riseofsetian1981
King Koopa
"I met him fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left."
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Post by riseofsetian1981 on Apr 25, 2018 13:26:44 GMT -5
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riseofsetian1981
King Koopa
"I met him fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left."
Posts: 10,323
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Post by riseofsetian1981 on Apr 25, 2018 15:34:17 GMT -5
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adamclark52
El Dandy
I'm one with the Force; the Force is with me
Posts: 8,139
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Post by adamclark52 on Apr 27, 2018 3:35:10 GMT -5
[the cover art for this one is probably too much for this forum]
Napalm Death - Coded Smears and Uncommon Slurs (2018)
Are compilation albums allowed to be in a persons top ten at the end of the year? Usually compilations are old stuff recorded years earlier that are put out just to fill a gap and remind people a band is still around. But Napalm Death just released a two disc compilation of b-sides and singles recorded between 2004 and 2015 and the material here is just as good as what's on their full albums.
It's incredible listening to this compilation to hear how the band has evolved in the last decade and is really hitting it's peak just now, thirty years into their career. The best stuff on this album is anything recorded during the Utilitarian or Apex Predator - Easy Meat sessions but there are some other goodies to be found, such as No Impediment to Triumph (Bhopal) from a split they did with Converge in 2012 and Legacy is Yesterday, which was released as a flexi-single with an issue of Decibel Magazine in 2011.
If you're a fan of Napalm Death this is essential, if you're wanting to get into the band this really isn't a bad place to start.
9/10
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riseofsetian1981
King Koopa
"I met him fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left."
Posts: 10,323
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Post by riseofsetian1981 on Apr 28, 2018 14:13:36 GMT -5
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J is Justice
Wade Wilson
Will now be grateful.
Hi.
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Post by J is Justice on Apr 28, 2018 20:42:56 GMT -5
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riseofsetian1981
King Koopa
"I met him fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left."
Posts: 10,323
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Post by riseofsetian1981 on May 2, 2018 1:11:43 GMT -5
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adamclark52
El Dandy
I'm one with the Force; the Force is with me
Posts: 8,139
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Post by adamclark52 on May 2, 2018 1:20:05 GMT -5
Cradle of Filth - Cryptoriana: The Seductiveness of Decay (2017)You can usually set your watch to Cradle of Filth albums. They don't often stray too far from the path that's been working for them for years. But the last few have just felt flat, tired and boring. People have been getting off their wagon the last few years and the bands stock has really dropped. The band must have noticed because they've been reinvigorated and this is the best album they've released since 2010's 'Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa', which was an album I really enjoyed but no one else seemed to like. So I'll go one better and say this is the best album they've put out since 2008's 'Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder', which was the last album I think they released that was universally liked. What really made this album enjoyable for me is they got away from the thrashy metal tendencies they'd been exploring on the last few albums and went back to the orchestral black metal from the days of yore. A lot of this album really reminded me of their prime work (1996's 'Dusk...and Her Embrace') just with the modern Cradle of Filth sound to it. A lot of the guitar work especially reminds me of Dusk...and Her Embrace and that's a welcome change. There's not much different from that. It's still Cradle of Filth it's just firing on all cylindars this time If there's any problem with the album it's that some (most) of the songs are too long. Not a single song clocks in at under six minutes and there are times when I'm ready for songs to be over. They're not bad though. It just feels at times like it's time to move on. I also didn't like the bonus track cover of Annihilators Allison Hell, but I just don't like that song in any form. I'd given up on Cradle of Filth and even waited over six months until I got around to this album. I wasn't even going to bother with it but I'd been hearing good things and in the end I'm glad I did. If you've been turned off of the band over the years for whatever reason this may not be a bad place to pick things back up again. 7.5/10
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adamclark52
El Dandy
I'm one with the Force; the Force is with me
Posts: 8,139
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Post by adamclark52 on May 2, 2018 1:43:46 GMT -5
the Body - All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood (2010)This is a pretty good album from the Body but what really kills it right out of the gate is the first song. The female choir is nice sounding but it goes on for almost seven minutes and that's about five minutes too long. I'd normally just skip it but then it goes into an actual song. By "actual song" that's if you consider what the Body do to be music but I digress. After that's out of the way it's another solid slab of sludge with some strange industrial samples thrown in. It's basically just distorted noise and a guy screaming for the most part and it's not their best album but it's still a good listen. This is a very interesting band that deserves more notice. 7.5/10
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adamclark52
El Dandy
I'm one with the Force; the Force is with me
Posts: 8,139
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Post by adamclark52 on May 2, 2018 2:33:16 GMT -5
Thou - The House Primordial (2018)Thou dropped a surprise EP on May 1st and normally I wouldn't care because I've never been a fan of the band. But the few opinions I read from a few friends on Facebook intrigued me: and that that was that they thought it was absolutely terrible. So sadistic curiosity drove me to want to hear it. And the funny thing was I really liked what I heard. My only exposure to Thou up to this point was the collaboration albums they did with the Body a few years ago and I never thought those albums were particularly good. But I never really blamed that on Thou because the Body can be hit or miss sometimes too. Maybe I should listen to the other things Thou has put out though? Or maybe I shouldn't? This album is apparently quite a departure for them so maybe I won't like their older stuff? Or maybe I'll love it so much and end up as disappointed by this as my friends were? They've compared this album to 1349's 'Revelations of the Black Flame', which was a complete turn about face for that band into darker and more ambient realms. I was one of the few people who loved that album. And those comparisons made perfect sense to me as to why I loved this album. The vocal songs can be a little much but I loved the instrumental interludes, which make up half of the album. But as the album goes along it ends up being all good. Even the vocals (which turned me off at first) grew on me and I heard something disgustingly beautiful in this album. f*** it, I really liked this album. 8.5/10
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J is Justice
Wade Wilson
Will now be grateful.
Hi.
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Post by J is Justice on May 2, 2018 21:42:37 GMT -5
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Gus Richlen Was Wrong
Patti Mayonnaise
Metal Maestro: Co-winner of the FAN Idol Throwdown!
Fun while it lasted
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Post by Gus Richlen Was Wrong on May 3, 2018 10:03:25 GMT -5
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riseofsetian1981
King Koopa
"I met him fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left."
Posts: 10,323
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Post by riseofsetian1981 on May 6, 2018 22:38:09 GMT -5
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J is Justice
Wade Wilson
Will now be grateful.
Hi.
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Post by J is Justice on May 7, 2018 6:17:14 GMT -5
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adamclark52
El Dandy
I'm one with the Force; the Force is with me
Posts: 8,139
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Post by adamclark52 on May 10, 2018 2:35:01 GMT -5
Our Place of Worship Is Silence - With Inexorable Suffering (2018)This was a really different, somewhat challenging album to listen to. I'll admit that I judged the book by its cover (literally, that cover is cool) and a few seconds I listened to on YouTube to see if it was anything I would be remotely interested in and thought I was getting an album that was in the vein of dank, death metal bands like Weregoat or Abyssal. After I ordered it I noticed it was on Transition Lost records and thought maybe it was an album in that vein but made by hipsters and maybe a bit more experimental. Instead it sounds like an album by a hardcore beatdown band trying to play that style of music. It's basically Harms Way or Xibalba trying to play Weregoat or Abyssal. It's not a bad album. It stays pretty much in the middle of those two styles for the most part. There are times when it swings more to the hardcore beatdown and they're fine. Mostly in the vocals and some breakdown-ish bits here and there. But then it swings over to the dank death metal bands with some of the solos and overall riffage. It never gets quite as chaotic as the dank death metal bands but never gets as clean sounding as the beatdown bands. The vocals as a whole are the prime example of how this album teeters between the two styles: it's Harms Way but with a ton of reverb. There were moments where I was enjoying it, then all of a sudden I was wondering if I was enjoying it, then it would move on and I was indeed enjoying it. The bass drop during the Decay Maxim sold me that this was a cool album with some good ideas going on. But, if I'm going to listen to hardcore beatdown I'm going to listen to Harms Way. And if I'm going to listen to dank death metal I'm going to listen to Abyssal. I'm sure if Our Place of Worship Is Silence comes up some time when I'm listening to random songs on my iTunes library of tens of thousands of songs I won't fast-forward them but I don't think I'm not going to bother with their other albums. Honestly, the cover artwork is the coolest thing about the album. That's a damn cool cover in my opinion. But I have a hard-on for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. 6.5/10
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adamclark52
El Dandy
I'm one with the Force; the Force is with me
Posts: 8,139
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Post by adamclark52 on May 11, 2018 2:17:48 GMT -5
the Melvins - Pinkus Abortion Technician (2018)Over the last couple of years I've been making great effort to embrace the Melvins latter years work. I know they're never going to release another Bullhead or Honky so I had to get over that and just take what it is for what it is. It turned out that a lot of the stuff I'd skipped over the last ten years really wasn't too bad. Then after all the effort I put in to start enjoying them again they released what may be the worst album in their entire catalogue. I read some negative reviews leading up to it and tried to not let the phrase "dad rock" sway me but I couldn't help it. The very first song Stop Moving to Florida started the album with pure butt-rock and I was instantly turned off. I think the first half is a cover of a James Gang song called Stop while the second half is a cover of a Butthole Surfers songs called Moving to Florida. The second half is at least a little better but I wasn't impressed at all. After that are a bunch of songs that did nothing for me. It didn't even sound like Buzz was singing most of them. Then there's the cover of the Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand, which was never my favourite Beatles song but the way they reworked the mid-verse riff was just atrocious. Then there's some other songs but when the album was over I was more than ready to move on with my life and never listen to it again. I'm not sure if this album is a joke or not because I'm not sure if anything the Melvins do isn't a joke. They're joined by Butthole Surfers bassist Jeff Pinkus and two of the songs are Butthole Surfers covers. Add the Beatles cover and there's only five original songs on this. They're at least tolerable. But this is something that should have stayed on the cutting room floor. It's making me question if I need to take another ten year hiatus from the Melvins newer releases. 1/10
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riseofsetian1981
King Koopa
"I met him fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left."
Posts: 10,323
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Post by riseofsetian1981 on May 11, 2018 23:52:32 GMT -5
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J is Justice
Wade Wilson
Will now be grateful.
Hi.
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Post by J is Justice on May 12, 2018 20:12:11 GMT -5
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Gus Richlen Was Wrong
Patti Mayonnaise
Metal Maestro: Co-winner of the FAN Idol Throwdown!
Fun while it lasted
Posts: 38,466
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Post by Gus Richlen Was Wrong on May 13, 2018 22:00:15 GMT -5
BRAND. NEW. Unless I posted it already and forgot.
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Post by brown bricks on May 13, 2018 22:00:53 GMT -5
I know not everyone's into them, but if you're a Ghost fan, you need to see them on this tour. I saw them in Chattanooga last week and it was an amazing show. No openers, just 2.5 hours of Ghost. The stage set-up is awesome and the new backup singer is probably the best part of the band now.
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Gus Richlen Was Wrong
Patti Mayonnaise
Metal Maestro: Co-winner of the FAN Idol Throwdown!
Fun while it lasted
Posts: 38,466
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Post by Gus Richlen Was Wrong on May 13, 2018 22:19:42 GMT -5
I know not everyone's into them, but if you're a Ghost fan, you need to see them on this tour. I saw them in Chattanooga last week and it was an amazing show. No openers, just 2.5 hours of Ghost. The stage set-up is awesome and the new backup singer is probably the best part of the band now. I would but Milwaukee is a bit further than I'd prefer to go. Then again, I'm also contemplating seeing Metallica in Madison and that's a long distance from me as well.
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