Alestorm released their new album, No Grave but the Sea, and it's pretty sweet. I'll have to listen to it a few more times before I can form a real opinion, but for now I'm content. They don't really do anything new (except for a bit more screaming), but if you like Alestorm, you'll like this album. My instant favourite song was Fucked with an Anchor, for obvious reasons:
The deluxe version came with a second disc which contains the album, only all vocals are replaced by dogs barking. Jim, you might wanna check it out.
Here's the full album and here's the dog version of Mexico because I can't find the whole thing on youtube.
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The Oatmeal wrote:Live life passionately and love everyone like they are family, because Jesus is always with you. Jesus loves you seriously bigtime. He'd hug you until your eyeballs exploded out of your skull if he ever met you. He'd windsurf across oceans of dead Nazis which he personally slaughtered just to tell you that your new haircut is the bee's knees. [...] Praise Jesus, especially when it's sunny outside because Jesus would totally be cool with you praising while you get a nice tan.
Yo, Metal people who know shit, this is your time to dump all your knowledge on me. I'm looking for one or more bands that sound like Dope's cover of Thieves (nevermind the facepalmingly edgy video):
I'm currently in the mood for those choppy yet full guitars and the driving beat that compels you to kill your neck muscles. I know Ministry would be an obvious start, but I can't get into their sound. It's not quite "there" enough for me. I know, awesome description, but that's the best I could come up with.
Would you kindly show this pleb some in-your-fucking-face-metal? Thanks in advance!
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The Oatmeal wrote:Live life passionately and love everyone like they are family, because Jesus is always with you. Jesus loves you seriously bigtime. He'd hug you until your eyeballs exploded out of your skull if he ever met you. He'd windsurf across oceans of dead Nazis which he personally slaughtered just to tell you that your new haircut is the bee's knees. [...] Praise Jesus, especially when it's sunny outside because Jesus would totally be cool with you praising while you get a nice tan.
Update: I just discovered Zuul Fx and they're hitting all the right spots, despite some weak clean vocals. They use them sparingly, though, and might actually become a new favourite of mine.
Still looking for new suggestions, though!
Thanks for the suggestion, sunny! I dislike the clean vocals in that song as well, but considering it's a single (or at least a video), I assume this is more mainstream/poppy than their usual stuff. I'll definitely check out more from them!
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The Oatmeal wrote:Live life passionately and love everyone like they are family, because Jesus is always with you. Jesus loves you seriously bigtime. He'd hug you until your eyeballs exploded out of your skull if he ever met you. He'd windsurf across oceans of dead Nazis which he personally slaughtered just to tell you that your new haircut is the bee's knees. [...] Praise Jesus, especially when it's sunny outside because Jesus would totally be cool with you praising while you get a nice tan.
I would definitely suggest Combichrist (given their singer is a guest on that track you linked). They tend to have a more industrial-y sound, but are definitely aggressive.
The track you linked makes me think of Ministry and Killing Joke, both of whom I'd suggest you check out. There's probably more thrash metal bands that I don't know about (I tend more to the black metal/industrial/DA side of things) but Ambi might know more about those if he's about.
Just because I don't like to post here without adding something. Ladies and Gentlemen, Igorrr. (flashing images warning on these) ieuD
Piter Lauchy wrote:I'm currently in the mood for those choppy yet full guitars and the driving beat that compels you to kill your neck muscles. I know Ministry would be an obvious start, but I can't get into their sound. It's not quite "there" enough for me. I know, awesome description, but that's the best I could come up with.
Would you kindly show this pleb some in-your-fucking-face-metal? Thanks in advance!
You're gonna need to be a bit more specific than that. If you want aggressive guitars and a fairly straightforward beat, then thrash might be your best bet. Or maybe some hardcore punk even. I don't know much punk, so I can't really help ya there. One of these days I'll get around to it. A lot of the best thrash is older, and not all of them had great budgets, so production quality isn't always the best, so hopefully that's not a turn off for you.
Dark Angel - The Burning of Sodom
Kreator just had some sweet reissues of their first 4 albums, remastered, slick digipacks, and 20 page booklets with info about the albums. I've picked up two of them so far, gonna have to get the other two also. I'll have no regrets about buying Pleasure To Kill a second time. Their new album Gods of Violence is pretty sick too. Kick my ass and take my money.
Kreator - Blind Faith
If you want something more modern, Revocation might help. Last year's Great Is Our Sin is pretty solid. Even has some super Mastodon-esque cleans, which mostly work. More importantly David Davidson fucking shreds. I saw this guys live not too long ago with Suffocation and Morbid Angel, and Revocation fucking slayed. They and Suffo stole the show. But Morbid Angel hasn't been noteworthy in a long time, unless you count Ilud Divinum Insanus as noteworthy for "we did it guys, we made an album worse than St. Anger!" I guess that's kinda impressive.
Revocation - Arbiters of The Apocalypse
Oh fuck, how the fuck did I not mention Testament? Jesus fuck, these guys have been slaying lately. Been around since the 80's, and their new work is just as strong as, if not better than, their classic work. The band is basically an unofficial thrash metal supergroup now. They've got their original singer, Chuck Billy, still sounds great. Original guitarists Eric Peterson, and oh yeah, Alex Skolnick, still kill it. Bass is Steve Digiorio, who played in his original band Sadus (killer), served as a session bassist on Severed Survival by Autopsy, and played on 3 Death albums, Human, Individual Thought Patterns, and Symbolic. Oh, and some fuck Named Gene Hoglan on drums. You may remember him from that first song I posted, the one by Dark Angel. Yeah, he played in that band. Also some band called Death, on the albums Individual Thought Patterns and Symbolic (am I repeating myself). Also played in Strapping Young Lad and Dethklok. (Steven and Gene have both put out high quality work in a shitton of bands, and sometimes together even). Also this band is fucking killer live, and they had an awesome pit.
Testament - Brotherhood of The Snake
Speaking of great pits, I just shaved mine. No wait, no I didn't. I meant Nails had a fucking great pit and kicked ass live, and so did their latest album. They play a genre called powerviolence, which is a type of hardcore punk that crosses over with metal sometimes. Nails is one such example. It's short, not very sweet, and it's the aural equivalent of a nail gun repeatedly striking your ears. Meaning you'll love it.
Nails - You Will Never Be One Of Us
Death metal time. We'll start with Suffocation. That show earlier with Revocation? Yeah, that was a good show. I'd go to a show just for Revo, but throw in one of my favorite bands ever? Yeah, it was gonna get brutal. Suffocation killed it despite having a (very solid) fill in vocalist, since Mullen doesn't tour much anymore. They have a new album, and well, it sounds like modern Suffocation. It's not their best work, but it'll keep fans (ie: me) happy. If you haven't listened to them before, start with either their debut Effigy of The Forgotton or masterpiece Pierced From Within. Suffocation is the gold standard of Brutal tech death and slams.
Suffocation - Return To The Abyss (New)
Suffocation - Pierce From Within (Old)
Suffocation may be the gold standard for brutal tech death and slams, but Dying Fetus ain't too shabby either. Their new album, Wrong One To Fuck With (we're uh, we're gonna pretend it's a less shitty name) dropped yesterday, and it 's pretty solid. Still digesting it, but it's Dying Fetus, and it sounds like it continues the sound from Reign Supreme, which slayed, so good. Looking forward to seeing these guys on Summer Slaughter this year.
Dying Fetus - Panic Amongst The Herd
Immolation also dropped a new album this year, and in true Immolation fashion, it's great. It may not push new boundaries they way their early work did (classic death metal, dense, dissonant compositions, Here In After and Close To A World Below are amazing), but it's still fucking Immolation. Would set fire to another monastery of monks for more Immolation music.
Immolation - Fostering The Divide
Bit of old news at this point, but Gorguts released an EP last year consisting of a single 30 minute song. I got behind on music last year, so I'm catching up some now. I'm still digesting it, but suffice it to say, Gorguts does not disappoint. It's more weird, dissonant, avant-garde death metal. Pretty sweet live. Also Luc Lemmy was super nice in person. He was running his band's merch table, just chilling. Typical French Canadian politeness. He needs to get his metal cred together and go burn some churches.
Gorguts - Pleiades' Dust
Oh shit, I just realized, Pantera is probably exactly what you're looking for.
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
I'll continue to maintain though that Pantera only has a handful of good songs, and everyone should listen to Exhorder. I am going to play this card every goddamn time.
Exhorder - Homicide
I was gonna stop, but now I'm in a thrash mood again, and not enough people listen to Demolition Hammer. This is a problem that won't be corrected until everyone listens to Demolition Hammer. You're either part of the problem, or part of the solution, so click play and bang your fucking head.
Demolition Hammer - .44 Caliber Brain Surgery
Demoltion Hammer - Skull Fracturing Nightmare
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<@Tesseracts> your stalking skills make you the #1 counter-stalker
So new Decapitated album dropped yesterday. Every time a new Decapitated album comes out I get super excited... and then I listen to it and remember that it's been a long time since I really cared for them much.
Decapitated - Never (Guitar Play-through Vid/Album Audio Track)
Yeah, it's more death/groove. It's not... entirely terrible, just not very good either. Like a 5/10 kinda thing. Though the vocalist sounds like he's gargling balls, what with his nu/alt metal style harsh vocals. This is also why when people say grunge/Nirvana killed metal in the early 90's, I tell them they're wrong, Pantera killed metal. Mainstream metal at least, since the underground kicked ass back then with death metal classics dropping like bodies. I'm cranky and just want more Winds of Creation.
Decapitated - Blessed
Decapitated - Winds of Creation (Full Album) Like 90% of the reason I still check out anything by this band is cause of this album. At least the new album has cool art. Might even be willing to wear it on a t-shirt, despite that it kinda sucks.
Know what helps with crankiness? Slams so brutal they make you want to punch babies. Yes, punching babies is a good thing in the metal world. Maybe I should start a band called Baby Puncher, though Infant Annihilator does already exist, so maybe not. Then again, Infant Annihilator sucks, so why not. Anyway, back to things that DO make me want to punch babies, we have Katalepsy, a Russian slam death metal with some technical leanings. The album I'm gonna focus on is their debut, Autopsychosis, which was released back in 2013. I missed it back then, somehow, maybe cause that year was already pretty loaded with death metal. (Oh god, the writing is so bad in that article, dear jesus).
Anyway, Katalepsy bears a pretty heavy Dying Fetus and Devourement influence, and I guess Suffocation just by virtue of having slams. Slams? Oh yeah, basically a slower, more simplistic riff. Debateably a style of a breakdown, or just something similar but different. I argue option 2, but it's inconsequential. Either way, difference being slams tend to have more notes played during them as opposed to just a very simple repeated riff using the same note/couple notes. Plus, the drums don't follow along directly with the riff like in a breakdown. Or just listen to this song and punch babies. Slams @ 0:14, 1:06, and elsewhere, but laziness says fuck doing more notations.
Like what the fuck is this? What the fuck is going on? It looks like some monolithic demon that is protrudes out of the foundations of hell itself is luring someone into their doom. And lost souls are screaming, and something is ripping apart the demon monolith. It's metal as fuck, and one of the coolest covers I've seen in awhile. I am buying a shirt with that on it. Holy shit, I need that.
Anyway, that's more death metal for today. Have some. Eat, drink, and be merry. Nah, fuck that. Slam, mosh, and punch babies.
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<@Tesseracts> your stalking skills make you the #1 counter-stalker
Yeah, it's been too long since I posted here. Or since anyone has posted here.
Archspire - Involuntary Dopplegänger
Ever think to yourself "man, I love the idea of Origin's hypertech sound, I just wish they didn't suck?" I have. A lot actually. Then I discovered Archspire, which is exactly that. Oh, and since it's extreme metal and we care about this, they're faster and more technical too. Last year's Relentless Mutation is a very strong contender for my favorite album last year. It's crazy fast hypertech that manages to retain a coherent sense of song writing. The neo-classical leanings of the album help as well. Oh, and since I'm not done shitting on Origin yet, I saw Archspire on the Bloodletting tour with Origin. Archspire stole the fucking show, and it was pretty obvious the rest of the crowd agreed. In fairness, Origin were decent live, but whatever. Point being, Archspire fuckin' slays.
Speaking of bands at Bloodletting, we were treated to Defeated Sanity playing the Dharmata half of their last full length. For those not aware, the band's last LP was really just two EPs thrown together and called an album. The first half Disposal of The Dead is typical DS tech/slam, and it's awesome. The second half is old school tech/prog death, a la Human-era and later Death, Cynic, and the like. It's also awesome. Anyway, the band played the old school half of the album in full. While I was a bit sad I didn't get to have a full set of slamming brutal death metal, I'm also glad I got to see Dharmata played in full, since it is really good, and I doubt the band will tour those songs again. Side note: I got to talk to the band members for a little bit after the show, they were pretty cool. One of the guitarists and I were both wearing Suffocation shirts, so that was fun. (Holy shit, so many Suffocation shirts at that show, made me so happy).
Neither half of the album is a 2017 highlight, which is because it was released in 2016, and is a highlight from that year instead.
October was a good month for me. Just a few days after I saw the Bloodletting tour, the North American Extinction tour rolled around sporting 4 bands that I love.
Artificial Brain - Infrared Horizon
This shit is some dense, dissonant, labyrinthine tech death. It's got Dan Gargiulo of Revocation on guitar, but there's not really much similarity between the two bands other than kickass. It's much more akin to Gorguts or Demilich (without frog gurgles). There's some tinges of black metal here and there. If you haven't listened to this style of death metal before, then I'd suggest giving it a few chances if it doesn't grab you at first. It's another of my favorites for 2017.
Alright, so not really metal so much as noisy grindcore with some metal (whatever, I'm the only one on this site who'd nitpick this anyway, and only people in this thread would like this band anyway). Anyway, Full of Hell offers up some really solid grind. Lotta fun live as well. Their latest LP is yet another highlight of 2017. It's also only 23 minutes long, so it's more easily digestible length-wise. Much like my penis.
Apparently Dan Gargiulo wasn't content playing just one set on the North American Extinction tour, so Revocation came on later. It was my second time catching the band last year, and they destroyed just as much as the first time. I've already talked about Revocation enough on this site. I've either convinced you that they're awesome or you're wrong.
Cattle Decapitation - Prophets of Loss
Headlining the tour was Cattle Decapitation, and hot damn were they awesome. The crowd loved it, the pit was great, lots of crowd surfing and stage diving. We yelled for so long after the set for an encore that sadly never came. I was shocked how ballistic the crowd went when they band played Forced Gender Reassignment, mostly because I thought that was just their most infamous, not most popular. Either way it's a great song and just as awesome live. The band's most recent album is a few years old now, but if you haven't heard it yet then you're doing your ears a disservice.
So I learned about a Taiwanese metal band called Chthonic, and to me, they sound pretty good.
They apparently get pretty political in their songs, but that makes sense because the lead vocalist got elected to Parliament in 2016. I learned all this (and heard clips from several of their songs on All Things Considered on NPR!
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JamishT was a heck of a guy, With a devilish twinkle in his eye. With his hand-picked flowers, And his feel-good powers, He made all the girls blush and sigh.