Now Playing

[Ducky]

Animals As Leaders - s/t.
Obliteration - Black Death Horizon.
Voivod - Dimension Hatross. Fuck me if the breakdown in Psychic Vacuum isn't one of the best things in metal.

[Bürggermeister]

Metal Church - The Human Factor
Gorilla Biscuits - Start Today

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Tormentor - Anno Domini
Demoncy - Joined in Darkness
Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine - Rampton

[Taranis]

Abigor- Verwüstung/ Invoke The Dark Age.

Nothing I've listened to by Abigor has ever really grabbed me before. I think their later stuff is a bit sterile and technical, is that right? This album is getting reissued by Darkness Shall Rise so I've thrown it on and it's really good. "True" sounding medieval-ish black metal. Just my cup of tea, really. Might have to make an expensive order...

Classic album. If you like that, you'll like the Orkblut EP and Nachthymnen. Things start to go a bit crazy with Opus IV, but it is a savage album, and possibly the last excellent one. Supreme Immortal Art was the first one I bought by them back when it came out, and it is bananas (so much so that it was a year or two before I bothered buying anything else by them); I used to put it on at parties in 1998 and 1999 when people were on loads of yokes to melt their brains, worked every time.

The more spacey stuff starts after that, and the albums get increasingly sterile.

The first couple of Heidenreich releases are also worth checking out, as are some of Peter K's other side-projects.

[Thorn]

God Macabre - The Winterlong 9.5/10
The only reason I can think of for taking half a mark of this is the skinny running time but it's top five Swedish Death Metal for me, Gloomy Rainy Day Death Metal in the midst of another wretched heat wave. Urgh.

Aquilla - Sentinels Of A New Dawn 9/10
Wow.I knew the Poles were onto something good with their debut but this from last year, which I've just picked, up is..well, stunning if you love Metal in the vein of Maiden, Blind Guardian, Helloween, Gamma Ray etc. And it's dirt cheap on all formats at High Roller at the moment.

Exe - Stricken By Might 8.5/10
Dug out after recent chat here and I still think this is a kick ass little record of crossover street level thrash. Double kvlt points self awarded for spinning this while the polar opposite of 'street level thrash' fleeced the Aviva.

Hate Eternal - Upon Desolate Sands 8/10
Been a while since I entered the sandblasting whirlwind of a Hate Eternal record. I'd be hoping and expecting that Rutan won't leave this one as his swansong. Too early and too much talent to go out to pasture on the 'Corpse touring circuit surely.

Darkthrone - Pre-Historic Metal 8/10
Thumbs (and pitchfork) up from me for the New DT which is a veritable avalanche of Celtic Frost and Mercyful Fate riffs that don't always flow seamlessly but hit the mark nevertheless.

Tank -  Tank  7.5/10
Solid as a rock to end their eighties albums here, I've seen it maligned, the tank insignia cover has definitely had its share of shit ( I don't mind it) but there are  plenty of moments on this record to pull a sneaky riff face on.

[Eoin McLove]

New Model Army- Winter.

[mickO)))]

Every Abigor release is technical. The albums to avoid are Fractal Possession, Time Is... and Satanized (which technically isn't an Abigor album). Hollenzwang is the best of the newer releases but everything after and including LL is great. 

Still one more album to be released and that's it then after PKs passing.

Amestigon are also great but rarely seem to get any praise.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Metallica - Load

Two minutes in and already seriously doubting I'll make it to the end 

[Eoin McLove]

Every Abigor release is technical. The albums to avoid are Fractal Possession, Time Is... and Satanized (which technically isn't an Abigor album). Hollenzwang is the best of the newer releases but everything after and including LL is great. 

Still one more album to be released and that's it then after PKs passing.

Amestigon are also great but rarely seem to get any praise.

Technical might be the wrong term. Modern, maybe? I tend to be more drawn to cruder, more medieval focused stuff on recent years. Not exclusively, buy generally. I'll try some of their later stuff and see if it hits the spot, although it never really has before.

[Anvil]

1914 - Where Fear and Weapons Meet
Opeth - Orchid
Iotunn - Kinship
Twisted Tower Dire - Make it Dark
Warning - Rituals of Shame
Hate Forest - Hours of the Centaur

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Metallica - Load

Two minutes in and already seriously doubting I'll make it to the end 

I made it to the end! By the power of falling asleep! Will have to give the tail end another go, but up until Mama Said (the one that lullabied middle-age me off to slumberland) there are only five decent tracks on this, and Mama Said is actually one of them. All the rest are so unbelievably pedestrian: uninspired grunge meets uninspired pub rock. Is there a good album between this and ReLoad? Perhaps, will have to revisit that one next. If there is a good album between them though, it's definitely significantly shorter than either of them taken separately!

[Goosebumples]

All this metallica talk reminds me, I stuck on Lulu about a week ago out of sheer morbid curiosity. Dear lord! Got as far as Lou Reed waffling about "a coloured mans dick" before I busted into laughter and couldnt take it anymore. The thing is about 90 mins long, now thats the true metallica endurance test! 

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

I said five, but maybe six... though maybe five after all. Just got to Thorn Within, which I haven't heard in yeeears. On the one hand, it sounds decent in the context of the rest of the album. On the other hand, it also sounds like what would otherwise be the worst track on the Black album.

[Bürggermeister]

Best song about snooker I've ever heard, though.

[Jward]

Darkthrone – A Blaze In The Northern Sky

A belter