Staff picks
You know what? This was a hard album to grow attached to. While it may not contain instantaneously infectious 3 Inches' anthem classics like "Deadly Sinners", "Trial Of Champions" or "Battles And Brotherhood", you'll find tracks like "Dark Messenger", "4000 Torches", "Leave It On The Ice" and "Men Of Fortune" still cram-packed with great riffs, which is, at their core, what this band is all about.
Excuse the fanboy moment.
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Doc Godin Troy Killjoy, Promonex, Mr. Doctor, psykometal |
Epic, enchanting, melodic, folk-infused atmo-black metal with uplifting melodies that benefit from the use of violins and acoustic work. Gives Loss a run for its money...
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Troy Killjoy !J.O.O.E.!, wormdrink414, Ag Fox, Mr. Doctor |
What do you get when you combine a Spanish death doom outfit's long awaited sophomore release with Dan Swano? Some really good and crushing doom, that's what. Not groundbreaking, but well done and mighty enjoyable.
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BitterCOld Marcel Hubregtse, Ag Fox, Nefarious, Mr. Doctor, Starvynth |
Take Blut Aus Nord's Procession of the Dead Clowns, slow it down to glacial pace, completely dehumanize guitars, subdue the vocals to the point of non-existence, and add tons of sick reverb. Spice up with dementia and insanity. That's Atonal Hypermnesia for you.
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Daniell Mr. Doctor, !J.O.O.E.!, Ag Fox, Introspekrieg, DerRozzengarten |
Catchy Euro Power metal meets raging wall-of-sound black metal? Yes please.
Here's a taste.
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Doc Godin Ag Fox |
Hit and miss black/thrash in the end, but when it's flat you'll still be stomping around, and when it's good it's more good than a global peace summit led by Martin Luther King, Jesus, and Salma Hayek's boobs would be. Definitely worth checking out.
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wormdrink414 Doc Godin, Ag Fox, Mr. Doctor, BudDa |
So, already bored of Asphyx's recent derivative regurgitation of old school death metal? Fancy seeing what can be done with an old-school vibe when you apply brains and a modern aesthetic to it? No, I didn't think you would.
If though, on the hypothetical chance, you ARE interested in the best death metal of the year so far then you should hit up this crazy, mind-melting little number a.s.a.p.
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!J.O.O.E.! Mr. Doctor, Daniell, Marcel Hubregtse |
Why am I hearing the best album of 2011 in 2012, for blue fuck's sake? Instead of trying to define the band myself, let me quote their own words: "a mixture of the heaviness of death metal, the intensity of black metal, the ambiance of doom metal and the complex structures of progressive metal". Fuck my descriptions, listen to the music. Make sure to listen to the whole album, it's very diverse and genuinely breathtaking.
The whole album here
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Daniell Troy Killjoy |
Avoid listening to this album with animals nearby. They'll getcha.
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Troy Killjoy wormdrink414, Mr. Doctor, psykometal, ScreamingSteelUS |
While not the biggest purveyor of great metal bands, Spain apparently has some hidden gems here and there, and this is one of them. Great, pulverizing riffs, surprising tempo changes and overall coolness of this band shouldn't go unnoticed.
If you're into either doom or death, you should enjoy Onirophagus.
Have a taste here.
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Daniell |
No funny stuff. Just black metal with a face-vs-brick-wall type impact. Unbelievably loud & crushing.
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Doc Godin Troy Killjoy, !J.O.O.E.!, Ag Fox, wormdrink414, Mr. Doctor, Nefarious |
To steal a line from my forthcoming review:
"When is epic fail epic win?"
When it's Faal's epic "The Clouds Are Burning".
Four tracks of unforgiving doom punishment that shifts up tempos from glacial to epic swagger to full on headbanging, all while the members of the band assault you, your family and the girl you took to prom with tons of sonic cold fuzzies.
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BitterCOld Ag Fox, !J.O.O.E.!, Mr. Doctor, Daniell, Marcel Hubregtse, Troy Killjoy, Nefarious, DerRozzengarten, White Winter Sun, Darkside Momo, psykometal |
Honestly? Just go fucking nuts and break shit. But be quick - you've only got about a half-an-hour to tear it all down before this thing ends.
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Troy Killjoy wormdrink414, Nefarious, Baz Anderson, Ag Fox, Daniell |
So you think drone is all about oppressive atmospheres, crushing banality and putting )))'s on the end of your name? Well Bong may change your little minds on that. Taking a bit of a cue from Barn Owl (the band, not the animal) and their more chilled out and relaxed approach to the genre, Bong have shifted their sound into deeper, rather than denser surroundings. Extremely well produced, expansively psychedelic and mysterious but ultimately very listenable drone music.
Sitars are frigging awesome.
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!J.O.O.E.! Mr. Doctor, Daniell, Introspekrieg, Ag Fox, wormdrink414 |