Recommend me some quality Metal

Books, comics, TV, music
1162

Scrolling through the last two weeks of this thread, I’m now drowning in new recommendations :-D

@Thraeg, a lot of what you’ve posted is proving incredible so far, but I am really digging into Saor. Now very excited about the new release.

Paracletus wound up being one of my favorite albums last year. I mean, it didn’t come out last year. But I first heard it then, and just fell in love. So goddamned good.

Also <3’s to Primordial. I think To the Nameless Dead just barely edges out The Gathering Wilderness for me (mostly on the back of “As Rome Burns,” which is easily in Top-5 All-Time-Songs for me), but I’m really good with just about anything in the last decade or so.

Recently got to see a ridiculously over-stuffed lineup at a local Soilwork concert, featuring Darkness Divided (technically competent Christian death metal who looked to me like “Baby Zao”), Wovenwar (featuring all the members of As I Lay Dying who didn’t try to hire a hitman; they were kinda blah, to be honest), Battlecross (great crunchy thrash metal with ludicrously good stage presence; these guys absolutely killed it!), Unearth (who I’ve just never cared for, for whatever reason, but hey, 15+ year old death metal act), and, of course, Soilwork.

Saddest thing of the night was that Bjorn’s wireless mic was just not up to the task and his vox were completely lost in the mix. The crowd filled in just fine, singing most everything right along with him, but given that Bjorn’s one of my favorite vocalists of all time, I was absolutely crushed to not be able to hear him 90% of the time.

Anyway, to actually “recommend [you] some quality metal,” I present Battlecross!

It turns out, in looking them up, that their main vocalist actually took a break mid-tour, and a guy named Adam Cody filled in for a few dates, including the one I saw. That they were that on-point and awesome live without their main vocalist is really a testament to the band and the backup dude alike. Nice!!

1163

My favorite thrash album evar. Grampa \m/

https://youtu.be/p7wGYWSOz98

1164

Hell yes! The new Anaal Nathrakh album ‘The Whole of the Law’ dropped today, and it’s sounding furious:

AMG review rates it 4/5.

1165

Litertally everyone else in my department’s gone for the day, so I’m just blasting that album at max volume now. Thanks for the tip, @Profanicus!

In concert news, my “Fall Into Metal” concert tour continues on Sunday with Sonata Arctica, Epica, and Omnium Gatherum in Charlotte, which is 3 hours each way. Just going ahead and taking Monday off at work to recuperate. . .

. . . which is important, because Ghost is playing in Raleigh Monday night!!

1166

I’ve discovered hours of mixes on Youtube, and its been a handy way to catch up as most of the bands I’m seeing I’ve never heard of. Melodic Death metal mixes mostly, but also some folk metal.

Thanks to the vid above I’ve bought the 3 Alleagon albums. Just my thing.

I’m also enjoying Alestorm who have actually managed to fill an entire catalogue with enjoyable music based on what ought to be a single novelty single.

1167

Recently had to miss seeing Alestorm perform, was more or less crushed my soul for the better part of a day. Goddamned Calculus gets in the way of everything fun.

And yeah, I dunno how I’d never come across Allegaeon before, but they are super up my alley.

1168

@ArmandoPenblade and @playingwithknives : Thanks! Always glad to hear that a recommendation was a hit. And thanks for the Battlecross recommendation – hadn’t heard of those guys, but really like that song.

@Profanicus: Good call on the Anaal Nathrakh! I remember bouncing off them a few years ago, but am liking the new one on first listen. No idea how much of that is the music itself and how much is me getting acclimated to more extreme metal styles.

Anyway, I don’t know if bands are releasing albums to coincide with Halloween, or so they’ll be fresh in everyone’s mind for end-of-year lists, or to be on store shelves for the critical holiday buying season, but this is yet another ridiculously stacked week of releases. Most Fridays I have maybe 4-6 new album releases to queue up in Play Music where reviews/prerelease songs intrigued me enough to want to hear more. Today there are frickin’ 21 of them! And I’m still reeling from the 1-2 punch of Khemmis and Mithras last week!

So there may be a part 2 of this post after I’ve had time to digest more, but so far here’s what’s grabbed my attention, covering a nice wide spread of genres:

Ulcerate - Shrines of Paralysis: The other big-name release for the week, carrying on their distinctive take on death metal. 4.5/5 over at AMG.

Theocracy - Ghost Ship: Power-prog metal in the European style.

Testament - Brotherhood of the Snake: I haven’t gotten much out of the other old-school thrash bands’ new albums this year, but am liking this one so far.

Mammoth - Deviations: Jazzy instru-metal along the lines of Pomegranate Tiger.

Netherbird - The Grander Voyage: My favorite discovery of the day so far, and would fit right into the folk-black canon we’ve been discussing. I had never heard of these guys, but am gobsmacked at a couple of their songs.

1169

Oh yea, I picked up the new Testament when it released on Amazon last night. Haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet. But their last two albums are great.

In a perfect world they’d release a sequel to Low, which I know this isn’t. But, still.

1170

Heh, not the sort thing you want to be playing in polite company. :)

I don’t think anything could match the sonic armageddon of ‘The Codex Necro’ for blowing the emotional cobwebs out of my head but they’re always worth at least a cursory listen.

I was pleased to read the album is a grower, as the last few haven’t lasted that long on my virtual turntable.

1171

Another fresh release, Czech band Brutally Deceased with their ‘new’ slab of retro Swedish death metal Satanic Corpse.

I’m a bit of a sucker for the old-school buzz-saw Dismember-style riffing, so I’ll be checking this one out.

1172

New Metallica. I’m linking it before even listening to it. Gotta get my priorities straight.

1173

Bravo.

In typical crusty fashion my love for Metallica fizzed shortly after …And Justice For All, but I’ll give this a listen or two anyway. :)

1174

Huh, not bad. I had pretty much written them off, but I’ve liked their last couple of promo tracks.

1175

Oh wait, I thought the album was out! Never mind.

1176

Event of the year! :)

The new Deathspell Omega album The Synarchy of Molten Bones is out now on Bandcamp. I’d expect it to turn up on streaming sites around the release date in 5 days or so.

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1177

Ooh, nice. I’ve been meaning to check them out since you recommended them, and this is a perfect excuse.

1178

Just remember, their albums generally take a bunch of listens before they start sinking in and you appreciate the genius! :) Paracletus is probably the most approachable in the catalogue.

1179

Thanks – I listened to Paracletus this morning on the way to work, and it hasn’t quite clicked yet but I’m certainly willing to give it some more time.

Anyway, between frothing anticipation for the new Saor (this isn’t helping!) and being blown away by Netherbird last Friday, I’ve been on a folky/atmospheric black metal binge all week. Turns out there’s actually been a lot of great stuff recently!

Sojourner - Empires of Ash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cYyR4IbmwQ

Enisum - Arpitanian Lands

Draugnim - Vulturine

Fuath - I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCCUV0Mg2xk

Ashbringer - Yugen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAT6lFeXQt8

1180

DSO is highly unlikely to click after a single listen … maybe after 4 or 5. Or maybe never! They’re not for everyone. :)

How do you find time to listen to all this stuff!? I usually have a ‘current favourite’ during work transit on repeat for most of the week, and can maybe do an additional album while at work each day if I’m lucky. Weekends I don’t really listen to anything.

I guess having too much quality metal to listen to is not a bad thing, per se. :)

1181

Heh, most days I have some time at the gym, a 45 minute commute to and from work, the bulk of the work day sitting at my computer, and then often some time at night while either studying or playing a game. And it’s still never close to enough. I can’t hope to keep up with every new release, but try to at least check out the most intriguing ones. And of course there’s still vast amounts of older material that I haven’t heard yet.

I usually try to alternate between initial listens to new stuff and digging further into albums I already know I enjoy, but don’t stick to that rigorously. If nothing grabs me in the first spin, I usually won’t come back, so I’m sure there’s some good stuff I’ve overlooked by being preoccupied with work or something when I was listening to them, but oh well.