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The Metal Thread |OT2| All Riffs, No Gifs

I'm starting to think that Dark Descends is a label in which I will at least checking out every one of their releases. Obviously I won't like everything they put out, but it never hurts to check everything.
 
manic devin also has gene hoglan's drumming keeping his music perfectly accessible by most metalheads and doesn't really have a lot of the uncomfortable note progressions or wall of sound i associate with intensity.

We're at a point now where heaviness is almost a given, there are at least a dozen or so Portals out there now that are impressive and heavy as shit. But that is not enough to really hit home with intensity. I can listen to Mitochondrian or Portal like it's background music. The intensity is intended to come from meeting a standard of extremely heavy arrangements, whereas Devin has that in his pocket and the real intensity comes from him. It demands your attention. I wish those bands had someone who puts himself out there like Devin does, heavy music would be a whole lot more interesting.

edit: SYL kind of championed the wall of sound in metal. That was their thing, and continues to be one of Devin's hallmarks.
 
I'm starting to think that Dark Descends is a label in which I will at least checking out every one of their releases. Obviously I won't like everything they put out, but it never hurts to check everything.

Fun fact: it was founded by a former Metal-Archives moderator (ogmetal).

Slightly less fun fact: we had to demod him for some minor abuse of moderator powers. Oops.

He's not a bad dude or anything, and his label/distro is great, he just kinda went a bit overboard.

Oh yeah, M-A is now on Twitter. :P It'll mostly be for site status updates, but maybe we'll post band recs like on Facebook or something like that. I mostly registered the account to avoid being impersonated (which we have been and Twitter took weeks to close down the fake accounts, urgh).
 
We're at a point now where heaviness is almost a given, there are at least a dozen or so Portals out there now that are impressive and heavy as shit. But that is not enough to really hit home with intensity. I can listen to Mitochondrian or Portal like it's background music. The intensity is intended to come from meeting a standard of extremely heavy arrangements, whereas Devin has that in his pocket and the real intensity comes from him. It demands your attention. I wish those bands had someone who puts himself out there like Devin does, heavy music would be a whole lot more interesting.

edit: SYL kind of championed the wall of sound in metal. That was their thing, and continues to be one of Devin's hallmarks.

at this point it seems like the argument is devolving into historical context vs. what most embodies the tropes which is a conversation i tend to find generally pointless because most people feel one way or the other about it and aren't willing to switch
 
Killer stuff. What is your method for scanning LPs?
I'm a fan of Cadaver, but never knew about that goofy comp.

Just got my order from Dark Descent Records on some killer stuff, some mentioned in this thread. Great label to buy from. Reasonably priced and fast shipping.

for LP scanning: scan in multiple parts, rotate/align, piece together, clean up. I'm just using a standard Epson scanner. I basically just fit whatever I can onto the scanning bed and take four scans rotating 90 degrees for each one to capture every piece of the jacket. It's far from perfect, because since the jacket can't sit completely flat in the bed you will get some light bleed from the area that is lifted. It's a bigger problem for heavy cardboard jackets or gatefolds. Another issue is the fact that you most likely won't get perfect angles on your piece scans. It's a matter of heavy trial and error making fine rotations/adjustments to each piece in your image software to really make it look like a single, consistent scan. I'm using Paint.NET. I guess I could make a tutorial for anyone who wants to try. Demanding task, but it's pretty rewarding. Now that I think about it, I did something similar in the past when I scanned the Legion foldout.

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on the Cadaver, yeah it's a nifty little bootleg. There are quite a few bootlegs of this type floating around covering a lot of different OSDM bands. Apparently one of the members of Nunslaughter is behind the majority of them. I'll try scanning a couple of those, too. Nice pickups btw. I need that Funebrarum now that it's available on black wax. Sick album!
 
on the Cadaver, yeah it's a nifty little bootleg. There are quite a few bootlegs of this type floating around covering a lot of different OSDM bands. Apparently one of the members of Nunslaughter is behind the majority of them. I'll try scanning a couple of those, too. Nice pickups btw. I need that Funebrarum now that it's available on black wax. Sick album!

ahah fucking Nunslaughter! Radio Damnation is the best comedy improv releases I've ever heard.

I'd like to tackle scanning LP's one day, but everyone's seen the stuff before. I still need to finish cataloguing my collection as well.

Your scan of Legion now has me listening to Trifixion on repeat today.
 
I'd like to tackle scanning LP's one day, but everyone's seen the stuff before. I still need to finish cataloguing my collection as well.

Your scan of Legion now has me listening to Trifixion on repeat today.

DEAD BUT DREEEAAAAMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING..............

yeah there are probably only a few instances of artwork that is available on LP but not CD. I think one of the more plausible things to do would be to focus on inserts. If I could scan every printed inner sleeve I have that has a split seam (like, all of them) and reprint it as a regular heavy cardboard insert, I would be a happy person.

I need to actually catalog my shit too. I have an account on Discogs but I haven't been taking advantage of that feature.
 
Fun fact: it was founded by a former Metal-Archives moderator (ogmetal).

Slightly less fun fact: we had to demod him for some minor abuse of moderator powers. Oops.

He's not a bad dude or anything, and his label/distro is great, he just kinda went a bit overboard.

Nice, didn't know that. Shame about what happened though. So glad I found out the label; it houses a lot of under-appreciated gems from what I've heard.
 
GO LAKERS!

Honestly, I would probably pick something as generic and bland as possible, just to at least have an alias. I would probably use an alias for real if I ever form a band; I'm just a very private person and don't really feel like giving out my real name.
 
name myself akhenaten and try to start an egyptian-themed black metal band because the idea of naming myself after an egyptian ruler who supported monotheism and writing black metal is hilarious
 
Let's have some fun.

If you were a Metal musician and you had to go by an alias, what would you choose as your alias? Any genre is welcome.
...Morrigan? >_>

name myself akhenaten and try to start an egyptian-themed black metal band because the idea of naming myself after an egyptian ruler who supported monotheism and writing black metal is hilarious
Not Egyptian-themed but um....?
 
Does anybody have any opinions/recommendations on Raven and Night Demon? I just scored a free ticket to Manilla fucking Road on Sunday, and those are the other two bands they're playing with. Raven even has billing over Manilla Road!

Anyway, if either of them are good I want to check them out ahead of time
 
Does anybody have any opinions/recommendations on Raven and Night Demon? I just scored a free ticket to Manilla fucking Road on Sunday, and those are the other two bands they're playing with. Raven even has billing over Manilla Road!

Anyway, if either of them are good I want to check them out ahead of time

Free for those bands? Damn dude, that's great. Even a NWOBHM/Power Metal newcomer like myself knows how good Raven and Manilla Road are (at least from what I've heard, which granted isn't that much. All For One for Raven I really like what I've heard so far). Wish I could score free tickets sometime.

I really need to get with listening to Crystal Logic. I've only heard Necropolis which is an amazing song. The vocals were a bit weird at first on that song, but it quickly grew on me. Now I think the vocals are great.
 
Let's have some fun.

If you were a Metal musician and you had to go by an alias, what would you choose as your alias? Any genre is welcome.


If I could choose one I'd most likely go with Zero right now. Not Zero as in the Slipknot 0. Zero as in nothing or as in emptiness. That would change if you ask me the question tomorrow though.
 
Since I'm going to see Obituary (opening for DTA) in a couple weeks, I figured I'd check out Inked in Blood. First impressions having not listened to anything new from since the early 90s: The fuck? It's some kind of sludgy death/doom sound. I don't think it's necessarily bad or anything, but just a little jarring.

If you were a Metal musician and you had to go by an alias, what would you choose as your alias? Any genre is welcome.
Probably more for a 1-person act than anything, but I recently thought up "Former Parasite" and thought it had a nice ring to it.
 
Damn, Sky Blue is phenomenal. It really delivers on the sound he's been cultivating with Addicted and Epicloud. Some of these melodies are just unreal. It's his most sophisticated DTP album in terms of mixing dreamlike layers of sound with pop a bit less annoying than earlier pop anthem-ey stuff like Lucky Animals.
 
hmm yes, Roadburn lineup is looking great
Roadburn-2015-12-November.jpg

http://www.roadburn.com/roadburn-2015/

Shit, I have to go that Sunday. Anathema will be playing from their entire discography, Goblin is performing along with Bast, Bongripper, The Golden Grass, Lo-Pan, The Osiris Club and White Hills.

To be honest, I'm also really interested in Skuggsjá, a piece that will be performed by Wardruna and Enslaved, originally written to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution.

We’re elated to announce that Enslaved and Wardruna will perform Skuggsjá, the sound of Norway’s Norse History at Houses of the Holistic, Ivar Bjørnson‘s and Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik‘s curated Roadburn event on Friday, April 10 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Written by Bjørnson and Selvik for the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution and premiered this past weekend at the Eidsivablot festival, this will be Skuggsjá‘s first performance outside of Norway, and will certainly be one of the highlights of the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival.

Skuggsjá translates into ‘mirror’ or ‘reflection’ in the Norse language, and the commissioned piece not only contextualizes harder music’s role in the democracy in Norway in 2014, but also joins threads from the country’s ancient musical history and solidifies harder music’s position as Norway`s most important cultural export.

By highlighting ideas, traditions and instruments of their Norse past, Skuggsjá will tell the history of Norway and reflect relevant aspects from the past into the present day. In light of this they will reflect on themselves as a people and nation. In a magnificent tapestry of metal instrumentation, a wide variety of Norway and Scandinavia’s oldest instruments, and poetry in Proto-Scandinavian, Norse and Norwegian, Skuggsjá will be a fusion between past and present, both lyrically and musically.

We simply can’t wait to experience it ourselves, to hear how how Norwegian metal has developed from its rebellious roots into the highly acclaimed artistic expression of a complex music genre, under Norway‘s constitutional right to freedom of speech.

They celebrated it in a very metal way
13:00 DOORS

Photo exhibition by Per Ole Hagen
Pictures from "Norwegian metal in concert" (all day)

LIVE drawings by Kim Holm - Illustrator who will draw
the concerts and vikings in action

13:15 Official opening
- with true vikingbattles and acoustic band Folket bortafor Nordavinden

13:30
- Guided tour to the viking burial sites (1 hr) / (English version)
- Norse tattoo art (1 hr) Glenn Jarle Jordheim / Odins merke Tattoo

14:00
- Beer tasting (45 min) / entrance 200,- NOK, buy ticket at the ticket stand by the main entrance.
- Meet & greet with true vikings (30 min)

14:30
Viking games - "Wrestle like a viking" (30 min)

15:00
-Glittertind acoustic concert
-Meet & greet with true vikings (30 min)

15:30
- Folket bortafor Nordavinden (acoustic session )

16:00
- Meet & greet with true vikings (30 min)
- Guided tour to the viking burial sites (1 hr) / (Norwegian version)
- Documentary & debate: "Blackhearts" (1 hr)/ (English version)
- Beer tasting (45 min) / entrance 200,- NOK, buy ticket at the ticket stand by the main entrance.

16:30
- Folket bortafor Nordavinden (acoustic session )

16:45
- Viking battle show (15 min)

17:00
- Viking games - "Wrestle like a viking" (30 min)

17:30
- Folket bortafor Nordavinden (acoustic)
- Viking quiz in english

17:45
- Viking battle show (15 min)

18:00
- Beer tasting (45 min), English version/ entrance 200,- NOK, buy ticket at the ticket stand by the main entrance.

18:30
- Viking battle (15 min)

19:00
WARDRUNA concert

20:00
ENSLAVED concert

21:00
ENSLAVED and WARDRUNA perform “Skuggsjá”
 
That Enslaved/Wardruna performance sounds like something I'd love to see. Too bad I can't see myself getting to The Netherlands next year.

100,000 bands on the archives today.


That's a lot of metal bands.
That's a pretty incredible achievement. Congrats!

... any chance you folks were thinking of adding some mobile support for the site? The site is mostly usable, but could be better. It'd be handy for when I'm at concerts.
 
Damn, Sky Blue is phenomenal. It really delivers on the sound he's been cultivating with Addicted and Epicloud. Some of these melodies are just unreal. It's his most sophisticated DTP album in terms of mixing dreamlike layers of sound with pop a bit less annoying than earlier pop anthem-ey stuff like Lucky Animals.

Yeah, "dreamlike" is a good way to describe Sky Blue, which gives it a slightly different flavor than his other Pop Metal albums. Some of Anneke's softer vocals on the album are especially hypnotizing.

It definitely sounds a little safe, but it works out since it was coupled with a Ziltoid album.
 
Thanks everyone! Couldn't have done it without the community.

... any chance you folks were thinking of adding some mobile support for the site? The site is mostly usable, but could be better. It'd be handy for when I'm at concerts.
Yeah, one of our staff members has been working on a mobile version of the site for a while now, but he's really busy so I don't know how much longer it'll take. Since he's doing it for free (he offered, btw), I'm certainly not complaining. ^^

There was an Android app for a while, but it's outdated and kind of primitive, so I wouldn't really recommend it.
 
Probably more for a 1-person act than anything, but I recently thought up "Former Parasite" and thought it had a nice ring to it.

If I ever decide to make music, it would be a good chance that it would be a one person act as well. I was just pondering this yesterday; the advent of bandcamp and DIY production makes the tantalizing prospect of making my own music even more appealing. Since I'm not sure I would play live and I eventually will be able to afford enough equipment for making music, the prospect seems more appealing.
 
Yeah, one of our staff members has been working on a mobile version of the site for a while now, but he's really busy so I don't know how much longer it'll take. Since he's doing it for free (he offered, btw), I'm certainly not complaining. ^^
Excellent. I look forward to it showing up ... some time.
 
Yeah, "dreamlike" is a good way to describe Sky Blue, which gives it a slightly different flavor than his other Pop Metal albums. Some of Anneke's softer vocals on the album are especially hypnotizing.

It definitely sounds a little safe, but it works out since it was coupled with a Ziltoid album.

"Fallout" in particular stands out as one of my favorite DTP songs ever. That verse is just ridiculous, so damn cool. Anneke is just over the top amazing on this album!

It is a bit safe, and Devin kind of admitted to that, but when it works, it works. He's locked in with this sound. I wouldn't mind another album like this.
 
"Fallout" in particular stands out as one of my favorite DTP songs ever. That verse is just ridiculous, so damn cool. Anneke is just over the top amazing on this album!

It is a bit safe, and Devin kind of admitted to that, but when it works, it works. He's locked in with this sound. I wouldn't mind another album like this.

The album version of Fallout is good and all, but man the leaked version with Dev doing the verses is leaps and bounds better.
 
Honestly I never really enjoyed Anneke on Devin's albums. For example, I much prefer "Hyperdrive" on Ziltoid more than Anneke's version on Addicted. I actually like Anneke's solo work better too.
 
The album version of Fallout is good and all, but man the leaked version with Dev doing the verses is leaps and bounds better.

I'm not hearing that at all. I mean, it's fine with Devin, but Anneke makes it ear candy.

Honestly I never really enjoyed Anneke on Devin's albums. For example, I much prefer "Hyperdrive" on Ziltoid more than Anneke's version on Addicted. I actually like Anneke's solo work better too.

I do like the original Hyperdrive better.
 
What's the best Nocturnus album to start with?

The Fucking Key.

speaking of which. It's being re-issued on LP this year! The Science of Horror is also one of the best demos to come from the American underground. Sound is rough obviously but the material is tops. And that, too, is seeing a vinyl release in the months to come IIRC.
 
What's the best Nocturnus album to start with?

The Key is their best album, far none. Thresholds is a bit of a slump compared to The Key, but still good. But yes, The Key is amazing, listen to it now!

speaking of which. It's being re-issued on LP this year! The Science of Horror is also one of the best demos to come from the American underground. Sound is rough obviously but the material is tops. And that, too, is seeing a vinyl release in the months to come IIRC.

Shit, really? That's amazing! The only copy I have is a burned copy from around seven years ago. I'll have to get it when it comes out.
 
I got the CD reissues for the first two albums in preparation. Thresholds had its LP reissue last year. There's no official date for The Key AFAIK but I'm sure it'll be this year. Both Amazon and Relapse have placeholder dates of 10/14/14 lol. As for The Science of Horror, Nuclear War Now made special edition picture discs for their festival in Berlin which happened last weekend. I hope they didn't sell out. Still, I think it will be seeing a wider release on regular wax since they made new artwork for it. Check it out on the NWN bandcamp.
 
1vZkbgtm.jpg

The new Kenn Nardi album is out, I don't have it yet, but I'm listening to it on Bandcamp. So far, so good! Fragile... I plan on buying some other stuff from Divebomb soon too, so I'm going to wait until they get released before I nab this album.

OjMYnX9m.jpg

In more disappointing news, the new album, For Those Which Are Asleep, from The Skull (former Trouble dudes) so far has failed to impress me. It's not bad, but it's not what I was expecting when they formed the band and seemed to want to put out music more reminiscent of earlier Trouble. The Door
 
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