Metal Thread II: Son of Metal Thread

[Xray the Enforcer]

all of a sudden I freeze and actually say out loud "did I just hear some fucking cowbell?"

:rofl: this just made my day.

[Rane]

I've always been a bit partial to Blast Tyrant, but I'll have to give some of their earlier stuff a try then. I do remember hearing some stuff off of their first (or second?) album and not caring for Neil's singing style on it.

Their first album (Transnational Speedway League) does sound different than the rest of their work... but from the second and onwards it's their trademark sound.

[Black Wizard]

Not so impressed with new Megadeth, myself. I mean, it's OK, and it has the proper classic Megadeth sound with widdliness and solos and whatnot, but the lack of any memorable tunes or riffs is a real downside. The only track that stands out is the one they released for advance download anyway, so buying the whole album was a bit of a nonevent.

I got into it a bit more after a few listens and I've decided that '44 minutes' is the best song on the CD. It's not as good as the last album though.

[Yagathai]

I have spent the evening becoming reacquainted with two of my all-time favorite bands, Goatsnake (which is definitely metal) and Clutch, which ain't exactly but it's close enough for government work.

I now feel like moshing with my cats.

[Space Bandito]

Been listening to Pelican. Was just introduced to them this weekend. I like.

As for the new Megadeth? Music wise it is high quality thrash, their best in years. But Dave seems to be over doing it bit with the snarls and the lyrics suffer for it. I don't know. This is coming from a guy who worshiped Megadeth growing up and I just miss singing Mustaine. :unsure:

[MercenaryChef]

the talk of megadeth has caused me to put on So Far, So Good... So What! fuck, what an album. it has terrific pace and power even to this day. 'in my darkest hour' is probably one of the strongest songs dave and friends has ever put together. some of the songs have so many different riffs of quality that he could have culled a couple from each song and written several other songs. a lot of people are not fans of his sarcastic snarling vocal style, but i love it. i will personally pass on new megadeth. the memories and joy i have of the older material are good enough for me.

[Xray the Enforcer]

Asmegin -- Hin Vordende Sod & Sø

This one's a definite keeper for those who like their folk metal. It's lively, but not nearly as annoyingly repetitive as humpaa frequently is, and it avoids some of the cheesetasticness of bands who crank up the folk because they're trying too hard to be, well, folk. In fact, this will be one of the folk metal releases I return to often. One of the album's strengths is the variety of tempos and musical approaches -- you get black metal, brutal death metal, folk metal, acoustic interludes, insanely fast drumming, male and female vocals, harmonizing(!)...on paper it sounds like a dog's dinner, but it really coalesces into something compelling. At least, IMHO.

Tracks:

Huldradans - Hin Grønnkledde

Over Ægirs vidstragte Sletter

Vargr i Véum - Eilivs Bane

Blodhevn

[Xray the Enforcer]

Those who enjoy doom -- specifically, psychedelic stoner doom -- might wish to check out Ufomammut. I only got the first track off their album "Snailking," but it does exactly what it says on the tin: stoner doom metal with weird psychedelic and Pink Floyd influences. It's not something I'm really into, but I am sure a few boarders in this thread might be interested in that kind of music.

Here's a link to someone who has heard the whole album: http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=58381

[Black Wizard]

I am going to see Dream Theater on Sunday. I am terribly excited about it. :D This will be the third time I've seen them since summer 07.

[Durckad]

I am going to see Dream Theater on Sunday. I am terribly excited about it. :D This will be the third time I've seen them since summer 07.

Nice.

Have fun. Dream Theater is a band that I'd love to see live... if I could drag anyone along with me. Too bad I don't really know any DT fans IRL.

[arcticstoat]

King's X was the opener and I had never really listened to them, but they were entertaining enough. Might check out some stuff by them.

Ahh, King's X. My good lady wife directed me to this thread to make some King's X recommendations, as I've been a big fan of theirs for a long time. My advice is to stick with the first six albums, as they all start to get a bit hit and miss after that. If you're new to the band, I suggest checking out these albums in the following order:

Dogman - Easily the band's most accessible (and best produced) album. It's got a great mix of the weirdy harmonies and heavy, scrappy guitar riffs that make up the band's distinctive sound, while also featuring loads of great and accessible tracks. This should have been the album that catapulted them into the mainstream, but it was sadly not to be.

Gretchen Goes to Nebraska - The band's second album sounds a little cheesy and dated now, but it also has some of the best tracks that the band has ever done. Over My Head, for example, is a great rock track unlike any other, and the whole album has a unique and atmospheric sound.

Ear Candy - Often under-rated by the press, this is what I consider to be the last classic album by the band. There's a good combination of rocking grooves (Looking for Love), Beatles-esque harmonies (American Cheese) and this album also starts to see the band questioning their Christian faith in the lyrics.

King's X - Depending on which version you get, this is the album that features Junior's Gone Wild from the Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey soundtrack (the riff from the song featured in a whole two seconds of the film!). In terms of classic King's X guitar riffs, this is absolutely great. The central riff in The World Around Me is one of my favourite quirky-yet-heavy- King's X riffs, and almost makes up for the loony creationism in the song's lyrics. Black Flag is also a classic King's X rock track, and Dream in My Life is a great ballad. Sadly there's also quite a lot of indistinctive meh tracks, but the good ones make up for this.

Out of the Silent Planet - The band's first album sounds a bit weak compared to the others now, but there's still nothing else like it. The lyrics are also overwhelmingly Christian (which is a bit embarrassing to listen to if you're an atheist like me, although I loved the lyrics when I was a Christian...), but there are still some great tunes on here. The first track in particular is a really atmospheric opener.

Faith Hope Love - Like the self-titled album, this is a mix of both the brilliant tracks and the forgettable. We are Finding Who We Are, It's Love, We Were Born To Be Loved and Mr Wilson are all brilliant, but you also have to suffer the tedium of Moanjam and the title track in the middle. This album saw the band really go overboard with the vocal harmonies, making it stand out particularly from the others, but it also lacks the heavy guitars of some of the later albums. Still worth having, though.

That's a bit of a simplistic summary, but it should give you an idea of what to look for in the King's X back catalogue. If you're looking for more then it's also worth checking out Black Like Sunday, which was made up of outtakes from earlier material and is certainly the best of the newer albums. Have to admit that I've not heard XV yet - anyone know if it's any good?

[Black Wizard]

I just checked out Bigelf and Unexpect (the first two support bands for Dream Theater's UK tour). Bigelf have decent songs that will probably work well live, but they are a bit odd. Unexpect are shit, there's no two ways about it.

Opeth are the main support act. I haven't listened to them in years so I'll have to catch up on them.

[Yagathai]

Those who enjoy doom -- specifically, psychedelic stoner doom -- might wish to check out Ufomammut. I only got the first track off their album "Snailking," but it does exactly what it says on the tin: stoner doom metal with weird psychedelic and Pink Floyd influences. It's not something I'm really into, but I am sure a few boarders in this thread might be interested in that kind of music.

Here's a link to someone who has heard the whole album: http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=58381

You got any of this for me, or of Asmegin?

[ApatheticGoon]

Morbid Anal Fog is a bm act that truly captures the misanthropy and hopeless futility of not being under the influence of smack, acid and Norwegians. Look them up on YouTube.

[Black Wizard]

Dream Theater's performance was excellent on Sunday, although I was dissapointed with the set list. They played for 1hr45 with only seven songs (some of which are pretty long) and there were way too many guitar and keyboard solos for my liking. If they'd have stopped showing off then they could have fitted in something cool like 'Honour thy Father'.

[Yagathai]

They played for 1hr45 with only seven songs

That's a complaint?

Have you... have you listened Dream Theater at all before? ;)

[Tsavong Lah]

That's a complaint?

Have you... have you listened Dream Theater at all before? ;)

Both times I've seen them they've played for a full 3 hours with a 15 minute intermission.

Of course, they never had an opener either time. If they had an opening act that might explain the shorter set-list.

[Durckad]

Dream Theater's performance was excellent on Sunday, although I was dissapointed with the set list. They played for 1hr45 with only seven songs (some of which are pretty long) and there were way too many guitar and keyboard solos for my liking. If they'd have stopped showing off then they could have fitted in something cool like 'Honour thy Father'.

As much as I like DT and their recent stuff (Black Clouds is meh and Systematic Chaos is not bad, but Octavarium is fucking excellent) that's what they've been transitioning to lately. Wanky guitar solo -> keyboard solo -> dueling guitars and keyboards!

;)

[lessthanluke]

Any fans of Abigail Williams? They are playing near me soon but I haven't really heard alot of their stuff.

[Xray the Enforcer]

I don't know much about them, LtL. Alas. :|

I just picked up Wintersun's 2006 s/t -- it's really odd. Like Asmegin, it's a bit all over the place in terms of musical styles: melodic death metal, folk metal, power metal, some black metal. But I don't feel that it meshes as well as the Asmegin record did. It is, in fact, the sonic equivalent of a dog's dinner. It could just be that I'm feeling cranky -- I really shouldn't be reviewing albums I've only heard twice, but I'm just not enjoying this album very much. Bah.

OTOH, Mitochondrion is entertaining and aggravating in equal turns. The production is murky, which short-changes the guitars (it sounds like they might be doing some awesome stuff, but it's really hard to tell), but I guess they made-do with what they had, and I can't get too pissy about that. They have a two-vocalist attack: 1 death-metal growler and 1 black-metal shrieker. It shouldn't work, but it does -- especially when they're growling/shrieking simultaneously at each other. The music -- it's in the same vein as Deimlich or Wormed: complex, thick, pummeling experimental metal. This isn't music that'll make you want to mosh, or headbang, or anything like that. You'll just be standing there thinking "holy fuck. that was HEAVY."