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Metal Thread Vol. VIII -- The Angry Red Planet


Xray the Enforcer

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And 'lo, it is time to start another metal thread. \m/



I'll move my last comment in the old thread here:



I have just spent almost my entire record-buying budget on a single purchase: a comprehensive Order From Chaos box set, die hard edition. Twelve LPs, plus a number of odds and ends, including patches for BATTLEHAT. The fucker weighs 15 pounds.



For those who haven't heard OFC -- if you're into any of the gnarlier subgenres, you might want to check them out. Specifically, start with An Ending In Fire. It's some dense, murky, oppressive shit, in the best possible way.



(thread title comes from a track on An Ending In Fire that both Mr. X and I enjoy immensely.)


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Continuing from the discussion on 2014 releases - I'm still backlogged on my BandCamp collection (some phenomenal new stuff in there) and have barely listened to any "mainstream" stuff from this past year. I didn't even know there was a new Primordial! :stunned: Must rectify in time for best of the year list.

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Just getting into metal since it's fresh to hear something harsh and rage-filled instead of all the sappy pop music that is on radio everyday nowadays.



Korn and Rage Against The Machine are the favorites at the moment, with Chris Cornell growing on me too.


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And the Best of 2014 lists are starting to appear. Here's Decibel's:

1. Pallbearer – Foundations of Burden
2. At The Gates – At War With Reality
3. Horrendous – Ecdysis
4. Triptykon – Melana Chasmata
5. Godflesh – A World Lit Only By Fire
6. Thou – Heathen
7. YOB – Clearing the Path to Ascend
8. Vallenfyre – Splinters
9. Panopticon – Roads to the North
10. Morbus Chron – Sweven
11. Dead Congregation – Promulgation of the Fall
12. Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds
13. Woods of Desolation – As The Stars
14. Tombs – Savage Gold
15. Krieg – Transient
16. Iron Reagan – The Tyranny of Will
17. Cult of Fire – मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान
18. Gridlink – Longhenna
19. The Oath – The Oath
20. Behemoth – The Satanist
21. Agalloch – The Serpent & The Sphere
22. Autopsy – Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves
23. Primordial – Where Greater Men Have Fallen
24. Beyond Creation – Earthborn Evolution
25. Wreck & Reference – Want
26. Teitanblood – Death
27. Trap Them – Blissfucker
28. Young and in the Way – When Life Comes to Death
29. Mastodon – Once More ‘Round the Sun
30. Eyehategod – Eyehategod
31. Cretin – Stranger
32. Midnight – No Mercy for Mayhem
33. Thantifaxath – Sacred White Noise
34. Lord Mantis – Death Mask
35. Mayhem – Esoteric Warfare
36. Cannibal Corpse – A Skeletal Domain
37. Solstafir – Otta
38. Execration – Morbid Dimensions
39. Incantation – Dirges of Elysium
40. Floor – Oblation

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Nice list. Personal favorites (from what I've heard) in that one:

1. Pallbearer – Foundations of Burden
6. Thou – Heathen
9. Panopticon – Roads to the North
13. Woods of Desolation – As The Stars

14. Iron Reagan - The Tyranny of WIll

17. Cult of Fire – मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान

21. Agalloch – The Serpent & The Sphere

Several of those will earn spots on my own end-of-year list; Thou, Panopticon and Agalloch for sure.

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I am still waiting to hear that one. Hopefully soon!



So, the new Vader. It's about 50% killer, 25% passable, and 25% WTF. The last track on the album version I have (which is a cover) is an embarrassment and completely marred the entire listening experience. Turns out, it's some digipack bonus track. But the damage is done. Sadly, the most interesting track on my version is ALSO a bonus track called Necropolis. It isn't listed as a cover, but by god it sounds like one. Totally different sound than regular Vader, and highly engaging.



Anyway, so die-hard Vader fans will like this album in direct proportion to how much patience they have for extra synthesizers.


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1. Pallbearer – Foundations of Burden

3. Horrendous – Ecdysis

5. Godflesh – A World Lit Only By Fire

7. YOB – Clearing the Path to Ascend

10. Morbus Chron – Sweven

12. Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds

14. Tombs – Savage Gold

17. Cult of Fire – मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान

21. Agalloch – The Serpent & The Sphere

23. Primordial – Where Greater Men Have Fallen

29. Mastodon – Once More ‘Round the Sun

40. Floor – Oblation

That's what I've heard off of that list. Oblation did not do much for me at all.

Savage Gold was fucking boring.

Bloodstones & Diamonds is maybe a little too long and, as a result, has some filler. Need to spend more time with it before I can say.

The Serpent & The Sphere is very good and a bit of a grower, but it might be one of their weaker releases. It's been a while since I've listened so I think I need to go back and give it another spin and see how I feel.

Once More 'Round The Sun is good when I listen to it but ultimately completely fails to excite me in any way whatsoever. I liked The Hunter better. That album at least had some 'fuck you weird' tracks on it to keep things interesting.

Sweven is some good death metal with some great production. About half of the songs are really, really great and the other half are just kinda there. If you like yourself some death metal then Sweven is something you might want to listen to.

However, if you are a fan of death metal, then you need to listen to Ecdysis. Awesome album with a lot of variety while still staying firmly in the boney clutches of death metal. There's some speedy, thrashy bits, some slow, bone-crushing moments, and even some old-school straight-up metal bits too. Great album with some excellent production and easily one of the best of the year.

Foundations of Burden completely failed to live up to the hype. It's good doom metal, don't get me wrong, but that's it. YOB fucking destroys it. Clearing The Path To Ascend may be typically YOB, but it's crushingly heavy. It will likely make its way into my end-of-the-year list with Ecdysis.

Cult of Fire, Godflesh, and Primordial I still need to listen to some more before I pass any judgement.

For albums that did not make it onto that list but deserve mention:

Evergrey - Hymns For The Broken - This might make it onto my list, not quite sure yet. I wasn't an Evergrey fan before I listened to this but some good reviews and word-of-mouth made me take a chance and pick this up. I'm glad I did because this is a very good album overall. I'm not sure how it stacks up against their other albums but this one is definitely a good one to check out for those who like Evergrey's sound.

Darkest Era - Severance - Want an idea of what this band sounds like? Take Primordial, add a touch of epic doom in the vein of While Heaven Wept, throw in some black metal riffing and mix it all with the soaring, galloping melodies of Iron Maiden. This is a great fucking album and I was listening to it a lot when it first came out. Everyone who loves some epic metal should give this a listen because it will likely end up near the top of my end of the year list.

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Totally not prepared to give full reviews of anything, but recent listens have yielded:



Primordial -- Crowd-pleaser. The opening track is totally redundant, but there are some gems hidden in the rest of the album.


Gridlink -- Technical grindcore may be my new favorite subbgenre. Totally OTT music, but at only 1:30 a track, there's no time to get annoyed. Lyrics are totally fitting to my general impression of 2014. This may make my year-end list. I remember seeing them at some MDF [eta: holy shit, back in 2010]. Blistering live.


Godflesh -- They've discovered Helmet.


Horrendous -- jury is still out


Cretin -- I remember these ladies/gentlemen from back in the day. Crushing deathgrind, but the shtick wears thin quickly.


Agalloch -- jury still out


Teitanblood -- Their last full length was better


Lord Mantis -- jury still out. have seen them live and zzzzzzzz.


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