That Lucifer’s Friend is good stuff, Giles, been listening to it today.
The style reminds me a lot of Die Happy, a Christian rock band I listened to as a teenager. Most of that band was part of Christian speed metal band Vengeance Rising before breaking away to form a new group, and man, they really shifted genres.
Yes, I can hear the stylistic similarities for sure.
@Thraeg, It must be the Avantasia version that I heard. It’s been a few years since I played that disk though. IMO, Avantasia’s peak was their first two albums. Followed by the third, fourth, and fifth (in that order). Totally love Tobi and the guys (and Edguy!), but they’ve gotten a bit too commercial for me lately, even though I still buy all their albums.
Now, for some stylistic differences, here’s Lucifer’s Friends’ fourth album, Banquet from 1974. This band was apparently known for completely changing the genre of music with each album, and this showcases that perfectly.
I guess I probably shouldn’t post it here, except it follows on from before. Because this is totally NOT metal. But rather it’s the same guys doing some kind of jazz/rock/prog fusion thing. And once again, I must say that it’s pretty damned good. I still can’t get over that I never heard of these guys!
I’ve given the new Metallica album a solid listen now. I really quite like it. Some songs are more memorable than others, but as a whole I am quite happy with it. Interestingly, they made videos for every song already. All linked on their website. The video for Confusion is a remarkably good look at PTSD.
OMG this had to have been posted here at some point, but if not, this is great! It’s called “Moms On Metal”, and it’s just like it sounds; A bunch of moms gathered in a living room, reviewing metal songs. This episode they’re reviewing Cannibal Corpse: “Hammer Smashed Face”.
And along the same line, a bunch of rappers reviewing metal (or in this case, a video). This episode, they review “Year Zero” by Ghost.
(NSFW)
Yeah, I’ll agree that it’s pretty solid. It’s a bit bloated and definitely didn’t need to be a double album, but even the weaker material is just bland rather than actively bad, and Atlas Rise, Moth Into Flame, and Spit Out the Bone are all excellent.
Anyway, here’s another grab bag of the stuff that’s stood out to me over the last couple of weeks:
Seax - Speed Metal Mania.
Animals as Leaders – The Madness of Many
Khonsu – The Xun Protectorate
Aephanemer – Memento Mori
Clouds – Departe
Dunedain - Pandemonium
Maschine – Naturalis
Everyone’s compiling end-of-year lists, so I figured I might as well join the fun and pass along some of my personal highlights. Caveat: I listened to a lot of metal this year, but I’m by no means an expert, and there’s plenty more that I missed or didn’t click with for whatever reason. But hopefully I’m casting a wide enough net that everyone can find at least something that you wind up enjoying.
Anyway, I’ll do some daily posts canvassing various metal subgenres to collect (in no particular order) albums that stood out from the pack and left me with a positive impression, and then end with my personal top 10.
Day #1: Thrash Metal
Great initiative @Thraeg! I haven’t listened to a lot this year so not sure I even have 10 albums that blew me away, but I’ll contribute where I can. :)
[quote=“Thraeg, post:1208, topic:42284, full:true”]
Day #1: Thrash Metal[/quote]
A good genre to kick things off with. I love thrash. :)
Wretched Soul - The Ghost Road
I missed this one, but it sounds right up my alley! Good stuff, added to Gplay library forthwith and shall listen tomorrow!
Seax - Speed Metal Mania
Didn’t hear this but it doesn’t sound like my thing.
Vektor - Terminal Redux
I think you can stop now, this is the album of the year right here! I loved this thing. ;)
Testament - Brotherhood of the Snake
Was never a huge Testament fan, even in the early days.
Witchery - In His Infernal Majesty’s Service
I was a fan in the early days with Witchery’s first album of fun graveyard thrash Restless and Dead, but they fell off my radar soon after. The sound didn’t click with me anymore and this new one didn’t do much much for me either. Admittedly I didn’t give it a real chance, but I could kind of tell it was all a bit happy.
Destroyer 666 - Wildfire
Like Witchery I didn’t give this much of a chance either, despite being a bit of a longtime fan - they are (or were) Australian band after all! I think it all sounded a bit ‘pub rock’ and didn’t quite have the dark feel or get the head banging. Maybe it needs more of a chance? I may put it back in rotation and see if the mood strikes me.
Metallica - Hardwired to Self-Destruct
Well, Metallica formed my essence way back in high school with their first 4 albums, so I was expecting to hate this. :) But I actually quite enjoyed it for a while so maybe I subconsciously cut them slack. Or maybe there is some legitimately decent material on here! Some of the songs even stuck in my head for a bit, some dragged on, some weren’t so good; maybe a rocking half hour of material stretched out too thin. They need an editor.
Apart from Vektor, for this year I would add German blasphemers Desaster, who still play some consistent quality raw evil thrash. Grimy and nasty, I always had a thing for the old German thrash bands!
This kind of stuff makes me throw up the horns and start banging in blind reflex. :)
Not joining in on the year-end list love just yet, but one of my favorite North Carolinian metal acts just dropped their latest album, Hyperglaive, having just recently changed their name to Mega Colossus. It’s pretty fucking fabulous if you’re into Judas Priest/Saxon/Iron Maiden/etc.
(Also streaming on Google Play, iTunes, and Apple Music, if you have those services)
…and if you’re not, get the fuck out of this thread! :)
Thanks for the recommend, I’m adding it to my playlist for today along with Wretched Soul.
Yeah, Vektor was one of the last cuts I made to get down to my top 10.
Yeah, I waffled on mentioning this one because of all the bloat, but decided that three songs better than anything they’ve done in the last 20 years is at least worth an honorable mention. Agree that it would have worked much better as a tight single album.
Good call on the Desaster! I vaguely remember meaning to check that out when it released, but forgot about it.
Good stuff, @ArmandoPenblade, and a perfect segue to…
Day 2: Heavy/Traditional Metal:
XII Boar - Beyond the Valley of the Triclops
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Eternal Champion - The Armor of Ire
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Sumerlands - Sumerlands
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Dawnbringer - XX
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Kvelertak - Nattesferd
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High Spirits - Motivator
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Grand Magus - Sword Songs
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Angel Sword - Rebels Beyond the Pale
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Kryptos - Full Throttle
Day 2: Heavy/Traditional Metal:
Eternal Champion and Sumerlands are on my list too, but Grand Magus disappointed me, much like the previous one.
I’m unsure what genres are coming up, so I’ll leave these here as they’re close enough to heavy/traditional:
Agatus - The Eternalist
This will be in my top 5 for the year, no doubt. Kind of traditional, but leans towards the black/epic/viking side.
Here’s two examples, since I loved this thing so much:
Khemmis - Hunted
This was pretty great, more of a doom album though.
Helion Prime - Helion Prime
A fun power metal album, sticking it here since it’s the only one I liked (or really heard, bar Sabaton) this year.
https://helionprime.bandcamp.com/releases
Three great additions there, @Profanicus! Not sure how I forgot Agatus – need to go back and listen to them again. Khemmis would have featured when I get around to doom, if not for making my top 10. And Helion Prime was definitely planned for…
Day 3: Power Metal:
Theocracy - Ghost Ship
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvGqZChceds
Eternity’s End - The Fire Within
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I don’t know if it’s a slightly off year for power metal or what, but there were a ton of bands I’ve liked in the past that released albums that felt merely workmanlike, decently enjoyable to listen to in the moment but not approaching their previous highs. Freedom Call, Hammerfall, Iron Savior, Sonata Arctica, Avantasia, and Rhapsody of Fire were all in this category for me. Still lots of good stuff, especially from newer bands, though.
[quote=“Thraeg, post:1215, topic:42284, full:true”]
I don’t know if it’s a slightly off year for power metal or what, but there were a ton of bands I’ve liked in the past that released albums that felt merely workmanlike[/quote]
Yeah Sabaton and a few of the others mentioned earlier in other genres felt like that for me also.
I think we’ll discover a bit later though, that 2016 was a great year for Death Metal. :)
Thanks for the awesome lists @Thraeg. May I humbly request a top Prog Metal of the year list? :) I feel there’s been a ton of awesome albums from bands like Periphery, Protest the Hero, Meshuggah, etc.
I’m your huckleberry then!
Was going to do so this week once I had a chance
I would like this as well. I’m relatively new to metal, and thus my interests have been limited so far, but I think this area would intrigue me.
Ask and ye shall receive. Though especially with prog I should reiterate that I’m woefully unqualified to evaluate on any basis beyond “this sounds good to me”. I’ve only been actively into metal for a few years so lack most of the context of what bands are building off or referencing, and I haven’t the foggiest about musical theory or technique, so I can’t elucidate bands’ innovative use of polyrhythms, palm muting, or odd time signatures. This is just a grab bag of stuff I liked, so don’t let me posting it dissuade @craigm or anyone else from adding your own recommendations (and I haven’t heard Periphery or Protest the Hero, so I’ll definitely be checking those out).
Prog is also a particularly wide-ranging catch-all for anything a bit too weird to fit into other genres, so sorry for the biggest barrage of albums yet. Disclaimers aside, on to…
Day 4: Progressive Metal
Haken - Affinity
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Mammoth - Deviations
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Ihsahn - Arktis
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Devin Townsend Project - Transcendence
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Oceans of Slumber - Winter
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Temperance - The Earth Embraces Us All
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Watchtower - Concepts of Math Book One
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Latitudes - Old Sunlight
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Thy Catafalque - Meta
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Aenaon - Hypnosophy
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Georgius - String Theory
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Maschine - Naturalis
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Hemina - Venus
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Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep of Reason
Nothing from me on this as I don’t really listen to anything progressive that wouldn’t fall into the other genres (e.g. Vektor).
If I were going to listen to a prog album, it would probably be Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts who I used to be quite the fan of, in the earlier darker days. I’m sure they still make great music. :)