their own right.

Alright, I'll give them a shot sometime. Right now I want to listen to a little more from The Jester Race before deciding if I'll buy it. (strangely enough it'll be cheaper to get it bundled with the Black-Ash Inheritance MCD)

 

 

probably because that's the current in-print version of the album and thus it's easier to find. worth getting though, Black-Ash Inheritance has some sweet tracks.

[Bambi]

Alright, so I didn't get that In Flames album, but I did order Conceived in Fire by Living Sacrifice and also bought their digital-only Death Machine EP.

My Dark Tranquillity CD also arrived today. ^^

[Laughing Man]

so against my better judgment, I went out and picked up the deluxe edition of In Flames' new album Siren Charms because I'm a shameless completionist and In Flames used to be my favorite band. turns out, though, that all current copies of the deluxe edition have a defect where the audio levels are insanely low and quiet on all but one track. I've got 30 days to return it, so I guess I'll just wait a while and see if the band or Sony Music acknowledge the issue and offer a corrected replacement disc or something, but I guess this is what I get for giving a band on a downslide the benefit of the doubt.

 

all that said, though, the album's not quite as bad as I expected. it's definitely more of an album of good moments than good songs. I can think of specific parts of songs that I enjoyed but none of the tracks on the whole really impressed me completely. that might not sound like much, but hey, it's more than I could say about A Sense of Purpose.

[Queen of Liars]

So, what albums are people looking forward to that will be coming out in the remainder of this year?

 

I'm mainly excited for Devin Townsend's Z2 double album, which will be released in October. He already did the Casualties of Cool album earlier this year which was fantastic, but I'm even more psyched for this one. It's a pretty ambitious project, even by Devin's standards, which he's been working on for a few years now, so it's really exciting that it's finished now. The project will end with a huge live performance of the whole album next April in London, which I'll do my best to attend.

 

Other than that, I'm looking forward to the new Machine Head, At the Gates, Dir en Grey and Bloodbath.

Will also probably end up checking out the new KMFDM album once it's out, even though their last few have been pretty average at best.

[Laughing Man]

lookin forward to the new At the Gates, Disarmonia Mundi, Dir en Grey, Bloodbath, and Machine Head the most. also the new Amaranthe, because they're always fun.

 

Gojira were supposed to be releasing a new album this year but that's looking unlikely now, and Blood Stain Child are currently working on new material but that probably won't be out by the end of the year.

 

edit: confirmed, Gojira are planning on recording their new album late this year and releasing it sometime in 2015.

Edited September 14, 2014 by Scythey

[Bambi]

I think everything I've been looking forward to has already come out. Maybe the new Job for a Cowboy album that might come out later this year?

Edited September 14, 2014 by Bambi

[Laughing Man]

called it. Nick Holmes has been officially announced as the new vocalist of Bloodbath.

[Bambi]

Alright, for any The Agony Scene fans, have you seen the new logo??

 

Edited September 20, 2014 by Bambi

[Laughing Man]

looks like a stereotypical unreadable extreme metal logo. not sure it fits them, but it's not horrible.

 

 

 

edit: new At the Gates song is streaming and it's every bit as good as I had hoped it would be.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Scythey

[Bambi]

In today's tech death news, Rings of Saturn (if they count) are streaming another track from their new album. Not too sure what I think of it... I used to be into them, not so much anymore. Still looking forward to hearing the rest of the new album.

And Job for a Cowboy announced their new album and are streaming a new track. Definitely looking forward to their album more than the RoS one.

However I highly doubt either of these new tracks are better than the At the Gates one, which I have yet to hear.

I also checked out Reroute to Remain and Come Clarity, didn't really feel it. It was just too different than the In Flames I'm used to. I didn't check out a lot of tracks though, so maybe I just happened to hear the not-so-good-ones?

[Laughing Man]

However I highly doubt either of these new tracks are better than the At the Gates one, which I have yet to hear.

 

I'm fully expecting the new At the Gates to be my album of the year so yeah, I'd personally have to agree.

 

 

 

I also checked out Reroute to Remain and Come Clarity, didn't really feel it. It was just too different than the In Flames I'm used to. I didn't check out a lot of tracks though, so maybe I just happened to hear the not-so-good-ones?

 

eh, completely understandable. those albums were polarizing for a reason. I guess I just have a soft spot for them because they helped get me into In Flames and, by extension, melodeath.

[Bambi]

here's the new song if you want to give it a listen, by the way.

 

That was pretty sweet! I'll make sure to keep my eyes peeled for when it comes out.

While we're on the subject of In Flames, this guy has a bunch of their songs in 8-Bit. It's pretty entertaining.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Bambi

[Laughing Man]

new Bloodbath song has been released. I'm a bit disappointed. instrumentally it's fine, but Nick's vocals during the verses just aren't doing it for me. he sounds good during the chorus for the most part, though.