Chat! culturecrossfire.slack.com

The Metal Thread - Version 2

12 Favorite Black Metal albums of the year

1.) Ukhu Pacha - Yanantin
2.) Esoctrilihum - Ghoststigmatah: Spiritual Rites of the Psychopomp Abxulöm
3.) Blut aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons
4.) Collier d'Ombre - Autumnal Strife
5.) Havukrunnu - Tavastland
6.) Volahn - Popul Vuh
7.) Drudkh - Shadow Play
8.) Scimitar - Scimitarium
9.) Kommodos - A Foetal Wolf Stained in Glass
10.) Blackbraid - III
11.) Hadopekagyal - Haematophoryktos
12.) Grey Aura - Zwart vierkant: Slotstuk
 
New Converge is ok. I admittedly kinda fell off of them after No Heroes came out but glad they're still out there doing their thing.
 
I'm fine just not listening to Iced Earth ever again. I was listening to Dark Saga and Something Wicked for a 90's Metal listening project I'm doing, and the vocals are so cheesy and lame. Matt Barlow sounds a lot like Trey Parker when he's singing a goofy ballad on South Park. The lyrics aren't much better. The riffs and guitar work are what people come back to these albums for, and even that isn't as good as a band like Nevermore. If I need my fix of a band that blends Power Metal with Thrash, I'm choosing Nevermore over Iced Earth all day anyday.

I peaced out on Iced Earth as a teenager though when they released Glorious Burden in the mid 00's. What a piece of shit that album was.
 
Horror Show was my entrance to Iced Earth via my brother. Wolf and Dracula (the latter especially) were great songs from my teens to early adulthood.
 
Big Papa Paegan said:
I can't help but love Horror Show, despite Schaeffer's riff styles basically being "triplet, triplet, chugchug, triplet, pinch" every song.
Click to expand...
That's my favorite album of their's. Some great songs and I thought the concept really worked for their style.

I was also a huge Spawn fan as a kid, so the combo of them doing a horror themed album and a Spawn concept album made them one of my favorite bands as a teenager. Until Glorious Burden. I do like Stu Block as a vocalist and have been tempted to see what they higher rated recent albums sound like. But fuck Schaeffer.
 
I actually saw Iced Earth live in '08 right after Barlow (briefly) returned. This would have been right after Framing Armageddon Pt. 1 came out. It was interesting seeing him sing Ripper's songs and the crowd went crazy for Dracula, Watching Over Me, and Holy Martyr.
 
I haven't listened to a lot of Rob Zombie since The Sinister Urge disappointed me as a kid, but his new album called The Great Satan is getting good reviews. It is supposed to be a return to the heaviness of White Zombie. It's very inspired and fun so far. I didn't know Rob had it in him at this point. Best riffs since Hellbilly Deluxe and it does have a White Zombie vibe.

Wasn't expecting the Hardcore Punk elements in this banger

 
Last edited:
Yeah, best Zombie album since Hellbilly. Flew right by.

Now, I'm listening to the new Cryptic Shift which is fantastic so far. Like Blood Incantation mixed with more jazz fusion and is thrash centric rather than Death Metal. Very Atheist inspired as well and they also remind me of Vektor, except with vocals that don't sound like a neutered Dani Filth. Two songs over 20 minutes with one song hitting 30 minutes lmao. I love technical wankery, so this is right up my alley. It's getting glowing reviews so far too. Might end up being one of the most acclaimed Metal albums this year unless we get some instant classics. I could see this getting similar hype to Absolute Elsewhere from critics.

The 78 minute runtime is pretty scary though. This is gonna be an album that takes a while to fully digest. Blood Incantation's Absolute Elsewhere was just around a half hour shorter.

edit: Yeah, I like it a lot, but it's bloated and they don't have a lot of catchy hooks or parts that really stick with you like Absolute Elsewhere did for me.
 
Last edited:
Big Papa Paegan said:
I'm one of the few who think Educated Horses is the best RZ solo album, but the Great Satan is solid as hell.
Click to expand...
I still need to check it out. I've heard some good things. His last three or four albums with the goofy ass long titles all blend together though.

This album has some of his best contributors coming back too. Blasko who was on Horses, Sinister Urge, and Hellbilly Deluxe, came back. Mike Riggs also came back and this is his first RZ album since Sinister Urge.

I've always had a soft spot for Rob Zombie, so I'm glad he's back to putting in effort in his music. Felt like whenever I would check out newer stuff it was stock chuga riffs with Rob just saying the name of the song and YEAH YEAH a bunch.

From interviews, Rob wanted a heavier White Zombie/Hellbilly Deluxe type of sound, and I think he was honest with what he said in interviews and delivered that sound. I've been burned by other bands promising a heavy album and not backing it up. I remember when Marilyn Manson said he was doing a "death metal" sound for one of his newer albums, and it ended up being more of industrial rock with western elements. I remember someone from Metallica (Maybe Kirk or Lars) saying St Anger was gonna be as heavy as Meshuggah lmao.
 
Last edited:
One Epic Winter (OEW) said:
New Converge is ok. I admittedly kinda fell off of them after No Heroes came out but glad they're still out there doing their thing.
Click to expand...

I finally got around to listening to this.

No Heroes is still probably my least favorite of their's. I think their three albums after are much better with 2012's All We Love We Leave Behind actually being my second favorite Converge album after Jane Doe. This album is actually pretty similar to No Heroes. It's really good, but standard Converge. I found it too short actually at a little over 30 minutes.

I prefer the more experimental/moody Converge and a lot of that was missing here, but it's still brutal as hell and fantastic punishing metalcore.

7.5/10
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top