Alcest - Les Voyages de l'âmeProbably because I'm a big Alcest fan more than anything, but I think this holds up better than a lot of other people. Also the only 'black metal' I'd ever play my mom. I do enjoy the single
Autre Temps, but the AMG is right that
Faiseurs De Mondes is a real standout.
Dodecahedron - DodecahedronThis is an immensely fucked up slice of black metal. It reminds me mostly of the weirder math rock bands, with grotesquely interlocking dissonant riffs alongside the traditional black metal blast beats and growls. I don't think any of these tracks are making it onto any playlists, but I do have a real soft spot for
I, Chronocrator.
Gorod - A Perfect AbsolutionGorod have been one of my favourite technical metal bands since I first heard Neurotripsticks (actually, just Gutting Job, which remains one of my favourite metal tracks ever). This album means they keep that position. As a single song I'd still go for
5000 at the Funeral, even if you can skip the first 1:30 and not really miss much.
Sigh - In SomniphobiaNot a perfect album in any way, and a lot of people hate Sigh anyway, but there are some fantastic stand out parts here. Most notable is
The Transfiguration Fear, introducing all of Sigh's mult-instrumental and stylistic weirdness while remaining a very cohesive and enjoyable slab of near-traditional metal.
Borknagar - UrdNot spent long enough with this one yet, but really enjoying what I've heard so far. Take
The Beauty of Dead Cities. That one track to me evokes equal parts Norwegian metal and 70's prog. Not to say they don't get
heavier, but for me I rather enjoy that particular flavour of cheese, so having occasional prog throwbacks in the album helps them stand out somewhat.
Meshuggah - KolossIt's a Meshuggah album. It's good. I don't really think there is more to say here. Nothing really stands out from it yet, but I think that's just djent fatigue talking.
Jeff Loomis - Plains of OblivionAnd I think this is partly to blame. This album is yet another show-off piece of guitar wankery and chugging and remains awesome. In particular when things are mixed up and you throw in
Ihsahn for some serious vocal texture.
Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Lost in the New RealOK, so this isn't really metal at all. It's a prog album that mostly plays around with traditional rock and prog songs. But it's from Arjen who has fantastic metal cred and is probably as metal as a few other albums that are more often counted so fuck it all I'm including it. For the full effect of this album you need the official video;
Pink Beetles in a Purple Zeppelin. There is some prog metal mixed in, including a wonderfully chuggy cover of Welcome To The Machine (sadly I can't find this on Youtube), but you need to come here for the retro.
Anathema - Weather SystemsIt's debatable whether Anathema are metal at all any more. Probably not. But they remain great. I was lucky enough to see them live shortly after this was released and it was simply fantastic. The album can mostly be described as downbeat, and the first two tracks utterly depressing depending on your mood, but it's always beautiful. For this thread, the best introduction would be the paired tracks
The Gathering of the Clouds and
Lightning Song. The first is a callback to the previous album (
We're Here Because We're Here), evoking some of the best parts of that disk (the tense feel in particular), while the second is probably the best vocal track by Lee Douglas, rapidly becoming one of my favourite female singers in modern prog (oddly, there are goodly number of them).
Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I Fuck. Yes. Like Dodecahedron these guys are a long lived mostly-black metal band who have only just released their first album. Unlike Dodecahedron these guys are utterly beautiful and extremely accessible, even to non metal heads. They use fantastic extreme metal (still recognisably black metal inspired, even if it no longer qualifies) backed up by some of the best violin playing I've heard in a long time. And I don't just mean in metal. This is pure, technical classical violin soloist work. The vocals are imperfect, but the mix of black growls and clean singing (from the violinist) is enjoyable and keeps the feel of the music unique. The whole album is worth a listen, but I'd recommend
Of Petrichor Weaves Black Noise as representative of the whole record. You owe it to yourself to at least listen to the full ten minutes. I could probably talk about this album all day, so I'll just stop.
Carach Angren - Where the Corpses Sink ForeverThis album is a ghost story about Nazis. And that either just made you run a mile or buy the album. Sadly the best track (Bitte Tötet Mich) isn't avaliable on Youtube so I'll just have to stick by
Lingering in an Imprint Haunting. And now I've got two violin heavy tracks in a row. Which is a problem because the next album is...
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's PińataThere is absolutely no simple way to sum up or represent this album, in words or in a single track. So have a few tracks and lots of words.
Voodoo Mon Amour is pretty close to traditional DSO. Funky, danceable music that pulls together a wide range of music styles, puts some weight behind them and makes them work wonderfully.
Of Kali Ma Calibre is an example of how weird they can get at times. Honestly, it sounds like it's from an operatic musical. Except for the blast beats. And that intro. Then there is the closing track,
Justice for Saint Mary. And here we have solo male vocals, a wonderfully haunting melody, richly textured strings (led as always by their cellist) and a full progressive structure. Then there is a wonderfully bombastic ending, complete with surprise twist.
Grand Magus - The HuntGrand Magus are a big and bombastic band. This is a big and bombastic album. Take
Son Of The Last Breath. I kinda adore the vocals here, raising it above much of the similar cheesy power metal. The biggest problem they have is that they do often revert to generic type sometimes. Other than that, good fun and don't need to think much beyond that.
Sabaton - Carolus RexThis is interesting in that it comes in both English and Swedish. I don't speak Swedish, but it certainly sounds better in their native language. The only track that comes in English only is their cover of
Twilight of the Thunder God, which is impressively badass. As for the rest, I need to listen to it some more while reading the history of each song to see if anything keeps standing tall through the strained lyrics (as
40:1 did in the past), otherwise I'll probably keep the Swedish version and listen for riffs.
Bel’akor - Of Breath and BoneOK, I'll be honest here. Just got this and only listened all the way through once. Nothing stood out - I'm not sure I could actually identify any tracks yet - but the whole thing was enjoyable.
Have a very gripping opening track. I might have to revise this later.
Agalloch - Faustian EchoesSo this is a single track, 21 minute EP from Agolloch (fairly heavy for them), based on Faust, with voice over. And now
a good quality bandcamp link. A must for Agalloch fans, and probably heavy enough for more traditional black metal fans as well.
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Topic: The Great Heavy Metal Thread (Read 148804 times)