BRUNCH OF BOOZE

 IQ Subtraction  15 Responses »
Dec 292011
 

JAck Dagnellz!  Unformed chicken fetuses!  Bacon!  Candied bacon!  Bacon bits!  Jack ‘n’ yoke!  White Russian cereal!

(Wait, isn’t that redundant?  Aren’t all Russians white?)

Pancake batter!  More pancake batter!  Donut ‘o egg!  More fucken JAck, haters!

While I finish waking up and then working on the next epic post, watch these fuckin guys get toasted and make big mounds of disgusting food.  I’m talking to the 2 or 3 of you who don’t already subscribe to the Epic Meal Time YousTubes channel.  After the yump.

And don’t give me that shit like you got something better to do than watch this.  I’m not buying it.  Unless you’re still listening to all that music in Andy’s post.  But even then, you can take a break, make yourself sick to your stomach, and then go back and finish off all the tunes.  Be sure to stick your finger down your throat first, so the nausea doesn’t interfere with the listening.  That’s what I do.  Pancake batter! Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

 THE SYNN REPORT  15 Responses »
Dec 292011
 

(Andy Synn provides an unexpected SYNN REPORT, seizing upon the imminent calendar change to discuss the re-recording of 12 songs by 12 tremendous bands — and of course we’re including the music, which means 24 tracks. Fuck, this would be a mixtape that KILLS.)

So here it is, a surprise Synn Report to finish off the year. Arbitrary though the distinction may well be, the end of the year provides a perfect excuse to attend to a similar theme, the transition from the old to the new – re-workings and re-recordings.

Are they better? That’s an argument for the ages? Are they necessary? Hell, that’s probably an even worse argument to start up…

Primarily, re-recordings serve a twofold purpose – 1. to reinvigorate songs that might otherwise not be getting the set-time they deserve, and 2. – to royally piss off a band’s fan-base. Although there’s a chance that the second isn’t entirely intentional. Still, the re-recorded album courts controversy like almost no other, whether it’s a varied collection of songs that are chosen to receive the treatment, or a full re-recording of an entire album.

The full re-recording of an entire album is clearly the most contentious option, while single track re-recordings are often a much more successful and welcome proposition, most often appearing as b-sides and bonus tracks for the avid collector. The full-album re-recording, however, remains exceptionally and unequivocally divisive, alienating as many old fans as it attracts new ones.

So here’s a list of some of those renewed tracks that I think definitely have something to offer the listener, both old and new. I’m sure I’ll have to turn in my kvlt card after this, for promoting something so new and shiny, but ah well… Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2011’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 3

 Exceptions to the Rule, MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2011  6 Responses »
Dec 282011
 

This is Part 3 of our list of the most infectious extreme metal songs released this year. Each day until the list is finished, I’m posting two songs that made the cut. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the Introduction via this link. To see the selections that preceded this one, click the Category link on the right side of the page called MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2011.

The first song in today’s feature comes from Deathstar Rising, the 2011 album released by Finland’s Before the Dawn. The band was started in 1999 by the prolific Tuomas Saukkonen (also a member of Black Sun Aeon, Dawn of Solace, and RoutaSielu), and that 2011 album is their sixth. Although I reviewed the band’s immediately preceding album, Soundscape of Silence (2008), I neglected Deathstar Rising on this site. Actually, I believe that qualifies as criminal neglect, because I enjoyed the fuck out of that record. As punishment, I’m hoping for probation instead of hard time.

Before the Dawn’s success comes down to two principal factors, which are fully displayed on Deathstar Rising: skilled song-writing that effectively combines hard-driving riffs and rhythms with dark, beautiful, hook-filled melodies; and, on the last four albums, an amazing one-two vocal punch delivered by Saukkonen (whose harsh delivery is killer) and bass player Lars Eikind, whose clean vocals are just as remarkable. (Yes, this band is one of our Exceptions To the Rule.) Continue reading »

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  15 Responses »
Dec 282011
 

Last night and this morning I saw two new music videos that made an impression. By chance, both bands are from Russia — Impact Fuze and Welicoruss. Though the videos could hardly be more different from each other, both musically and visually, joining them together here just struck me as the right thing to do (and I haven’t even been hitting the vodka) — two sides of a Russian coin: the urban and the rural, the new and the old, a forest of skyscrapers and a forest of pines, the bustle of mechanization and a clash of swords.

IMPACT FUZE

TheMadIsraeli sent me a link to this band’s video for a song called “Moscow”. Impact Fuze consists of three extremely talented musicians — guitarist Fedor Dosumov, bass-player Anton Davidyants, and a French drummer named Damien Schmitt. “Moscow” isn’t really metal. The musical style is closer to jazz/rock fusion, but the performances are so extraordinary that I couldn’t resist this video.

Dosumov’s guitar playing reaches jaw-dropping levels of dexterity and creativity, reminding me of great ones like Pat Metheny, Allan Holdsworth, and Alex Skolnick (when he’s performing with his Trio). Schmitt is equally amazing, especially when he’s on his feet, hitting the skins while spinning like a top. And Davidyants is a match for them on the bass, bounding but tight as a drumhead.

The black-and-white video for the song is also an amazing achievement. It was produced and directed by Vladimir “voff” Youdanov, Tamara Cengic, and a team from a company called Voffilms. The imagery moves as fast as the performers, with time-lapse film of modern Moscow on the move interspersed with a visual kaleidoscope of the band performing the song. It’s an inspired union of music and film, one of the best videos I’ve seen all year. Continue reading »

The Best of 2011: Year-End Lists From DemiGodRaven

 Listmania  11 Responses »
Dec 282011
 

(The Number of the Blog may have drifted out to sea in a blazing longboat, its spirit soaring on flames toward the Valhalla of metal blogdom, but its writers are still with us, and we’ve opened our doors to them until something new rises from the ashes. Today, we’re delighted to post a series of year-end lists and awards from that pillar of TNOTB, DemiGodRaven.)

Hey folks! So uh….how are you all?

I’d honestly thought that I would take the time that TNOTB was down to disappear for a little bit and recharge, then come back full steam ahead, but sadly things didn’t go the way Grover and I had planned them, so we find ourselves in the welcoming arms of Islander and the NCS crew. It has been an absolute pleasure being the court jester/news guy/reviewer over at TNOTB, so thanks to those of you who read my various ramblings over the past two years.

But enough reminiscing, because it is 2011 and I have to fulfill my last obligatory duty as an egomaniacal blogger and issue my top arbitrary number of reasons that my music taste is better than yours for 2011. Originally, I wasn’t planning to number this list since I think that, as I have gotten older (you know, by a whole year), the blood in my veins has cooled somewhat and my desire for conflict has dropped dramatically. This was supposed to be a sort of peaceful declaration of how I had moved beyond numbering things and just wanted to list 10 discs that really stood out for me this year. I’ll be goddamned if I didn’t find myself subconsciously ordering the damn thing anyway because as soon as I wrapped up this list and gave it a quick glance over I noted that the way this thing lined up was pretty fucking close to my enjoyment of each album.

A note though: 2011 was an absolutely incredible year for music, and even though the albums on here may not be consistent with the ratings I gave them over at TNOTB (you guys can go look them up if you want!), this really became an archive of albums that got the most spins from me this year. Also, as I wrapped up this list I started writing out stuff that I wanted to include as well, which I didn’t bother to order and kept small, so once you are done with my 10 keep scrolling down and see what else I thought about this year. Continue reading »

HAIL SANTA! – A LATE PRESENT FOR YOU

 Metal News  1 Response »
Dec 272011
 

I just noticed this, a few days late: Nuclear Blast compiled a free 25-track sampler of songs from the label’s artists as a Christmas gift to metalheads. It’s a strong line-up of music, and coincidentally includes a song from a Finnish band — Battle Beast — who were included in fireangel’s year-end list on NCS and who were signed by Nuclear Blast just in the last two weeks. I count 11 other bands whose music we’ve featured or reviewed on NCS this year. Here’s the track list (it continues after the jump):

01 Destruction – The Price
02 Hell – Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us
03 Demonaz – All Blackened Sky
04 Scar Symmetry – lluminoid Dream Sequence
05 Chrome Division – Bulldogs Unleashed
06 Hammerfall – One More Time
07 Pain – Dirty Woman
08 Rhapsody Of Fire – Aeons Of Raging Darkness (edit)
09 Symphony X – Dehumanized
10 Communic – Destroyer Of Bloodlines
11 Vader – Come And See My Sacrifice
12 Seven – Get It
13 Fleshgod Apocalypse – The Violation (edit)
14 Tasters – Please Destroy This World Continue reading »

2011 FAVORITES OF MICHAEL COOK (A HILL TO DIE UPON)

 Listmania  9 Responses »
Dec 272011
 

(We first came across A Hill To Die Upon in an October MISCELLANY post, and since then their name has continued to appear on our site — their 2011 album Omens made Andy Synn’s list of the year’s Great albums as well as his list of Personal Favorites, and we also posted this review of Omens. I asked the band’s drummer and backing vocalist Michael Cook if he would share with us his list of favorite albums from 2011, and lo and behold, he agreed.)

The Horde – Thy Blackened Reign (Stromspell Records)

Thy Blackened Reign is one of the best thrash albums ever. I can say that as a man completely uneducated in the school of thrash. So, of course, my opinion won’t hold much weight with thrash fans, but I can urge everyone to buy this album and listen to it. The drums are solid, the guitars are catchy and raw, and the vocals… are… killer… Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2011’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 2

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2011  16 Responses »
Dec 272011
 

Today we have Part 2 of this year’s list of the most infectious extreme metal songs, as determined by me and myself, but not the other parts of my fractured personality. To understand what this list is all about and how it was compiled, you may read the Introduction via this link. To see the selections that preceded this one, click the Category link on the right side of the page called MOST INFECTIOUS-2011.

Today’s first song should come as no surprise to anyone around these environs. Although Surtur Rising has been neglected on most year-end lists I’ve seen, I thought the album was a solid addition to Amon Amarth’s discography, with variety in the mood and pacing of the songs plus a satisfying helping of what we’ve all come to expect from a new release by Amon Amarth: catchy, galloping, Scandinavian melodic death metal suitable as accompaniment for fighting frost giants, or a night of raping and pillaging among close friends — or simply getting tanked to your eyebrows on hornfulls of mead.

Some have criticized Amon Amarth for being too predictable in their sound, but I guarantee you, if they changed the formula too much their fans would start burning shit to the ground like those Vikings on the album cover. Besides, it’s a winning formula in my alchemy book.

Surtur Rising includes several strong candidates for this list, but my favorite, and the one I think most infectious, is “War of the Gods”. In fact, I think it will take a rightful place in the pantheon of Amon Amarth classics. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2011’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 1

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2011  27 Responses »
Dec 262011
 

So, we begin. This is the first installment of this year’s list of the most infectious extreme metal songs, as determined by yours truly in his sole, defective discretion. To understand what this list is all about and how it was compiled, you may read the Introduction via this link.

Although my grand plans for how to begin this series were briefly derailed (as recounted here), I’ve bounced back. I still get to use my original pick for the second song in this Part 1 and I’ve found another song from the list of winners that will do nicely as a complement. I doubt it will shock anyone to learn that we’re starting with . . . death metal.

The first song featured today is by a Polish band called Nomad and it comes from their fourth full-length album, Transmigration of Consciousness, released in March of this year. I originally came across this band through a MISCELLANY post in February, in part because the band includes guitarist Seth from Behemoth, and then I later reviewed the album as a whole (here). To crib from that review, the album is “a kind of death-metal rave, a seamless flow of syncopated rhythms and synth-driven interludes that effectively combines elements of melodic black metal, industrial metal, and tyrannical death.”

The first song from the album that I heard remains my favorite. It’s called “Identity With Personification” and it makes for a nice ass-kicking launch to this series. Continue reading »

THE TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2011 – A LIST FROM JOHAN HULDTGREN (OBITUS)

 Listmania  10 Responses »
Dec 262011
 

(Continuing with this year’s edition of Listmania, I invited Johan Huldtgren of the killer black metal band Obitus to share with us his year-end list.  And if you don’t know about Obitus, here’s our review of their debut full-length, March of the Drones.)

Like last year Islander graciously asked me to provide my top ten, and who doesn’t revel in the opportunity to tell people how wrong they are and tell them what the top ten really should look like. For those interested in a bit more detail on these albums (and I really mean a bit – I am a man of few words), I have a post on each of the entries on this list on my blog (here).

10. Barghest – Barghest

Primitive and nasty USBM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FXHhlSeZB0
Continue reading »

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