I did it! All 200 albums down. Phew. It's hard to sort these out and I admit, I threw a lot of albums into a random part of the list. Top 20 should be good though.
Part of me wonders if I picked Steal Bearing Hand as my #1 just so I don't pick Hooded Menace and copy Auto but I stand by my choice. That album was rifftastic and its the type of album that makes me want to steal a guitar and start shredding. Amazing
That being said, I think my favorite part of 2021 was the amount of newish bands that brought back the classic black metal sounds (and not being derivative). I admit that I might have put Stormkeep and Ninkharsag on my list cause they scratched my Emperor and Dissection itch that I didn't know I had. There was also a good 20-30 more albums that I would have been happy with putting on my top 20, this stuff is hard!
Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta sleep for 6 months
An awesome list! I think I own every one of those CDs except Ninkharsag, which I'll have to correct at some point. Steel Bearing Hand is a worthy choice for sure.
The packaging on the Stormkeep album is phenomenal, perhaps the best of the year; the only reason that one didn't crack my top 21 is because it didn't hold up for me for too many plays, whereas Warmoon Lord, also packing that 90s sound, really did. And Necromantia and Yoth Iria too in that scene's sound.
Yea, I can definitely see Stormkeep and Ninharsag sliding down over time, most of these were based on a single listen and those two albums brought me back to when I was a pimply teenager discovering black metal for the first time.
VanguardBut now the dream is over. And the insect is awake.Registered User, __BANNED USERSregular
Carpenter Brut
High on Fire
Ulver
. . .And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead
King Woman
Primitive Man
Soft Kill
Blood Incantation
Mizmor
Wiegedood
I death
Year of No Light
Frozen Soul
Lord Buffalo
Are all the bands I would try to see on that bill
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SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
Is this the first time Ulver has played in the US? Admittedly I haven't followed them closely over the last two decades or so, but I think I would have noticed if they had done a US tour during that time.
Carpenter Brut
High on Fire
Ulver
. . .And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead
King Woman
Primitive Man
Soft Kill
Blood Incantation
Mizmor
Wiegedood
I death
Year of No Light
Frozen Soul
Lord Buffalo
So my girlfriend is a trained vocalist and her birthday is coming up mid-may. And somehow I managed to book her a private voice lesson with Einar Solberg. Pretty excited about it
So my girlfriend is a trained vocalist and her birthday is coming up mid-may. And somehow I managed to book her a private voice lesson with Einar Solberg. Pretty excited about it
I jelly as hell.
No matter where you go...there you are. ~ Buckaroo Banzai
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KakodaimonosCode fondlerHelping the 1% get richerRegistered Userregular
Is this the first time Ulver has played in the US? Admittedly I haven't followed them closely over the last two decades or so, but I think I would have noticed if they had done a US tour during that time.
They played one or two shows a few years ago, I think in SF or NY, can't remember now. They had several shows scheduled on the West Coast, including one in Seattle which I had tickets to, but they cancelled due to poor ticket sales as it wouldn't have been worth it for them financially. Was extremely disappointing but understandable.
I'd love to see the setlist of what Ulver is going to perform. Their various stylistic phases have been so wide that I can't imagine they'd all jive together. I figure they'd probably go heavy on the synth pop stuff from the last two albums but I have no idea.
There are at least 40 bands on that fest that I'd love to see. I've seen the three headliners before but would love to see Mercyful Fate and Emperor again. But honestly I find festivals kind of exhausting, I always feel like I'm racing and pushing my way around and don't get the most enjoyment out of it like I do for normal, smaller shows. Whoever booked this one did an epic job though, no doubt.
I'd love to see the setlist of what Ulver is going to perform. I figure they'd probably go heavy on the synth pop stuff from the last two albums but I have no idea.
Basically this yes. Check out their live album Hexahedron. I imagine it would be similar to that.
Cradle of Filth have parted ways with guitarist Richard Shaw and keyboardist/vocalist Anabelle Iratni. Their places are being taken by Donny Burbage and Zoe Marie Federoff. It sounds amicable.
I know "Cradle has line-up change" is about as unusual as "the sun came up this morning", but I'd loved the way Richard and Ashok had brought the twin-lead sound back to Cradle so well over the last few albums. Hopefully it'll still work just as well with Donny.
Man, those Kreator riffs are so lightning fast I was disoriented at first, also the use of her vocals is real interesting and doesn't get in the way like a lot of these beauty/beast matchups. Something quite unique for Kreator.
SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
Bought the new Hath album as well as something by a Zelda-influenced prog metal band called Master Sword as part of bandcamp Friday.
Also stumbled across the soundtrack to the Netflix show Clark, which is notable because Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth composed it. And a good amount of it sounds like something that would fit on a modern Opeth album, although it definitely goes a little further beyond what they would play. Some of later songs actually have him singing on it too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38EQvsJzZWU
Therion's album covers really fell off after the first 3-4. I mean this one in particular rules (coincidentally it's also one of their best albums all around).
SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
We saw Borknagar and Rotting Christ in Baltimore last night. There were opening bands, but we missed most of them. Arrived at the end of Ghost Bath's set, but didn't really pay attention. Abigail Williams didn't interest me at all.
It was my first time seeing Borknagar in 22 years, which was cool. Sadly, the sound wasn't very good. The sound guy kept coming out of the booth to stand around where we were, with his hands on his hips. He did this at least once during every song. It never seemed to get to where it needed to be.
Rotting Christ fared better, but I'm not a super huge fan of them. My wife's a lot more into them.
Overall, a good time. Hopefully I didn't catch covid. I wore two masks and was definitely in the minority.
I might be going up there again this week for Amorphis, but we'll see.
SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
Got tickets to Maryland Deathfest! Coincidentally, they also published the set times:
We've got the 3-day pass to the Edison Lot only, which is fine. Not much I want to see at the other venues aside from Sacramentum. Day 1 I definitely want to catch Bloodbath, Suffocation, Obituary, and Carcass. Day 2? Novembers Doom, Coroner, and Dismember. Can't miss Hypocrisy on day 3; will probably also catch Demilich and see whatever else catches my interest. I only acquired Legion by Deicide, so I'll probably stick around for them too.
Posts
Hooded Menace
Nekromantheon
Tribulation
Lucifer
Suffering Hour
Pharaoh
Spectral Wound
Bunker 66
Nordjevel
Cerebral Rot
Stormkeep
Yoth Iria
Pestilence
Warmoon Lord
Necromantia
Thron
Seth
Ninkharsag
Craven Idol
Part of me wonders if I picked Steal Bearing Hand as my #1 just so I don't pick Hooded Menace and copy Auto but I stand by my choice. That album was rifftastic and its the type of album that makes me want to steal a guitar and start shredding. Amazing
That being said, I think my favorite part of 2021 was the amount of newish bands that brought back the classic black metal sounds (and not being derivative). I admit that I might have put Stormkeep and Ninkharsag on my list cause they scratched my Emperor and Dissection itch that I didn't know I had. There was also a good 20-30 more albums that I would have been happy with putting on my top 20, this stuff is hard!
Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta sleep for 6 months
The packaging on the Stormkeep album is phenomenal, perhaps the best of the year; the only reason that one didn't crack my top 21 is because it didn't hold up for me for too many plays, whereas Warmoon Lord, also packing that 90s sound, really did. And Necromantia and Yoth Iria too in that scene's sound.
High on Fire
Ulver
. . .And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead
King Woman
Primitive Man
Soft Kill
Blood Incantation
Mizmor
Wiegedood
I death
Year of No Light
Frozen Soul
Lord Buffalo
Are all the bands I would try to see on that bill
Sheeeit.
Monolord
Satyricon
Mgla
That's a solid metal line up.
And the pre-show with Midnight & Eyehategod.
I jelly as hell.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
https://thealgorithm.bandcamp.com/album/data-renaissance
Sleep, Deafheaven, and GY!BE in a real grab-bag of a weekend festival.
They played one or two shows a few years ago, I think in SF or NY, can't remember now. They had several shows scheduled on the West Coast, including one in Seattle which I had tickets to, but they cancelled due to poor ticket sales as it wouldn't have been worth it for them financially. Was extremely disappointing but understandable.
There are at least 40 bands on that fest that I'd love to see. I've seen the three headliners before but would love to see Mercyful Fate and Emperor again. But honestly I find festivals kind of exhausting, I always feel like I'm racing and pushing my way around and don't get the most enjoyment out of it like I do for normal, smaller shows. Whoever booked this one did an epic job though, no doubt.
Basically this yes. Check out their live album Hexahedron. I imagine it would be similar to that.
https://metalinjection.net/news/breakups/cradle-of-filth-parts-ways-with-guitarist-keyboardist
I know "Cradle has line-up change" is about as unusual as "the sun came up this morning", but I'd loved the way Richard and Ashok had brought the twin-lead sound back to Cradle so well over the last few albums. Hopefully it'll still work just as well with Donny.
Steam | XBL
I bought both versions of Sacramentum's Far Away from the Sun on there so far.
Also stumbled across the soundtrack to the Netflix show Clark, which is notable because Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth composed it. And a good amount of it sounds like something that would fit on a modern Opeth album, although it definitely goes a little further beyond what they would play. Some of later songs actually have him singing on it too.
Therion's got some pretty good bad cover art in their history. These two albums came out back to back:
They continue to not like cops
It's like the reverse artwork evolution from Trivium
On a different note, someone uploaded this 2013 documentary about the touring life of 3 Inches of Blood to Youtube:
Kind of a blast from the past but I thought someone might find it interesting.
It was my first time seeing Borknagar in 22 years, which was cool. Sadly, the sound wasn't very good. The sound guy kept coming out of the booth to stand around where we were, with his hands on his hips. He did this at least once during every song. It never seemed to get to where it needed to be.
Rotting Christ fared better, but I'm not a super huge fan of them. My wife's a lot more into them.
Overall, a good time. Hopefully I didn't catch covid. I wore two masks and was definitely in the minority.
I might be going up there again this week for Amorphis, but we'll see.
A new album from Italian psychedelic stoner doom masters Ufomammut.
Wo Fat is back with more of their trippy stoner metal/blues mix. More riffs than you can shake a bong at.
We've got the 3-day pass to the Edison Lot only, which is fine. Not much I want to see at the other venues aside from Sacramentum. Day 1 I definitely want to catch Bloodbath, Suffocation, Obituary, and Carcass. Day 2? Novembers Doom, Coroner, and Dismember. Can't miss Hypocrisy on day 3; will probably also catch Demilich and see whatever else catches my interest. I only acquired Legion by Deicide, so I'll probably stick around for them too.