Disma - The Vault Of Membros

Genre: Death Metal (gonna start doing this since labels don't show at the bottom of posts.

When I stumbled upon Disma I almost shat myself. Reading the band's description, I saw that the band's members were from two of my favourite death metal bands: Incantation and Funebrarum. Naturally this demo rules harder than the lovechild of Stalin and Franco. Seriously if you're even a little into death metal this should be a priority for you. The drumming is superb, the riffs are inhuman and the vocals...well...the vocals are courtesy of Craig Pillard (Incantation, Disciples of Mockery) i.e. they destroy. I haven't enjoyed a demo this much in ages.

Die

And one more time, to really drive it home: Nokturnal Mortum - Goat Horns (1997)

All symphonic black metal sucks a lot.
Except Goat Horns.
Get it.

In a similar vein... Primordial - To The Nameless Dead (2007)

Folk metal is gay. (except Falkenbach)
Primordial isn't.
Get TTND.

Coalesce - Ox (2009)

Metalcore sucks.
Coalesce don't.
Get Ox.

Defeater, Ceremony and Cursed. Need I say more?

Defeater

Ceremony

Cursed




Basically don't feel like writing a whole lot tonight, but where these three albums are concerned I'm lucky because I am not required to say much. This is because the albums I have here are so good they need no one ranting on about how good and listen-worthy they are. I mean if you're a hardcore nut you'll have them already.

Simple: If you want some INSANELY good hardcore here you go. And you're welcome.

Signed
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Qwe

Defeater - Travels
Ceremony - Ruined
Cursed - II

Mew - No More Stories (2009)

I've been on an indie binge lately, and Mew happen to be one of the bands I started listening to recently. An exact description of their sound, or a relative comparison, is hard; they're very eclectic. Giddy electronics mixed with heartfelt, authentic instrumentation are at the core of their sound; on No More Stories, Mew wears their hearts on their sleeves. Sugary melodies, intoxicating atmospheres combined with alluring vocals make for a relaxing, feelgood experience that just makes you want to get up and flail around like a complete moron. Maybe. The full title of the album is actually No More Stories; Are Told Today; I'm Sorry; They Washed Away; No More Stories; The World Is Grey; I'm Tired; Let's Wash Away (minus the semicolons, which I added for clarification), and despite being overly long and a little bit pretentious, works as a nice segue into the album (clocking in at 50 minutes, it may seem long, but it's alive for every moment). If you're feeling a bit down, maybe feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders every day, give Mew a spin. If it doesn't make you feel better, you're probably dead on the inside already anyway.

Happiness.

Black Sabbath - Self-Titled and Paranoid

Do you consider yourself a heavy metal fan? Have you listened to Black Sabbath? No? THEN STOP FUCKING LYING. Anyone who hasn't listened to these guys cannot consider themselves a metal fan. This was the band that started it all. Formed in Birmingham in the late 60s, they started as a heavy blues-rock band but became something more. The world's first "heavy metal" band.

Owing their newer, heavier sound to guitarist Tony Iommi's change in technique following a hand injury and also a change in publicity tactics(To quote Ozzy Osbourne: "We saw people coming out of the movie theatres after watching horror movies and we thought 'Why don't we do that, scare people?'") they released their first album, Black Sabbath in February, 1970, on Friday the 13th. Paranoid was released in October of the same year.

It's pretty laughable to think of Black Sabbath as a demon-summoning, blood-drinking bunch of incredibly evil necromancers when we now have Portal, Suffocation and the like, but just imagine what this must have sounded like back then. The down-tuned guitars and violent, creepy lyrical content combined with crushing riffs would have been awesome to behold. This was THE FIRST heavy metal band. I wish I'd been there.

Black Sabbath

Paranoid

Portishead - Third (2008)

Portishead, along with Massive Attack and a few others, are one of the pioneers of the little known genre "trip-hop". Truth be told, I don't know all that much about the genre, except that it's incredible when done right. Third is Portishead's third (get it?) album, and their first in 14 years. Combining precision instrumental work, gripping atmospheres and incredibly beautiful (but haunting) vocals. The lyrics focus a lot on relationships and despondent emotions (Neon Smile is my favorite track, listen to the vox). This album makes the top 5 of Phones' 08 albums quite easily. Definitely an album to sit back and chill to, and we can always use another one of those.

Album here.

On a side note, me and qwe will try our hardest to post regularly, but as mentioned, many things have come up (women, school, work, women), so sorry for the lack of posting.

Sorry Guys

Been away for awhile, posting sporadically. Both of us actually. We have our reasons, a lot going on etc. Hopefully posting will pick up in a couple of weeks when Phones and I have sorted everything out.

Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth

I hate power metal. It's a genre full of boring, contrived acts repeating age-old melodies and harmonic ideas, not to mention the insanely stale lyrical content. It's always "PREVAIIIILLLL" and "FIIIIIIIIRE" and "HEAAAAAAAART" over perfect fourths, fifths or rising sixths. Basically power metal can go fuck itself.

This then, is a rare album. A bona fide good power metal album. And the best part is, this isn't just good. It's bloody INCREDIBLE. The vocals are passionate and soaring, but the production gives them a certain rawness that keeps them from entering "massive pussy" territory.
The music itself is stirring and catchy as hell, standout tracks being "Into the Storm" "Nightfall" and "Thorn" The album has a concept to it, which is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Silmarillion."

Seriously this blog is so elite it will only post one power metal album ever. And it's this one. That means you should get it.


Trust me.

Japanische Kampfhörspiele - Luxusvernichtung

Oh man oh man is this album awesome. What exactly "this" is is a healthy dose of German grind. Thrashy and fast enough to kill your whole family, but enough fun that you'll keep listening. 55 songs. 38 minutes. The drumming is insane and the riffs are deadly. If you're a grind fan this is a must.

Also everything's in German, which is pretty funny if you want it to be.

GET

Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki - Symphony No. 3

To be completely honest, my knowledge of the classics, musically speaking, is not very thorough. Truly, the only thing that leads me to post this is that I believe no matter who you are, no matter what you listen to, you must be able to enjoy music like this if you are going to call yourself a fan of music at all. Admittedly, I don't listen to classical music often, but it has always been one of, if not my favorite, genres to appreciate and listen to. A well written metal song might take a few days, a few weeks, maybe a year. A concerto, a symphony... these are years in the making, pieces of art reserved for people who have patience, who can enjoy effort. So, indulge yourself in this moving, beautiful artwork. Where it will take you is up to you and your willingness to give in to the passion of the music. This is where music came from; we are blind to the future if we are deaf to the past.

Indulge.