Any other collectors absolutely hate digipacks?

Why in the name of living fuck would they put a song from Octagon on a video announcing the anniversary edition of Bathory's self-titled? And what fucking anniversary, the album was released in 1984...? Seems sketchy as hell, please don't even click the supposed crowdfunding link in the video's description.

Well the album is 38 years old now and Quorthon was 38 when he died. maybe thats what they're thinking?

Well... I'm fine with digipaks that have plastic inside of them to protect the disc, but I despise that digisleeve crap. I have a copy of Master of Puppets and Sons of Northern Darkness that are in digisleeve form, and the disc gets scratched every time I remove it.

I love digipacks, I generally dont buy non-digipack records.

I hate digisleeves, though.

Has anyone ever done the black metal forest challenge? Was it anything of note, or was it just fucking ordinary? I think that unless the mood is right, my experience with it would normally lean towards the latter.

I don't mind digipacks but I can't stand the recent Metal Blade ones, that have the booklet sleeve on the inner side. It's difficult to remove without damaging the booklet or digipack itself. Just seems like a bad design...

I hate that stupid format, digipak corners can get scuffed even if you stare at them for too long

Digipacks are fine. There are real problems in the world.

What the hell is a "black metal forest challenge"? Sounds tiktok-y.

I have no idea what that means either, lol. I'm very pro-zoomer but the stereotypes of infinitesimal attention spans and the compulsion to frame everything as a social media "challenge" absolutely do seem to be true lmao.

I'm assuming this challenge is to like... go outside? If it's something like "listen to black metal in a forest" then I'll spoil the ending for you and reveal that it feels and sounds exactly like listening to black metal literally everywhere else except now you've got bug bites.

To be fair, that is a real challenge to some BM dweebs.

Why you gotta do me like this, man?

Well said. That's pretty much how I imagined it. Some nerds paint listening to black metal in the woods as some kind of semi-spiritual event, but to be honest, I'd rather be listening to BM in the lobby of a Popeye's Chicken, or some other place of endless joy.

Heh. Yes. It's not very TRV3 KVLt to touch grass. Only to grovel at the scrotum of satan from behind a computer screen!!

+1
Esoteric's Metamorphogenesis cover art looks similar to this, color-wise, and there are also cover arts of Shape of Despair's Illusion's Play and Raventale's On a Crystal Swing (but they have more black), - and I'm sure there are more albums with this color scheme in doom metal (any subgenre) these albums were just first ones that came to mind.

In general, I have similar associations when I listen to doom metal, but for me there are a few more detailed nuances/exceptions with subgenres:

Regardless of color, this word is what I usually associate funeral doom metal songs/albums with, and in many cases atmospheric doom metal songs/albums, too - https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictio ... glish/pale.

But from my experience, the music on the atmospheric doom and atmospheric black/doom metal albums I listened to almost always sounded and felt "colder" - so in most cases for me it's like pale blue/green/purple and black; there are also cases when it's white and black/grey (like Dolorian's s/t).

On the other hand, those doom(/death) metal albums that have much more emphasis on melody (like October Tide's debut) usually sound and feel much more "warm" and colorful for me - so they are more associated with medium/dark yellow, medium/dark orange, medium/dark red and brown, or with colours of falling leaves in September/early October.

More extreme death/doom metal in the vein of diSEMBOWELMENT "looks" and feels greyer/more 'dirty'/swampy - like leaves that have already fallen, lay for some time on the ground watered by autumn rain, mixed with the ground a bit and began to rot.


And I think there can also be mentioned that the degree of grey shade in white color depends on the quality of the sound.
For me, the "dirty/grey snow" color is much more associated with the lo-fi black metal sound than with black metal in general (and maybe for me it's in part due to association with certain Paysage d'Hiver's album covers with grey+white colours, I guess).

There are also certain metal albums that have quite specific shades that are more associated with the style, sound and atmosphere on that particular album than with the genre as a whole (like those album covers (both versions) of the album "Hoagascht" by Lunar Aurora - and, to me, they fit the sound and atmosphere of the music quite good), so from my experiense this kind of generalisation by genres does not always work.

I was at a Dying Fetus show, a few days after the world found out about Inquisition being a pedo, and I had read the article about it, the day before, and there was some literal neckbeard there, hiding in a corner, in an Inquisition sweatshirt. I’m torn on whether I should be recommending they go outside, or not go outside?

What moment in a metal song never fails to give you goosebumps?

This is mine. Start at 4:57, and listen until that drop at 5:47. Christ, what an album. It even made its way into my signature.

Anyone else noticed Rotting Christ has been engaging in blatant self-plagiarism lately? Between the last few albums there are some portions of songs and some full songs which sound completely interchangeable!



The part of Summoning's "Might and Glory" where the music pauses and the chimes play a skeletal version of the main melody here (@6:04):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wnD3QPqLJ0

Or, off the same album, the choir part of "Land of the Dead" (@7:30):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69pJYTGJldw

Finally, the ending choir part of "Book of the Fallen" from Caladan Brood (@14:11):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUlvIq-TDGI

I feel like 75% of Rotting Christ songs since 2016 can be summarized as DUN - DUN - DUN - "EEEEOOOOOOAAAAHHH"

Yep. They've grown quite stale.

The 2 long songs in both Lost Horizon's albums; you know that part close to the end where the momentum reaches its peak and then the song swifts into a faster rhythm; both those moments get me shivers down my spine.

When anticipating going to see a band live, do you look up the setlists of earlier dates on their current tour, or do you deliberately go in blind? I prefer doing the latter since it's more exciting, especially with bands that stick more or less to one setlist during a tour. It feels like getting a spoiler alert otherwise.

I don't get that but what I do not like is the lack of a booklet.

I usually go knowing what to expect. I should go "blind" (should it be "deaf" rather?) more, as the surprises can be really exhilarating. When YOB toured after Our Raw Heart, they appeared to have a flexible encore and it was awesome when they played Marrow. When Satyricon toured after Deep Calleth Upon Deep, their setlist was otherwise pretty much fixed, but it varied whether they played The Ghost of Rome, Dissonant or Black Wings and Withering Gloom. I completely lost it (in the best way possible) when they played the latter, which is my favourite from that album. Then again, I would have been really disappointed if they didn't, because I knew about the rotating song spot, so yeah.

I don't listen to any music when I'm in a forest or any other nature spot. Not because I'd think of being in nature as some kind of spiritual process, I do it too often for it to hold such significance. I just don't feel any need to.

With that said, lately forest walks have indeed become a sort of a challenge for me. This year alone I've been bitten by no less than 8 ticks, probably even more, I lost count at some point - that's twice as much as in all my previous life overall. With about 30% of ticks here carrying Lyme disease, that's a bit worrying. No symptoms though so far.

Give me an example, like timestamps for the specific song. I'm curious!

The first two minutes of World Eater from Bolt Thrower

Here you go:

From their first album, "The Kingdom of My Will" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qnSH7bD-9Y (@5:30)

From the second album, "Highlander (The One)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy1J_i32wTg (@10:30)

It depends on how well I know the band. If I know enough of their songs, I'll let it be a surprise but if I only know a couple albums, I'll want to see how well they're represented. I might catch the WASP/Armored Saint show tonight in Atlanta; I'm down with whatever WASP throws out there since I know enough of their discography but I just looked up Armored Saint's set to see what theirs looks like since I don't know their stuff quite as well.

Nearly 4 decades after first hearing it, this absolutely sublime 20 seconds of "Heaven and Hell" remains one of the most beautiful pieces of song ever: 2:16 - 2:36

Took me this long to get back on YouTube...is he singing that...without a mic?

He is. The mic breaks about 20 seconds in and he continues without it.

What are your top 3 Iron Maiden live albums?

1. Live After Death
2. Maiden England '88
3. Beast Over Hammersmith

Quite possibly the easiest list I've ever made. All 3 are bloody great and showcase the band at the height of their powers.

As a bonus: Maiden Japan

If Maiden Japan was a full album it probably would be on that list too. Super cool EP.

Beast over Hammersmith has got to be their peak. Bruce's voice is perfect shape, and they hadn't started to play Hallowed Be Thy Name too fast. Also I don't like how Nicko changes some of the drum beats of the old songs, like Running Free.

I've been meaning to get into Manilla Road's music for a while now, and lately I've really been enjoying Crystal Logic a lot. My question is, which album should I listen to next to maximize my chances (if you will) of actually getting into their music properly and really enjoying it ?

The next album that I picked up after Crystal Logic was the Deluge and then I was hooked.

I'll try this one. Thanks!

I would suggest Open The Gates. Epic as fuck and my personal favorite MR album, therefore one of my favorite albums of all time.
Great to hear you're digging Crystal Logic and yeah as Kazhard said The Deluge is bloody wicked too.
In fact those 3 albums and Mystification are a damn near unbeatable run of USPM albums. The riffs, the solo's, the songwriting in general, godly stuff.