Spinning my new vinyl copy of Piece of Mind and now playing...

Iron Maiden - Revelations - Maybe my favorite Maiden cut. Just love the flow of this one. Great melodies moving back to some sweet riffage. Nicko is killing it.

Iron Maiden - To Tame a Land

Love the instrumental after the last of the vocals. Just a great piece of writing.

Mogg/Way - Edge of the World

Great 90's rock that resembles UFO from 80-83. George Bellas a Shrapnel shredder works well with these guys. Better than Chocolate Box.

Slayer - Season in the Abyss

My go to Slayer album.

Running Wild - Masquerade

Solid but not at the same level as the previous album.

Cannibal Corpse - Vile

Spinning the LP. Rated lower on MA, I think it rips. Bludgeoning.

Vio-lence - T.D.S. (Take It as You Will)

"It was your choice so hold your voice / And don’t point your fingeeeeeeer"

Man, that little vocal emphasis is so cool. What a beast of an album, such a joy to listen to it after I've effectively forgotten about it for the better part of the last decade or so

Black Sabbath - Into The Void

One of the greatest compositions Sabbath ever made, Iommi's riffs hit like a ton of bricks

Thumbs up on that

Now listening Marduk Dreams of Blood and Iron

What banger Nightwish

Minotaur - Maggots in My Body

German thrash from 1988. They were hasty on this one. I don't know if some beats are in correct time, but this is pretty chaotic.

Neurosis - Souls at Zero

Might still like Through Silver in Blood more, but this is really impressing me too. Massive, apocalyptic weight.

Severoth - Forestpaths I (Мікрокосм)

Great atmospheric black metal!

YES!!! Great album.
I also strongly recommend the other album Mogg/Way released in the 90s, "Chocolate Box".

As well, one of the best post-Schenker albums Mogg was ever involved with:
$ign Of Four - "Dancing With St Peter"
Stellar songwriting & not to be missed by UFO fans.

Manilla Road - Crystal Logic
Every couple years I think "let's give Manilla Road another shot" and inevitably spin this up first. And usually I'll end up bailing when the train plummets into the hopeless chasm of "Feeling Free Again." Which is a shame, because the back half of the album feels stronger. Hopefully I can keep from getting derailed entirely this time and give more of their catalogue a fair chance.

Drowning the Light - The Mark That Lies Beneath

Great riffs here, ''The Serpents Reign'' is awesome.

Manilla Road have multiple gateways for people to get into them. If Crystal Logic isn't working (amazingly due to one easily skippable song) try Mystification it's a bit more thrashy but still retains the epic trad elements of the previous albums and no radio attempts or Spiral Castle which is a great place to start their modern era or maybe the awesome Voyager and it's epic vikingness. Personally my gateway was Open The Gates which is still my favorite, The Deluge is incredible too. Maybe sample a bit from each and see if anything catches your ear. They're an extremely rewarding band when they connect.

Inculter - Fatal Visions

Vicious thrash metal of the Norwegian variety. Love it!

Depressive Age - Friend Within

Not your everyday gothic metal, this. Nothing overtly pompous, just a good song.

Caligula's Horse - The Stormchaser

Brand new, released last week

They have a lot of albums with nothing like "Feeling Free Again." Mystification and The Deluge might be a good place to start, or Voyager if you like more long-form stuff like Bathory or something.

Madder Mortem - Old Eyes New Heart

This is a really stunning work... already there are about half a dozen albums this year I can say are killer. This has a really dark, brooding mood and a sense of innovative, wild songwriting. Nothing else like them.

Inquisition - Black Mass for a Mass Grave

Really fucking excellent so far. Just so intricate and immersive. Somber, a bit moody, just sort of an opening of this new sonic world...

Feeling Free Again is worth it just for that screaming guitar intro. That is hot. Nearly perfect album.

It's a fun little tune... I think a lot of people go into MR expecting them to be mystical and dark and stuff from the get-go, but they were around before metal was even really properly defined.

Inquisition - My Spirit Shall Join a Constellation of Swords

The way they do the melodic stuff with the grinding, old school riffs just fuckin hits the spot.

I am a "Feeling Free Again" enjoyer. It's catchy as hell and I sing it to myself all the time, lol.

Dismember - Killing Compassion

"Death Metal" (quite an on the nose name!) seems to be the Dismember album I come back to most often. It's really fucking good, imo.

Good but mine it’s The god that never was

Maybe my fav album(after the debut)of them…

Never tire me.

In between a host of current black metal albums, it's nice to return to the dark ages when a Swedish madman recorded noises in a cave.

Bathory – Bathory
Bathory – The Return……
Bathory – Under the Sign of the Black Mark

The subgenre has come a long way. The Archives list nearly 50 000 bands overclouding countless countries on this planet. Madman, what have you done?

Wrathblade - God of the Deep Unleashed
Liege Lord - Master Control
Fireaxe - Food for the Gods

The Fireaxe is the most insane thing ever. Definition of "well there's just no time to play it really." Interesting dense cult metal though... underground weirdness and a gigantic scope.

Pathology - Surgically Hacked

Very short album but great.

The Chasm - Cosmic Landscapes of Sorrow

"Procession to the Infraworld" has some tasty riffage. An album I don't think I'll ever get sick of.


That one's great too. I honestly really like all their albums (to varying degrees) - they are my favorite of the oldschool Swedish DM bands.

Asphyx On the Wings of Inferno

Here we can use the word”underrated “without be wrong,sensational work….

This is an incredible track. The instrumental second half is pure bliss, and the first half is already great.



Therion - Gothic Kabbalah

The last record with the Niemann brothers. Therion has released good and even great stuff after this one, but this album marks the end of the golden era of the band. It is less in your face than its predecessor Sirius B/Lemuria but not risk averse. I like the dreamy, laid back tone and how it at the right moments is shaken up by a heavy rocker. The finale Adulruna Rediva is one of Therion’s finest moments. And soundwise it couldn’t be better.

Thergothon - Stream from the Heavens

This and Beherit and some stuff - just completely alien, unlikable music and I find it fascinating.

Batushka - Panihida

THIS is the true Batushka. Christof is the sound of the band. Bart-dude has no game in his music.

Hey Lee how would you rank the first 6 studio albums from Asphyx? (1991-2000)

NP: Fairyland - Of Wars In Osyrhia

The older I get the more I appreciate this kind of metal, incredibly rewarding, full of immaculate performances, professional but human at the same time, which makes it eloquent and charming.

Arckanum - Kostogher

Savage, powerful black metal. Amazing

Agreed on all points. The track "Son Of the Staves Of Time" is a masterpiece, IMO.

Thanks, I had never heard of that project.

UFO - The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent & Mechanix & Making Contact

These 3 albums are my favorites. Sure I like Lights Out, Force It, No Heavy Petting and Obsession but something about the slightly updated 80's sound and song writing makes these perfect rock albums. No Place to Run is good also but the jump they made with the next album was huge!

Slayer - South of Heaven & Reign in Blood

I have not listened to these in such a long time but they hold up. Even as I have gone to the more melodic side of metal.

Exciter - Blood of Tyrants & Thrash Speed Burn

I love Jaques Belanger's vocals, insanely over the top. Kenny Winter also did a good job and Thrash Speed Burn was better than I remember. I am hoping these guys come through with a new album this year

Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite

Fuck man, this is great! I remember listening to The Harvest Floor back in a day, and it was okay, I guess, but I've never had the urge to go back to them. And them, out of sheer boredom, I decided to put Terrasite on, and omg I'm in an awe! There is no way how to describe this, except utter mind blow! I remember some debate about the vocals, but imo they completely carry the whole thing! Especially when it comes to that growing/clean/whatever style of vocalizing. So, I'm stunned how this band evolved during this years, and yeah, now I can see why all the fuss about them. They clearly deserve all the praise!

sure but I have to give you a premise or a confession: I'm not a fan of The Rack(Maybe cause production)

1)Last one on Earth
2)On Wings of Inferno
3)Embrace the death
4The Rack
5)Asphyx Asphyx (thank only the version of Thoughts of an Atheist and production)if only that was on The Rack…)
6)God Cries (decent but not sound like Asphyx)

Quartz - They Do Magic

Their latest one is full of these excellent songs. You can be a metalhead and not know Quartz. But if you like it fucking old and classy, do yourself a favor and check them out.

Quartz - Stand Up and Fight

I'd heard their first album waaaay back when I first started listening to metal, but never got to any of the others. This is really cool.

Rush - Hemispheres

Such a masterpiece.

Hammers of Misfortune - Overtaker

This is always so good and fascinating to me.