LISTMANIA 2015: WIL CIFER’S TOP 10 DOOM METAL ALBUMS OF 2015

 LISTMANIA 2015  13 Responses »
Dec 302015
 

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(This is Part 4 of Wil Cifer’s five-part year-end list. Part 1 focused on “Mainstream” metal, Part 2 on black metal, and Part 3 on death metal.)

This one was the hardest list so far. I need darkness and a sense of loss emoted from my doom. Though there is a far wider range of emotions expressed in the following albums, drugged bliss, anger, and introspective melancholy are a few of the more prominent ones. Some have a dash of death metal to them, others shoe-gaze or blues. Funeral doom is my favorite sub-genre, and there is a fair showing of that. Some bands you might have expected to see here could be popping up on other lists to some extent, as their sound has changed. When it came to ranking my top ten doom metal albums of the year, it came down to which albums I have listened to more and see myself continuing to go back to.

10. Swallow the Sun – “Songs From the North”

In today’s iPod-shuffling and ADD culture, a double album is ambitious, and even becoming an obscure phenomenon as more artists are reluctant even to invest in more than an EP with today’s diminishing record sales. Swallow the Sun took a step in an even bolder direction by putting out a triple album. The three albums offer a wide range of tastes into the varied sub-genres doom touches upon, even mellowing out into a more prog direction. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2015: WIL CIFER’S TOP 10 DEATH METAL ALBUMS OF 2015

 LISTMANIA 2015  2 Responses »
Dec 292015
 

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(Here’s Part 3 of Wil Cifer’s five-part year-end list. Parts 1 and 2 can be found here and here.)

While death metal doesn’t get as much air time with me, I am no stranger to the genre, having bought my first death metal album Leprosy in 1988. From there Morbid Angel and Deicide would become my favorite death metal bands, with Incantation, Obituary, Cancer, Nocturnus, and Unleashed picking up the slack. As with all things, the darker the better, so that will factor in as we leave no grave unturned and dig into the best of 2015.

This list is going to touch on every aspect of the genre, sometimes getting so melodic I had to question if they were death metal and then give the album another listen to ease my doubts. There was not one sub-genre or genre that dominated this year. Though I tend to lean more toward the doomier and more blackened side, we still have more traditional, tech, and experimental death metal bands making good showings. So here are my top ten death metal albums, ranked according to which ones got the most rotation on my iPod.

10. Vehemence – “Forward Without Motion”

Certainly could have stood to listen to this one more, but I suppose I’m not always in need of this much shredding mixed in with my death metal. It was a guitar player’s album for sure. The drummer was no slouch either, but the focus is more on the sweep arpeggios. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2015: WIL CIFER’S TOP 10 BLACK METAL ALBUMS OF 2015

 LISTMANIA 2015  9 Responses »
Dec 282015
 

NCS Best of 2015 graphic

 

(This is the second of a five-part year-end list by Wil Cifer. Part One can be found here, and we’ll have the remaining three parts over the next three days.)

In sorting through the black metal albums that stuck with me this year, the key seemed to be diversity. Blast beats for the sake of blast beats have grown stale. These are the bands who took the conventional trappings of black metal and made them their own, and created the kind of music that I looked forward to hearing.

Most of these bands added other elements, ranging from death metal to folk to prog, as they broadened the bounds of black metal rather than just remaining cvlt enough to not be false. This year the bands hail from a little of everywhere: Norway and Sweden still have a presence, but so do America, France, Portugal, Italy, and Iceland. So grab a bic and get ready to torch some churches ‘cus here we go…. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2015: WIL CIFER’S TOP 10 MAINSTREAM METAL ALBUMS

 LISTMANIA 2015  3 Responses »
Dec 242015
 

NCS Best of 2015 graphic

 

(Wil Cifer has written a five-part year-end series that includes top albums in the genres of black metal, death metal, doom, and experimental/progressive metal, but the first part of the series is this one.)

First, before the weeping of the message board rises to a fever pitch, “Mainstream” here is not referring to bands selling out, playing arenas, or becoming a household name, though some of those things might apply to a few of the bands on this list. “Mainstream” in this case means too middle-of-the-road to belong on the Top Ten lists for more extreme forms of metal such as black metal, death metal, doom metal… you get the picture. They could appeal to your average metalhead who does not just listen to cassette pressings limited to only 200 copies. So in other words, in most cases these bands are not ones I would be able to cover over at my other home Cvlt Nation. The bulk of this is just fun, driving-to-the-liquor-store metal.

These are ranked thanks to my Last.fm in the order of which got the most rotation on my iPod. It’s fine for an album to be highly regarded for its artistic merit, but what is a great piece of sonic art really worth if it’s not inspiring me to come back to for repeat listens? Continue reading »

LIVE UNDEAD: A SNAPSHOT OF LIVE METAL IN 2015

 Concert Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 302015
 

 

(Wil Cifer penned these reviews of three November shows in Atlanta, Georgia.)

Here’s a snapshot of metal onstage and in the flesh. Over the course of the past week I caught three different metal shows at three different venues with the genres spanning from industrial to thrash to black metal.

The first of these was almost on the periphery of what most might consider metal when Author & Punisher played The Earl, a hipster dive bar with a venue in the back.

We arrived just in time to catch the Portland duo Muscle and Marrow. Never really gave their last studio album The Human Cry the time to immerse myself in it, but their live show changed the way I think of them. There are metal elements to what they do, but I would not call them a metal band. Even then, of the three shows, I would say they were the most emotionally heavy band of the week. This was channeled in a very honest physical manner. Singer/ guitarist Kira Clark’s voice goes from an almost black-metal-like scathing scream to a vulnerable soprano. The duo implemented samples and layers of vocals triggered from a laptop off stage, but in comparison to Author & Punisher they were very organic. Continue reading »

HOODED MENACE: “DARKNESS DRIPS FORTH”

 Album Reviews  9 Responses »
Nov 032015
 

Hooded Menace-Darkness Drips Forth

 

(Wil Cifer reviews the new album by Finland’s Hooded Menace.)

By my lights, 2015 hasn’t been a big year for doom. Doom releases have been sparse, and when I say doom I am not talking retro stoner crap, but something that crushes your spirit in a mournful manner. I am pleased to say that the Finnish Doom merchants of Hooded Menace continue to bring it.

They come from the more deathly school of doom but their riffs still weep blood, so the death metal influence doesn’t bother me here. Speaking of weep, most bands would bore you to tears with a twelve-minute opener, but these guys suspend time and keep you in the moment. They are not afraid of picking up the pace without losing their grasp of darkness by going into a stoner rock boogie. Even when indulging in weird breakdowns they maintain their momentum. Continue reading »

DEAFHEAVEN: “NEW BERMUDA”

 Album Reviews  10 Responses »
Sep 282015
 

Deafheaven-New Bermuda

 

(Wil Cifer reviews the new album by Deafheaven.)

Deafheaven are not the first black metal band to inject elements of post-rock and shoe-gaze into the mix, things that bands like Amesoeurs and Agalloch are praised for. Deafheaven did this without the use of clean singing as well. They became a point of contention with their 2013 album Sunbather. It was praised by the more mainstream press and found the band bringing their brand of so-called black metal to such questionable audiences as Bonnaroo. Accusations of the band being “Hipster Metal” flew on message boards everywhere.

Then there are those who could not put Sunbather on enough top ten lists and listed this new one as one of the most anticipated albums of 2015, before the band stepped into the studio. Can this album live up to the hype? Continue reading »

IRON MAIDEN: “THE BOOK OF SOULS”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  8 Responses »
Aug 312015
 

Iron Maiden-The Book of Souls

 

(Wil Cifer reviews what may be the final studio album by a band named Iron Maiden.)

Iron Maiden is right behind Black Sabbath when it comes being one of the most revered classic metal bands of all time. This is for good reason, as they have maintained tons of integrity over the years, even if they did break down and use keyboards and made the poor choice of trying to replace Bruce with Blaze. Line-up changes and tweaks to nuances in their sound aside, in the bigger picture of their legacy, they have never really whored themselves out by appearing on American Idol, which sadly is something Rob Halford cannot say. So for me the bar is held really high when it comes to this band, and if you have any questions as to my devotion, all I need say is that I have The Number of the Beast album cover tattooed on my left forearm… what do you got? So I have been upping the Irons since 1984.

Going into this album, the trepidation I had in regard to how it would uphold their legacy was due to the Dickinson’s much publicized battle with throat cancer and how that would affect his voice. Then there was the cowbell-infected lead single off the album, “Speed of Light”, which might have quelled my fears of “will Bruce still have it” and replaced them with “will this album be filled with cheesy rock n roll”? Continue reading »

MY DYING BRIDE: “FEEL THE MISERY”

 Album Reviews  8 Responses »
Aug 242015
 

My Dying Bride-Feel the Misery

 

(Wil Cifer reviews the new album by My Dying Bride.)

Type-O Negative might have gotten bigger with their more Goth-infused brand of doom in the ’90s, but My Dying Bride brought the dismal darkness in a heavier and more mournful fashion. They started off with more death metal in the mix and evolved from there. This album is another step.

Aaron Stainthorpe’s voice is the only trademark of the band in the opener until it slows down at the two-and-half-minute mark. The violin feels a tad toned-down in the mix. Each song becomes a little more identifiable as the death metal vocals return on the second song. They are layered atop an up-beat metal gallop that slows into the dirges they are known for. Continue reading »

THE MAYHEM FEST AND THE STATE OF MAINSTREAM METAL

 Concert Reviews  9 Responses »
Jul 312015
 

 

(Wil Cifer attended part of the Rockstar Mayhem Festival stop in Atlanta on July 29, 2015, and has a few thoughts about what he witnessed.)

There is no news like bad news, and the inner webs are quick to let you know it. So it’s no secret that this year’s Mayhem Festival has been getting more than its fair share of anti-hype. Kerry King spoke out against the lineup, saying “you need talent to make people feel like spending that much money”. I’m not sure if that was a self-deprecating stab at his own band or he really feels like going out with some bands the high school kids seem to love is mandatory career suicide.

The Mayhem Fest co-founder has gone on record saying the metal genre is in trouble because there are not many younger bands that have headlining power and blames the older bands for not taking less money, like punk rock bands, in order to benefit the scene. So I was curious when I checked the tour out myself. Continue reading »

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