[Music] Metal

[tlitd]

Prima Materia: a very enjoyable exemplification of DSBM, if you happen to swing that way. Do keep in mind that it's merely an EP, therefore listening to it feels disturbingly similar to a coitus interruptus. Oh well...

[Ivanstone]

About a month ago I got to go see Korpiklaani and Arkona live. Korpiklaani I was already a fan of but was entirely unfamiliar with Arkona.

I was pleasantly surprised with their performance. Best new music in my life last year.

[avitush]

About a month ago I got to go see Korpiklaani and Arkona live. Korpiklaani I was already a fan of but was entirely unfamiliar with Arkona.

I was pleasantly surprised with their performance. Best new music in my life last year.

I feel like Korpiklaani live would be a good time but still haven't gotten around to seeing them.

[Ivanstone]

I feel like Korpiklaani live would be a good time but still haven't gotten around to seeing them.

They're pretty good. I've only been to 3 shows in the past 5 years. Korpiklaani headlined two of them.

[Cairhiin]

I find Korpiklaani more enjoyable live than when listening to their albums. Especially their latest didn't really interest me.

[tlitd]

About a month ago I got to go see Korpiklaani and Arkona live. Korpiklaani I was already a fan of but was entirely unfamiliar with Arkona.

I was pleasantly surprised with their performance. Best new music in my life last year.

[snip]

Arkona doesn't sound even remotely similar to Korpiklaani, the association of these two names is at least uninspired if not outright disingenuous. Although it has always been stigmatized as "folk metal", Arkona is unlike most other examples of the genre that I can think of (nota bene: in my admittedly limited experience, as I'm nigh impervious to the flair of folk metal). Perhaps an apt comparison would feature (old) Ensiferum, which uses the same fusion cooking: in their case, folk/power/death; in Arkona's case, progressive folk with death vocals (and black atmosphere, at times).

The gamut offered by Arkona is fairly wide: unadulterated folk (e.g. the lovely Гутсулка, otherwise devoid of the vaguest trace of metal), folk metal anthems (e.g. Заложный or Одна, standing up there with the best of the genre), vapid "let's get drunk" stuff rightfully reminiscent of Korpiklaani (e.g. the incessantly over-praised Ярило, which for some bizarre reason has been metamorphosed into their "greatest hit"), the aforementioned fusion metal when Arkona unleashes its whole potential and sublimates into arguably their most enthralling artristry (e.g. Тропою неведанной, which uncannily oozes black metal atmosphere left and right despite resorting to a rather minimal usage of typical black elements).

As I'm sure that other people will inevitably steer you toward the beaten track, their most beloved hits (and necessarily sung by drunken bards), allow me to retort by providing further examples which will hopefully illustrate their potential of breaking free out of the narrow mold of folk metal: Воин правды, Над пропастью лет, В oбъятьях Крамолы, В ладонях богов. In my humble but strongly assumed opinion, that is the very moment they start to shine - when they no longer obey the bounds and confinement of the overarching genre, much like the mythological Atlas shattering the burden of the firmament off his shoulders.

For the sake of clarity, I will state without further delay that I wish more music channels on YT would follow a similarly user-friendly layout as the one I've referenced throughout this post. People usually mash everything together into an unholy mess (which becomes particularly egregious when uploading multiple names, or even multiple genres), blissfully unaware of the option to create swarms of playlists. I suppose that exercising the aforementioned option is akin to a royal pain the arse for the uploader, but not doing so propagates that aching geometrically to the listeners instead.

[Ivanstone]

Arkona doesn't sound even remotely similar to Korpiklaani, the association of these two names is at least uninspired if not outright disingenuous.

And yet they opened for Korpiklaani anyways. Metal is pretty broad. Cannibal Corpse is metal. So is Poison. I'm completely fine with them being in the same tent even if they're on opposite sides of it. Korpiklaani rocked the fuck out. Arkona opened up with their bleak atmospheric pagan metal. It was cool.

The next day I went onto youtube and listened to all of their albums.

First time I saw Korpiklaani live was during Paganfest 2014. Turisas, Varg, Winterhymn and Chthonic opened. Two of these things are definitely not like the other three. I enjoyed the show although none of them really stuck with me like Arkona has.

[Cairhiin]

Pretty decent pure black from New Zealand.



Also Jon Schaffer's Purgatory EP has been released. I'm quite enjoying it, it's rather refreshing coming from Jon.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...fvm4ZDLEbwbHoM

[haiduk]

—summoner of cosmic darkness– –Exomancer– –conjurer of astral terror—

HAIDUK
Evil Melodic Black Metal

New Album
haiduk.bandcamp


“[Haiduk’s] strong point has always been his riffs, and here they just destroy.”
-Bravewords

“The album is solid, with truly unique and mesmerizing progressions of chords and lead work piled high.”
-Contaminated Tones

“A nightmarish journey that reveals one chilling, hallucinatory vision after another.”
-No Clean Singing

“Laced with intricate diversions into an almost hypnotic, tremolo-world of ever undulating riff patterns.”
-Worship Metal

"[Haiduk] has perfected his own signature style and very few bands are doing this style."
-Metal-Rules

“Haiduk has written, recorded and produced an epic album in ‘Exomancer’. The sound quality is great and it has character, which is difficult to find.”
-This Noise Is Ours

“Sinister, spiralling, atonal and dark, ‘Exomancer’ is going to be an underrated gem from 2018.”
-The Killchain

[tlitd]

Because I haven't experienced the grace of listening to any new releases to catch my attention during this humble beginning of the year, I've decided to take them oldies for another whirl. For a bit of humorous historical context, albeit more anecdote than data, I haven't listened to anything related to LLN for over a decade; back then Youtube wasn't even a thing. Sure, I've seen them mentioned and thus I've been reminded of them. But actually listening carefully to one of their releases? It's been a long while, indeed.

Imagine my surprised amusement spotting a fairly decent amount of LLN releases on YT during the last week:
1. Wlad has a channel with an assortment of tracks for your perusal.
2. The complete discography of Mütiilation.
3. Other works such as Torgeist's Devoted to Satan and Time of Sabbath, Black Murder's Feasts, Seviss' Et pleure le bâtard, Vermeth's Your Ruin (posthumous, but relevant).

Mind you, the above are only the black metal bits. A slew of their dark ambient counterparts too:
1. Satanicum Tenebrae's Voices of the Dark Call Me to Suffer, Til Helvete.
2. Aäkon Këëtrëh's Journey Into The Depths of Night, Dans La Forêt, The Dark Winter.
3. Amaka Hahina's Demetria, Elsia Keth, Seream Iarkham Beleth'Rim, Aheah Saergathan! (all of them posthumous but relevant).

A brief interjection be forgiven, I rarely encounter stuff which makes me think of the proverbial "loose screws", given both my affection to black metal and the long exposure to it. Amaka Hahina's AS! is one such example: the reference to loose screws is overbearing, one of the very few albums which I like and yet I'm unable to listen to it several times in a row. It's just too much even for a special snowflake like me, after diving into it I return to stuff like the aforementioned Seviss with a sigh of relief. Terra firma at last!

[tlitd]

You may have noticed its conspicuous absence from the lists people glued together by the end of the previous year, myself I wasn't oblivious to its existence but for the time being his latest release (i.e. When the Night Falls...) hasn't enthralled me as much as Forestpaths did a couple of years ago. I've taken the liberty to share it here because FP is an exhilarating work of art. Eerily reminiscent of Burzum, as many people derive straight away, but having evolved into wailing hymns which leave the raw elements far behind. To be fair, I am very surprised that the Severoth project hasn't been mentioned into this thread until now, all his works under that banner have been solid and enjoyable.

In an entirely different register, if not a polar opposite, the eponymous release of De Vermiis Mysteriis is an abject filth which recalls old-school vibes from the glorious decade of the 90s. Oh, examples such as this instill the hope that the old ways haven't been forgotten altogether. It's really hard not to glee listening to it, there are quite a few moments when contemporary black metal feels... uh, effeminated. Our tight and cozy homoerotic realm has been breached and its values have been infected, that's the bitter aftertaste which remains after many of these post-black albums lately.

[tlitd]

Far from being a rhetorical jest, my inability to discover newer releases of black to be enjoyed leisurely tests my patience. Rather than bringing older albums into discussion, a breath of fresh air would be advisable. Lo and behold, the bestest music video on Youtube! Mind you, not the second best and neither the next best thing. Black metal is the bestest metal, therefore it follows that before our avid eyes lies the bestest music video ever sprouted into existence: Moi, je construis des marionnettes.

And yes, I have laughed hysterically the first time I've seen it to the point of having teary eyes. If you are a fanatical listener of black metal and if you happen to understand a lick of French, maybe you will love Sakrifiss as much as I do.

[Cairhiin]

Can Bardd delivered one of my favorite albums of last year and they are already back. New album feb 22nd, and this time the production sounds a lot better.

[daem]

Can Bardd delivered one of my favorite albums of last year and they are already back. New album feb 22nd, and this time the production sounds a lot better.

Yes!!! Can't wait

[tlitd]

Contrary to what the appearance may suggest, I swear I do listen to black metal that it's not made by the French... or do I? To quote the timeless and immortal Britney Spears (insert maniacal cackling here): oops, I did it again. Necrocachot's Malfeu tickles me in all the right places, it's frankly a shame that it simply won't receive attention because it's a name which no one recognizes. Make no mistake, it won't. With the exception of the random snowflake here and there, myself included, even seasoned listeners of black metal will be oblivious to its existence.

Playing Diablo 1 last week while listening to this album has been a blast, indeed a proper dungeon crawl.

[Alcohorlick]

I remember someone a little while ago asked about power metal and I've come across some decent ones recently:









Wow, didn't realise the Beyond Fear one was 2006, guess I'm a little late to that one!

[Cairhiin]

Wow, didn't realise the Beyond Fear one was 2006, guess I'm a little late to that one!

The Brainstorm one is great. I was positively surprised by that album. Wouldn't call Flotsam and Jetsam power metal though, it's more thrash metal. I always thought they were a bit underappreciated over the years. Having said that I haven't listened to the new album yet, thanks for reminding me!

Beyond Fear, well it has Ripper Owens, I personally like the guy (check out Charred Walls of the Damned if you haven't) but he also has its fair share of haters (his time in Iced Earth wasn't particularly stellar - not entirely his fault though bar simply not being able to live up to Barlow's legacy).

[Oxety]

My favourites are:Theatre of Tragedy,Gothminister,Paradise Lost,Dool,Insomnium,Schwarzer Engel

[daem]

Found this one recently, pretty smooth black metal with some good atmosphere and hooks.

edit: On a side note, have any of you tried the music side of youtube extensively yet? (music.youtube.com), if so, how do you find it? I found that it can recommend some stuff I've not heard before that seems to relate pretty well to what I asked for, though I don't know if it's just a fluke and I end up liking most of what I hear or something...

[Duilliath]