I have been listening to Militia's new CD - Strength and Honor. Yes the Texas metal pioneers are back and in original form. The music is all thrash, power and a bit of progressive metal thrown in.

There is a great review of the CD at the Thrash Metal Times blog. I think they nailed it on the review.


http://www.thrashmetaltimes.com/2012/04 ... =BP_recent

I've been listening quite a bit again to Ulcerate - the Coming of Genocide.
It is actually a compilation of two demo's but they are similar enough to be on the same cd. While surely enough a lot of people (here) know their later material, this is something different than their later output. In a nutshell it is brutal death metal, ulcerate style.
But it is sort of unusual since all the riffs are melodic and memorable, the drumming is brutal death metal style, also tone wise, but you can hear already his style to which Jamie will evolve. His playing is not as attention demanding as later on but when you do pay attention, it's a really interesting performance.
While there are still few atmospheric touches, it is much more riff focused than that what they would later play. There is also no loss of momentum, even though it is changing all the time. At times, I even get a slight progressive feel about it.
So, do people here listen to this? I think this is a release that is very easy to like.

Tukaaria- Raw to the Rapine remaster/comp

One of my favorite recent bands, remastered and re-released by one of the best Metal labels around (Profound Lore)! These tracks from "Raw to the Rapine" and their splits w/ Odz Manouk & Volahn, and have never sounded better! Still raw and intense as ever, but now with added clarity, so I can hear everything- the many intertwining guitar tracks, the vocals, the high energy, high intensity drums- perfectly. Tukaaria's unique sense of melody is now much more discernible, and unique it truly is. So glad to have this!

Odz Manouk- S/T remaster/comp

Pretty much the same story as the Tukaaria release above. Tracks from the original S/T and the Tukaaria split, once again, now sounding better than ever. The S/T tracks have a definite French vibe going on, reminding me of Les Legiones Noires and other French Raw BM, with some great vaguely Ambient and even Industrial touches. Their tracks from the split w/ Tukaaria are radically different form the S/T- while all of Tukaaria's material could, to one who was unfamiliar with them on the original releases, easily seem like it was really composed as one album (well, the production on the tracks from the Volahn split is pretty noticeably different form the others still), Odz Manouk's 2 tracks from the Tukaaria split are radically different from those from the S/T- even the vocals are completely different, low, borderline Death Metal growls in stark contrast to the high shrieks on the first 7 tracks here. Musically, there's a completely different vibe going on as well- the riffs draw from Doom & Death Metal (with hints of "Pagan Metal", tonally though not in terms of arrangement, even) as well as Black Metal, and the distinctly "French" vibe is pretty much gone. I'm very interested to see where Odz Manouk go next, these tracks from the Tukaaria split (and their track on the Rhinocervs "Odour Of Dust and Rot") are incredibly unique, not like any other band I've heard. Definitely hoping both Tukaaria and Odz Manouk will continue to work with Profound Lore in the future, both create matches made in heaven (or perhaps hell? )

Skagos/Tomhet split

Finally got around to checking this out a few days ago. Skagos are sounding amazing as always (highly anticipating their releases this year)- much more raw here then they usually are, but still playing wonderful atmospheric Black Metal/Neo-Folk/Post-Rock (leaning much less on the Post-Rock than their other material on here though). Tomhet's side presents some great Dark Ambient (alongside one cool, albeit somewhat misplaced, raw BM tune after their introductory piece). I'm unfamiliar with anything else by Tomhet, this split makes me want to look deeper into them though. I do think they would be better if they either stuck to the Dark Ambient, or blended it with the raw BM more, but they still sound great here.

Half Blood by Horseback - 2012

This record is special. Imagine a Supergroup that consisted of members from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pelican, and Abysma that all had a bad acid trip and then recorded an album. In Half Blood, you will get a blend of sounds that may not seem to go together but compliment each other beautiful. But that beauty is haunting, dark, and raw. Half blood seems like the long lost soundtrack to Cormac McCarthy's, The Road. This album was a very pleasant surprise and I will definitely revisit it and I look forward to what this remarkable band has to offer in the future.
Listen to the album for free here:http://horseback.bandcamp.com/

I don't care if hipsters like it or whatever, Horseback are awesome. As for that Skagos/Tomhet split the whole thing is amazing, minus Tomhet's black metal song, which is really, really awful.

Black Moth - The Killing Jar
This is pretty awesome, its from 2012 but I don't think many people know about it. Its doom/stoner meets grunge. And they have a female singer. While very heavy the song structures are basically rock, but there are definitely metal riffs. These songs very much feel like the traditional approach at songwriting. Everything about this is memorable, just great songs all around. And theres also some exotic middle-easternesque guitar work and a bit of psychedelia thrown in the mix. Good shit.

Diskord - Dystopics
The kings of weirdo death metal return! I'm not sure this beats "Doomscapes", but its still pretty damn awesome. Abstract song structures, weird bass sections, bizarre riffs - these guys definitely are unique. The major change is that the vocals are much higher pitched than the low growls of the last record. Not bad, but not the best change they could have done. Still, this is great in all its weirdness. Definitely recommended.

Panopticon- Kentucky

Looking like my album of the year so far (though Ash Borer are most likely going to give it some competition in August). I've never heard an album quite like this; even "Collapse" didn't have nearly this much Bluegrass/Americana/etc. influence; it was still more influenced by Post-Rock and more European sounding Folk, outside of the outro of "Death of Baldr..." where the Bluegrass influence shined. And only 3 of the 8 songs here are actually Metal at all (and I must say, they're 3 of the best I've heard). The Metal songs bring even more melodicism into the mix (who'd have thought Panopticon could get more melodic, haha), and, to my ears, some traditional Metal influence as well. The Bluegrass/Folk oriented tracks are all great as well, I've always loved stuff with this kinda vibe. Anyways, great album, as always from Panopticon.

Sons of Northern Darkness is an excellent album. It effectively conveys the cold and icy feel that Immortal were aiming for, and has some excellent groove to it. It's a lot more mature than some of their previous material, and whilst it may not be as trve or extreme as that previous work, it is a more enjoyable listen. Best track is 'Antarctica'.

Helstar - Nosferatu

I used to dislike this album because of the vocals. After listening to it a lot I finally started to really appreciate and get it. First of all, the guitarwork is absolutely a thing of beauty: the solos never become too overlong or feel unneccesary, yet they always catch my attention. Just a fun work of shred. As far as riffs goes there's quite many on the album and way more complex than before. Speedy but also very catchy. Last there's Rivera's vocals which I didn't like before. I can see why he took time to get used to on this album. Instead of wailing the entire time, something I'm used to, he goes for a more restrained approach here which could turn some off. Having that said I might have prefered this album to be an instrumental but still, a nice complex power/thrash metal album that definitely keeps me listening to it again and again.

This week I spent a lot of time listening to Symphony X, especially The Divine Wings of Tragedy (1997). This album was a big step up from the production and mixing of Damnation game (1996) and one of the most well written albums I have ever heard. The sound on this album is what defined them as a true progressive metal band and for the most part a much heavier version of Dream Theater. The main difference between Symphony X and other progressive metal bands (especially Dream Theater) is the vocalist. Russel Allen is a truly gifted singer and part of that is that he has so much control over every element of his voice; his dynamics, his vibrato, all of these he can control and change at a moments notice which is what really sets Symphony X so far apart from other bands. Thais album has since become a hugely influential metal album and has really aged well, the production is great and still stands up to albums produced now pretty well.

Elysian Blaze- Blood Geometry

This is easily one of the best albums I've heard in a while. Long, emotional, atmospheric black metal with tasteful orchestration. I'm not into "symphonic" black metal with overdone keyboards, and string instruments all over the place. But the sole dude in Elysian Blaze understands how things need to sound. The keyboard parts add extra emotion, but the guitar is still the primary focus. Beyond just black metal, you get a sense of like funeral doom because each song has moments when the blasting slows to a crawl. I don't know how else I'd be able to keep paying attention if there weren't changes in the momentum like this because this album spans 2 CDs (or 3 LPs depending on how you choose to listen to it.) Its almost 2 friggen hours long!
In my opinion, its the best thing Elysian Blaze has ever done, and is one of my favorite albums so far this year.

Symphony X - Twilight in Olympus: This album is really very underrated, there isn't a single bad song on it. This album really prepared listeners for the neoclassical awesomeness that is V: The New Mythology Suite. Songs like Smoke and Mirrors, Church of the Machine, In the Dragons Den and Through the Looking Glass are all amazing standard Symphony X classics that are still loved unto this day and will probably stay with us metal fans forever.

Blind Guardian-Nightfall in Middle Earth: I won't say it's overrated, or act confused as to why it's so wildly influential; the reasons for that are obvious. There are some really good metal songs on this: Into the Storm, Nightfall, The Curse of Feanor, Mirror mirror and When Time stands still (at the iron hill) are all amazing metal classics that any true metal fan should know. Also by entering into the Symphonic power metal realm with this album Blind Guardian really expanded their sound which is what will, ultimately allow them to survive for a long time to come. Now while there are some duds in this it's still a really good album and an example of amazing songwriting/concept album that will never be forgotten by fans of metal around the world.

I'm not sure where I stand on Blood Geometry. First few listens and it comes off as weak compared to Levitating the Carnal. It doesn't feel like it needs to be a double album though. Need a few more listens before I can make a final judgement.

Desecravity - Implicit Obedience
Now I can't say I'm the world's biggest fan of BDM or tech death, but this is amazing. When a death metal band is both technical and brutal there are many potential pitfalls. It starts out with a cool symphonic opener, which is completely misleading. The rest of the album is always technical and brutal, with lots of personality and charisma. Everything always go somewhere, there are lots of good riffs, the "wank" parts don't feel like wankery at all, and there is a surprisingly high focus on song writing. Not usually the type of thing I'd get super exited about, but this is awesome.

Bird Eater - Utah
Now this is interesting, death metal mixed with hardcore. Not to say its metalcore, which I never understand why people say is half hardcore; I can never hear any Dead Kennedys, D.O.A or Black Flag in them. I don't think this will be their best release, its not amazing, but its still pretty cool. There are cool, sometimes unorthodox riffs, and this guy's vocals are half death growl and half the barking style vocal you hear a lot in sludge. Also, theres these kind of subtle bluegrass interludes throughout the album. Overall, a very interesting listen.

I recently did a 6,300 miles road trip from Washington to Michigan and the whole time I was pretty much in love with Nile's At the Gate of Sethu (2012) for the entire round trip. Took a lot of cd's with me (including non-metal). I listened to Wolves in the Throne Room while driving I-5 south from Seattle to Sacramento (thick morning fog and sounded appropriate at the time); listened to Dark Throne (early stuff) while driving I-80... the moonlit deserts of Nevada and Utah, but there was no meaningful context between the music of Dark Throne and the American deserts; listend to Pathology & Sleep in Wyoming and Colorado; I even forced myself to listen to The Orb's "Little Fluffy Clouds" because the sky was so huge out there, the clouds were so fluffy, out there on the endless, sleepless road... but it even felt too contrived. I was trying too hard to fit my music catalogue into an exhausting road trip experience.

So I kept coming back to The Gate of Sethu and those fucking riffs that nurtured me and guided me for thousands (and thousands) of miles across the United States of America. I don't know how many times I listened to that cd, maybe 20, 30, 40 times. It doesn't really matter, does it?

All I know is that I connected with that album on the road trip because it felt so good to listen to it... those opening riffs... those arrangements... and so very loud... cranked louder than can be normally tolerated... with the windows down... not giving a fuck about space or time... or musical labels or anything else.

It doesn't happen very often when you connect with a metal record that it defines a certain moment in your life. That is a lucky moment, indeed.

Pretty sure this is my first contribution to this thread, so here goes...

Grand Belial's Key - Kosherat

Not as good as Judeobeast Assassination, but still awesome. Been a fan of these guys for awhile and revisited this album tonight. The riffing is still right on par with everything they've done previously, but I have to say, the vocals dropped off considerably on this release. The abundance of riffs and the good song writing still seems to be there but that extra "umph" from the vocals is missing a bit. Really want to see a new, fresh album from these dudes sometime in the near future considering this album came out in 2008. As far as I'm concerned, they're one of the most unique, awesome BM bands around.

I'm of a similar mind here. I absolutely loved "Judeobeast", but "Kosherat" didn't do as much for me. I wouldn't say that it's not a good album but I can say it sounds less inspired. You're right, it's about time for them to unleash a new one.

yeah, im going to have to chime in on the Nile/road trip post. Nile was and is one of my favorite bands. I like Black Seeds of Vengeance, personally. But I also used to listen to their earlier stuff in high school, and it blew my mind. One of the first death metal bands to elevate my mind beyond itself was Nile, and im not exaggerating. lol. The Egyptian motif and their arrangements was pure genius in my eyes, and the guitars on black seeds was just perfect for me. Sort of enveloping in you catch my drift. You had also mentioned a few others I really like. For any fans of Sleep, I would rec Om. Same guitarist, I think? Anyways, the album I have is called Variation on a Theme. What I like most about that album is the lyrical content. He has a unique singing style which fits well with his choice of imagery and words--mystical experience, nature, spirit, mind, space, time. Its a good record, but you have to be prepared for extended songs. (10min plus).

By your descriptions, sounds like Wolves in The Throne Room came on durring the perfect setting!

Cheers.

Crimson - Edge of Sanity

I'm sure a lot of people have had occassions where they spin it a lot. The last week or so I must have listened to it ten times. There is just so much I enjoy about the song. I like the cleaner guitar melodies in the begining playing over the heavy rythm with Swano's harsh vocals. They are so catchy. I think they blended the transitions of heavy to soft very smoothly. The album has an almost medieval feel to it. For me anyway. Here's to hoping they do reunion tour and play it in full. Haha.

Kosherat came out in 2005. They released some unreleased stuff from the Kosherat sessions in 2008 on the Weltenfeind threeway split.

Kosherat isn't consistent, but I think it has some of GBK's finest songs: The Red Heifer, Bearded Hustlers, On a Mule Rides the Swindler. The rest of the material isn't quite as incredible, but I don't think it has any outright shitty songs either. It might actually be my favourite GBK album, even if just because of the three tracks I mentioned.

Antediluvian - Through the Cervix of Hawaah
Portal have really knocked me on my ass for the last year or so. I absolutely love horrific death metal. By horrific I don't mean "Hacked up for Barbecue"-esque banal gore-grind. That's just audio torture-porn. I mean the musical equivalent of looking into the distance and seeing Yog-Sothoth sliding out of rip in space-time. Antediluvian came up as a recommendation for someone who referenced Portal, so of course I gave it a try. Damn good stuff. The album is full of those awesome, disjointed, sideways riffs that always seem just on the edge of becoming completely nonsensical yet maintain their own internal logic. Production isn't great, with most of the top-end being taken over by the ride cymbal and the rest of the mix generally muffled, the great boomy kick dominating, but it works. It's music that slides into your room and stands at the edge of your bed while you sleep. True occult music. If you like Portal, Incantation, etc., you'll like this.

Cannibal Corpse- Evisceration Plague

So I've been exploring some death metal recently and last week Evisceration Plague was always playing in my room. Never really listened to a whole lot of Cannibal Corpse, prior to this album I listened to and enjoyed Tomb of the Mutilated, so i got this album to see what their newer stuff is like and I definetly liked it a lot. The songs get me going and keep me interested throughout the whole album, and then actually reading the lyrics to their songs is pretty intense haha. Great album in my opinion. Favorite song had to be "To Decompose".

I love Cannibal Corpse's first three albums, but I'm not a big fan of anything else after.

I just listened to "Hallucinations" by Atrocity for the first time. It was pretty good. I'll have to hear it again to give a better analysis, though.

Miasmal - s/t
Really cool sound. Really murky death metal with lots of tremolo. Some nice menacing slow riffs though. The solos really come out of nowhere, they feel like they would be more at home on a traditional metal album. Anyway, it's a cool juxtaposition. There are also some cool doomy leads. Overall very cool, these guys have an awesome sound. It's quite punishing, but always retains a sense of purpose. Worth checking out.

Sea of Deprivation - Catharsis in Disharmony
Worship music usually puts me to sleep, but these guys do it right. The band they're getting their sound from is Dystopia (my username should make it blatantly obvious I like them). Although they do bring new elements to the table, this album wouldn't exist without Dystopia, not a snowball's chance in hell. These guys are equally abrasive, fully embracing the scummy sludge aesthetic. They seem to lean on crust punk a bit less than Dystopia. Also they have some solos, something you would never find on a Dystopia record. Overall this is sick, although their main influence is extremely obvious, they take their own spin on it, and to be honest, this is a sound I wish would be explored more often.

Animus - Poems for the Aching, Swords for the Infuriated
It's hard to come to a concrete opinion on this one. The recording quality is quite bad but I'm not sure if that's a detractor or part of their (well his, it's a one man project) charm. He's definitely on to something here, although I'm not sure it's fully realized. This isn't particularly heavy but it's not particularly accessible either. The best descriptor I can think for it's atmosphere is "cloudy". "3" (the song names are all the numbers of the track) is quite intriguing. It's basically the black metal version of a stripped-down man and his guitar acoustic arrangement. One distorted guitar and one set of raspy vocals. The song is very emotionally potent, certainly the high point of the album. I'd actually say the album is worth it for that one song. As a whole, I'm having a very hard time making my mind up about this one, and I think it will take quite a few more listens for me to fully understand and formulate a definite opinion on this. This is the type of thing that needs multiple listens to grow on you and to fully sink in.

Steel Attack - Carpe DiEnd (2008)

It's kind of funny how I found this CD. It was a normal day and I decided to go to Wal-Mart because, why the hell not? Before leaving, I felt like checking through the CD's to see if I could find something nice. There was a part where all the CD's were surprisingly cheap, so I checked line by line. Then I found Carpe DiEnd, for 4 bucks! I was surprised because from where I live (Puerto Rico) Metal is not much heard, so it was pretty damn shocking.

Anyways, I have never heard this band before, so I was kind of skeptical about it. They are a Heavy/Power Metal band hailing from Sweden. When the first song started, I was intrigued, though the riff was kind of generic. Then the voice came... Pretty damn powerful!! As the album progressed i got interested even more. Heavy, Melodic, cool Key riffs and clean production. But the highlight here is those vocals. Soaring, rough, powerful and melodic!

Yngwie Malmsteen - Odyssey

Bought this on an LP at a record fair in Lahti last Saturday. Been listening to it quite much. I've owned Yngwie's first three LP's for ages but never looked more closely into his later works. Why anyone wouldn't like this I don't know. I guess I'm a sensitive old fuck, but this is how metal record should be, very easy-listening, honest and melodic affair. Crystal Ball remains my personal favourite. And Yngwie doesn't seem to 'show off' nearly as much as on some of his earlier records. I guess that's a good thing too. Okay, there's some guitar wankery on here as well but not nearly as much as on Rising Force for example. And Joe Lynn Turner has some pipes too, definitely. It's a bit AORish work maybe, but I like Survivor and stuff.

Amenra - Mass I
Solid Neurosis influenced stuff. Although they obviously base their sound off Neurosis, they do add their own shit. They include spazzy dissonant sections as well as a type of clean vocals that would never be found on a Neurosis album. Basically, this sounds like Neurosis if they were really into math rock. A lot of cool stuff has been done with the template Neurosis laid out, and while this is not one of the best I've heard, it's still pretty damn interesting.

jumalhämärä - Slaughter the Messanger
This is a nice little EP. It's post-black/blackgaze or whatever. Sounds a lot smoother than the album. This is very experimental and is just as much about the post/shoegaze stuff than it is about black metal. Although this is only comprised of three songs, they make each track count. I've heard the album two or three times, and I have to say I think I like the EP a bit better. "The Swing" is a particularly cool track, despite it's somewhat pointless intro.

I really need to check that Jumalhämärä EP. They made all that post-black metal nonsense I love to hate work quite beautifully on the full-length.

The last few nights at work I have listened to the last four Vomitory records. All four back to back in a playlist. My favorite of the bunch is still "Terrorize, Brutalize, Sodomize." I dug "Primal Massacre" and "Carnage Euphoria" but I wasn't blown away by "Opus Mortis VIII" for some reason. Not many highlights on that one for me.

Am I wrong in considering Vomitory to be underrated in Swedish DM circles? It seems they don't get the attention that Grave, Unleashed, and the rest usually receive. They might be considered 2nd generation DM with a debut album in 1996, or perhaps they are guilty of doing the same thing over and over. I dig the fact they have stayed consistently heavy for 8 records. Thoughts?

I'm not going to say whether they're over- or underrated, but their brand of death metal is pretty workman-like. It's like they come, do their thing and leave without giving it a second thought. It's not exactly lifeless, but pretty much unimpassionate. They were definitely late into the game and their standard and fairly barebones approach doesn't really help set them apart.

Thank you for responding. I have to agree with your post. Perhaps I need to spend more time with their first four records, but I'm leaning towards purging Vomitory from my DM collection.

To add a bit of weekly metal analysis...

I have recently spent a good amount of time listening to the "E-Force" era of Voivod. Back to back rotation of "Negatron," "Phobos," "Kronik," and "Voivod Lives." I love them. I gotta say, I really appreciate what they did as a trio. Very underrated in my opinion, and much better than the three albums with Snake & Jasonic that followed. I would give a slight edge to "Phobos" for being the better of the two studio albums, but "Negatron" is also very good.

Witchrist - The Grand Tormentor
Thanks to Tony for posting this on facebook and therefore making me aware of these dudes. This is really cool it's basically the whole bestial/war metal thing mixed with extreme doom. Turns out to be a winning combination. The guitar tone is thick and filthy, and the riffs contain a fair bit of sludge. I love the murky atmosphere and the fucked up riffs. This one's definitely a winner.

this really is a good idea!!

got some great idea there dude.well i hope i can post here soon when i am able to get a real analysis worth sharingpokies online

Dysthymia – The Shivering Opus (2008) Pest Productions

It is a rare day indeed when an album like this comes along. One that at first seems terribly wrong, messed up, perhaps amateurish, and then overtakes you with its genius.

Inexplicable piano/guitar stumbling (wrong take?), questionable pacing (a cd master error?), and then on the 3rd or 4th listen one cannot imagine it in any other way. And the selection of self-made sound samples worked into the mix! What the hell was that!? A man falling down on a bunch of cardboard boxes? A man standing before the bathroom mirror, coughing, repulsed by his own hung-over eyes? What at first appears ludicrous ultimately proves to be the most devastating sound samples I have ever heard. Truly amazing.

And once over these “quirks,” one suddenly realizes that the “classical” elements far surpass anything heard in this typically cheesy realm. It’s actually BEAUTIFUL. It could actually stand on its own. It does not just come off as derivative to a soundtrack to some derivative, epic Hollywood movie. Never thought I would say this about a metal release, let alone to a supposed depressive one, but it is true classical art, goddammit.

A must-have, obviously!

Yeah. I'm not a big BM fan and the direction of later Immortal really fit the bill for me. The last three songs on that album are icy as fuck.

Type O Negative - World Coming Down
Took me long enough to get into these guys. Ever since I was 14 I guess I kind of assumed they were a lame gimmicky goth band; how wrong was I. This album is awesome, completely 95+ tier stuff. It retains a bit of their theatrical tendencies (without making it cheesy) while bringing in some crushing doom. What I found really interesting was such a dirty guitar sound on such hi-fi production. It works though. I love everything about this - the songwriting is top notch, great instrumentation, atmosphere, his vocals are better than ever ect... "Everyone Dies" and the title track are particularly awesome.

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats
This is what you'd get if the Beatles and Black Sabbath did a shitload of shrooms together and got to recording. Really heavy, but psychedelic and laid back at the same time, with a high focus on mellow songwriting. Some great psychedelic sections. Goes without saying, it's best to listen to this when you're high.

In these days I'm listening to a lot of these three bands: Ruins from Australia, Lunaris from Norway and Legion from Sweden...I found these three bands quite interesting because they possess a different approach to Black Metal...much more technical...I guess not many people knows them, but in my opinion they deserve some attention!
Oh, even Heretical from Italy (like me)...

Uaral - Lamentos A Poema Muerto
Holy shit, man this stuff is crazy. Completely insane classical/spanish guitar work, absolutely professional quality stuff. This is mixed with a sort of neo-folk approach accompanied by . . . gurgling funeral doom growls and DSBM wails. Although harsh vocals over acoustic guitar almost always ends badly, they do it in the best most tasteful way possible and both vocalists are great and these vocals are used sparingly. Really unique and awesome stuff.

Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies and Electric Lights
What the hell is this - a halfway decent Woods album? I really hate this band, but this actually is kind of good. Most of this has to do with moving from a big lame nature black metal approach to something closer to Type O Negative. He generally tries to sing deeper and keep the lame folky clean vocals used on earlier albums to a minimum. I'd never thought I'd say this, but I kind of dig a Woods of Ypres album.

Got the Black Star Riders album...have to say...nothing special to my ears.

Deaf Dealer - Keeper... heard this aeons ago, and recently rediscovered this gen of proto-power. Fantastic album that manages to blend elements of speed/power and NWOBHM as well as USPM. My soundtrack for this week's commute.

Altar of plagues - Teethed glory & injury

My musical taste as I've gotten older has gotten much more simple and to the point. Give me Neurosis, Saint vitus, Hammers of Misfortune or Pagan Altar and i'm in bliss with with the simple groove emotion and Gallop. I've found myself straying away from the more complex, brutal and experimental. More so I think that I find that I just don't have the time to completely immerse myself like some metal albums call for. I reach for the more instant gratification of groove and heaviness. (though some may argue that Neurosis offers none of those)

Now the album at hand. I know enough has been said of this work already, but I've got the time so I'd like to chime in. This is my first experience with the band, I've shied away over the years after reading reviews that lead me to believe I just don't have the time to try to appreciate the art these guys put forth. After multiple listens before bed time I've realized I've been missing out. This album is beautiful. simply put. Primal, dis-coordinate, emotive, enthralling. I really don't know where to begin.

With the lights down low and no distraction this Irish collective will lead you through a divine comedy of emotion and spiritual enlightenment of sorts. This is splendid stuff friends. This is what metal has been evolving towards these past few years. This is the apex of enlightenment. The bar has been set.