Written by Vellichor on 08.07.2023 at 22:00

Written by terroriser on 08.07.2023 at 19:14


Prog Legion on Metalstorm.net this is what it is. Reading comments I found out quite quickly there is a group of people obsessed with anything progressive and bent on proving their point. Even if it takes to vote 1s to albums they never even listened.

I don’t even think that’s it, check the users who are giving 1s and 2s to albums in the top 20 or albums that have recently dropped below an 8. There’s always accounts with hundreds of 9s and 10s and then they have a few 1s and 2s but only to albums that have recently been in the top 20. Don’t know what’s to be gained from this.

Maybe they get some kick from it?

I don't see why people still try and figure out other people's rating patterns. Like, they're just ratings. Just because your favourite album dropped out of the green doesn't make it objectively worse. My top two albums of the year are both at below 7.5 on their average rating (with my no. 2 in the orange).
The fact is this: this album is some solid riffy meloblack. But since we've been talking about ratings (overnight) the average rating has gone from 8.3 back to 8.5. I just don't see the point of getting annoyed by the one or two low ratings when the 9s and 10s account for 65% of the album ratings. The album is quite literally the definition of high praise.

Written by Caio on 08.07.2023 at 01:37

Written by Oldy86 on 08.07.2023 at 01:28

I swear some people do low votes on certain albums just to sabotage the voting. I don't see how anyone can vote this anything below a 6 and mean it. I get tastes differ but when you vote albums in the 1, 2s, 3s or even 4 and 5 you're objectively saying this is a bad album. I feel this has happened a lot of the last 5 years on Metalstorm. You're lucky if even 1 album in the top 20 has a score that's in the green these days. And it's certainly not because metal is in a bad way. It's hotter than it's been in a while right now. Pre 2019 you'd have anywhere from 6-10 albums in the too 20 with scores in the green. I think this and a few others this year should be in the high 8s at least. Why can't people just be fair with their votes?

I totally agree with you on that. We can barely see any albums above 8.6 anymore and it's definitely not because of the quality of the releases. Also it's been 4 years now since we don't have a new release in the top 200. People just give shitty scores to see their favorite releases on the top and we end up with lower scores overall.
But anyway, this album is amazing, probably my favorite or second favorite of the year so far.

To be fair, people might retroactively catch up on older albums and add their own high scores to the mix. If it's truly good, it will stand the test of time and continue to build a following.

Blackbraid is one of those artists IMO. There is a lot of BM coming out and you can't expect every BM fan to (anti-)religiously listen to every single release right away. I still have some old classics to catch up with and Blackbraid was just something I discovered and fell in love with along the way. Once more BM fans get around to giving this a try, the handful of pissy downvoters will be minimal and/or irrelevant (plus some accounts and scores might get deleted down the line).

I tend to disregard any 10 ratings, I think they're impulsive rather than objective. For me at least, a 10 is an album I think I'm likely to listen to on and off for the rest of my life, like Reign in Blood or Rust in Peace which still get spins 30+ years on. I like this album, but this time next year, is it an album I'll still be going back to obsessively? Doubtful.

I dunno. I can see myself still spinning a bit even this after 30 years.

Making my way down the Top of 2023 chart and this stopped me in my tracks only a couple songs in. Fucking excellent music.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 07.07.2023 at 10:42

"Moss Covered Bones On The Altar Of The Moon" could be a contender for best track of the year for me

Indeed. If not song of the year, for sure it is song title of the year. Superb song titles in general.
After a few listens, I am confident that I like this album more than the band's debut.

Written by nikarg on 13.07.2023 at 08:58

Indeed. If not song of the year, for sure it is song title of the year. Superb song titles in general.
After a few listens, I am confident that I like this album more than the band's debut.

It's certainly a great track, another moment I can't get enough of atm is the closing part to "The Wolf That Guides The Hunters Hand", with it's stunning riff melody. In fact, there isn't a single dull moment on this album for me, just something about it, it's a beauty.

This is pretty good but I really don't understand all the praise it gets. Sounds pretty run of the mill to me, and the production is awfully dry

Couldnt get a grip on the first one, and its same story with this one as well. maybe i am lacking the right mood for it....

I dunno guys, this is good, but I'm not blown away. I think an 8 is generous. Wayfarer "A Romance with Violence" is a much better western infused BM album imo

Written by 24emd on 08.07.2023 at 23:19

I don't see why people still try and figure out other people's rating patterns. Like, they're just ratings. Just because your favourite album dropped out of the green doesn't make it objectively worse. My top two albums of the year are both at below 7.5 on their average rating (with my no. 2 in the orange).

I agree. I don't think everyone measures a score by the skill of the artist. In fact, I think most ratings are extremely subjective and have very little to do with appreciating talent.

And I think that's okay because it would be stupid for everyone to praise an artist with scores of 10 because it's like nothing anyone's ever heard before, but no one actually likes listening to it.

Personally, I don't have any hard guidelines for the way I rate things. I might score one thing high for the technicality, I might score another high that has none of that. Albums with high scores might pique my interest more than ones that have average scores, but it doesn't effect my opinion of it.

I don't find it as exciting as a lot of the people here, there's enjoyable and exciting moments. However a lot of generic contemporary black metal as well. I wish there were more moments like 'Spells Of Moon And Earth' or 'Moss Covered Bones On The Altar Of The Moon' (at 7:40) incorporated. Or heck, even 'Twilight Hymn Of Ancient Blood'.

I enjoyed tracks 4,5,8 the most, followed by 6 which I still managed to enjoy to a degree. I liked the Bathory cover as well. The rest felt a little boring. Production is alright.

I rate it 7 but it's a weaker 7 - I was torn on rating it a 6 as well

Simply amazing album, it has all what BM needs offer to us and well I enjoyed it a lot. New trend in game, nativ American BM. It can be good for prefix

Incredible album. The debut was brilliant but he's found another level here.

Perfect balance of melody, atmosphere and musicianship.

Written by gavdann on 06.08.2023 at 08:53

Incredible album. The debut was brilliant but he's found another level here.

Perfect balance of melody, atmosphere and musicianship.

I was blown away by this on my first listen, that was on it's release date, I've listened to it every evening since. I thought it would have ran it's course by now but it simply hasn't.

This is definitely not bad work, but I too get the impression it's missing something to launch it to the "WOW!" level. Can't shake the feeling that there are just better examples of the "Native American BM" and/or "Western BM" thing out there, such as Autolatry, Untamed Land, and especially Volahn.

Good album but not mind blowing. Will give a few more spins to see if it grows on me at all.

I like it a lot, some riffs and passages take me back to Immortal and Ulver. Thats a high praise.

Also Native American black metal is something lol

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 06.08.2023 at 10:29

I was blown away by this on my first listen, that was on it's release date, I've listened to it every evening since. I thought it would have ran it's course by now but it simply hasn't.

Woah, that's like 30 listens, disregarding the amount of time you've listened to it since this post! Even I'm not ballsy enough to listen to an album I love that many times

Written by 24emd on 28.08.2023 at 10:13

Woah, that's like 30 listens, disregarding the amount of time you've listened to it since this post! Even I'm not ballsy enough to listen to an album I love that many times

For the first few weeks or so I was obsessed and would listen to the whole album every evening, but now it's particularly the tracks "The Spirit Returns", "The Wolf That Guides The Hunters Hand", "A Song Of Death On Winds Of Dawn", and "Twilight Hymn Of Ancient Blood" that I tend to go-to now. There are other albums that I'm obsessing over atm, but I can see myself coming back to this again before the year is over

I tried, I really tried to get on the hype wagon. I just don't see anything special.

'Moss Covered Bones On The Altar Of The Moon' is an epic and clearly the highlight of the album but I am not as impressed with this album as their debut. Maybe I listened too much of Blackbraid I.

I like the thrashy part in track 08. that starts around 4 minute into the song.

Another fine and enjoyable meloblack album, but nothing I haven't heard too many times before.

This project would interest me a lot more if the dude threw more Native / Indigenous instrumentation into the mix. Blood Of The Black Owl, anyone?

Ahh, love this guy and his music. Top tier black metal for me.