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The Metal Thread |OT2| All Riffs, No Gifs

For god's sake, modern pop should not get metal covers. Alestorm's cover of "Hangover" is god awful (especially in comparison to the two good covers (and one amazing one in "barrett's privateers") from the last album.

Rest of the album, bar the unbearable last bonus song (there are some places they shouldn't quest) is fine.
1. "Walk the Plank": lots of horn, even in comparison to how they usually operate. Verses are better than the chorus, truth be told.
2. "Drink": The chorus feels overly echo-y, kinda creating a droning sort of sound. Not a fan.
3. "Magnetic North": has some nice atmospheric elements that feel wasted by the chorus. Had they removed the chorus along with the growling, it would have been a fairly good song with a Nordic feel.
4. "1741 (The Battle of Cartanega)": If you liked "Death Throes of the Terrorsquid", you'll love this. Takes the storytelling elements from DTotT, cuts some of the bullshit, and mixes in a ear-catching riff (with a chiptune intro no less). Excellent chorus. Overall the second best song on the album.
5. "Surf Squid Warfare": Some songs should just not be written. This is not one of those songs. Delightfully stupid in the best possible way, with excellent, cheesy sing-along lyrics (PIRATE POWERED MURDER SKILLS for LotY). Best piece on the album.
6. "Quest for Ships": Not as delightful as the prior song, but about just as stupid. Chorus and solo are nice, with the verses being ok (gear change for the third chorus is rather bad though), and the outro is dumb.
7. "Wooden Leg": In the theme of "delightfully stupid", this fast song has the same bitter style on storytelling in its verses as "Barrett's Privateers", but actually kind of funny. The chorus is either funny or annoying, depending on who you ask.
8. "Hangover": Kill me
9. "Sunset on the Golden Age": Doesn't deserve to be as long as it is. While there's a good recurring melody and a very strong chorus, they put a lot of filler in the album closer.

Bonus tracks:
A. The Acoustic Remakes: These are actually very good and redeem the purchase. The acoustic instruments might even fit most of the choices better than the original metal instruments, bar "Shipwrecked" being a tad jarring. "Keelhauled" is a current favorite.
B. "Questing on the Poop Deck": I couldn't finish it. Completely cringe-inducing.

EDIT: "Sunset..." is starting to grow on me.
 
Morbius-Sojourns-through-the-Septiac.jpg
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You've heard of Arghoslent and Grand Belial's Key, but have you heard of Morbius? If I'm not mistaken, this band features the drummer from both of those bands (Matt Sylvester AKA The Gulag AKA Alienchrist). Unfortunately, Morbius never gained the popularity of Arghoslent and GBK, even though the material here is very strong. What we have here is chaotic OSDM, featuring some truly powerful and complex percussion by Matt Sylvester. What I like the most about this album is that it packs a heavy punch and never seems to stop moving, but within all that chaos there are subtle melodies. Check it out.
Sample
 
Morbius are a very cool band, Sojourns is their best for sure. The musicianship is great and the pace at the band's most furious. That cover differs from my CD, interesting. Also interesting to note is that The Crypt is re-issuing their first two albums on LP next year. I was disappointed to hear that they have no plans for the third but knowing the label, they will eventually obtain the rights. IIRC the band had been having plans to release all three on vinyl for years now but no label could pull through. Nice to see someone step up. I just remembered that I uploaded full scans of their CDs a while back. Here are the covers for some eye candy.

01bookletcover.png


01bookletcover.png


01bookletcover.png
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nailbombxx said:
You've heard of Arghoslent and Grand Belial's Key, but have you heard of Morbius? If I'm not mistaken, this band features the drummer from both of those bands (Matt Sylvester AKA The Gulag AKA Alienchrist). Unfortunately, Morbius never gained the popularity of Arghoslent and GBK, even though the material here is very strong. What we have here is chaotic OSDM, featuring some truly powerful and complex percussion by Matt Sylvester. What I like the most about this album is that it packs a heavy punch and never seems to stop moving, but within all that chaos there are subtle melodies. Check it out.
Sample
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I never gave Morbius a chance for some reason, I guess I will now.
I did stumble upon an Arghoslent ripoff band by the name of House of Atreus. A little ridiculous of how much it resembles Arghoslent though.

House of Atreus
 
I learned of House of Atreus recently as well. Gonna be looking out for their future releases. As for GBK worship, I'm rather impressed by this new band Svolder who have an outstanding album on the year. It's pretty refreshing to hear another band take on a style that is so seldom mimicked, at least as far as I know. The album is available on Bandcamp, check it out. CD and cassette releases are available, LP in the works.
 
MezzoForte said:
I learned of House of Atreus recently as well. Gonna be looking out for their future releases. As for GBK worship, I'm rather impressed by this new band Svolder who have an outstanding album on the year. It's pretty refreshing to hear another band take on a style that is so seldom mimicked, at least as far as I know. The album is available on Bandcamp, check it out. CD and cassette releases are available, LP in the works.
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Oh man, that album cover. That GBK style may sound simple, but I think many bands don't have the balls to do it since its so unique to GBK. Sorta like how no one attempts to do Boltthrower or Voivod style.
 
Giant Robot said:
I never gave Morbius a chance for some reason, I guess I will now.
I did stumble upon an Arghoslent ripoff band by the name of House of Atreus. A little ridiculous of how much it resembles Arghoslent though.

House of Atreus
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Yep. This is pure Arghoslent worship if I've ever heard any. Great for what it is, nice guitarwork, and the songwriting seems to be interesting. Cool aesthetics too. I like it.

MezzoForte said:
I learned of House of Atreus recently as well. Gonna be looking out for their future releases. As for GBK worship, I'm rather impressed by this new band Svolder who have an outstanding album on the year. It's pretty refreshing to hear another band take on a style that is so seldom mimicked, at least as far as I know. The album is available on Bandcamp, check it out. CD and cassette releases are available, LP in the works.
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I listened to this album earlier this year, and it is pretty good as well! They do seem to be trying to be like an anti-Islamic GBK, but I feel that they don't replicate their style as much as House of Atreus does Arghoslent. The similarities are undeniable, however. Solid rifftastic black metal all around: there were plenty of times when listening to it I was like like "wow those riffs tho". I like the vocalist's style. But, as for the cons, I think they could improve greatly in their songwriting, as the album started to feel pretty repetitive towards the end.

Who here in MetalGAF has a RateYourMusic profile?
 
Nice, journey to the Vienna confirmed, enough participants. And setlist from Sodom, Arch enemy and Kreator makes me very eager :)
 
nailbombxx said:
I listened to this album earlier this year, and it is pretty good as well! They do seem to be trying to be like an anti-Islamic GBK, but I feel that they don't replicate their style as much as House of Atreus does Arghoslent. The similarities are undeniable, however. Solid rifftastic black metal all around: there were plenty of times when listening to it I was like like "wow those riffs tho". I like the vocalist's style. But, as for the cons, I think they could improve greatly in their songwriting, as the album started to feel pretty repetitive towards the end.
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mastering the dynamics of GBK songwriting will take more than one album for sure, and I think they will definitely improve in that department. Also if anything, I do think their LP has the Kosherat style down to a T which itself differs slightly from Judeobeast, and further from Mocking the Philanthropist.

on the subject of Arghoslent worship, yeah gotta say I haven't heard too many albums that are comparable. I always thought that Ares Kingdom, especially on Return to Dust has its similar moments. Killer death/thrash with lots of melody. Also Sacriphyx's LP The Western Front calls for a similar aesthetic, but they're more lamenting. Very much riff-based albeit a little more progressive, if you will. Kind of in the same way that a lot of Hellenic black metal is.

Ares Kingdom
Sacriphyx

edit: forgot how long ago I made this image originally, but I did it again just for laughs. I still can't believe this coincidence.

141207_01_zps5e5d6084.png
 
MezzoForte said:
on the subject of Arghoslent worship, yeah gotta say I haven't heard too many albums that are comparable. I always thought that Ares Kingdom, especially on Return to Dust has its similar moments. Killer death/thrash with lots of melody. Also Sacriphyx's LP The Western Front calls for a similar aesthetic, but they're more lamenting. Very much riff-based albeit a little more progressive, if you will. Kind of in the same way that a lot of Hellenic black metal is.

Ares Kingdom
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Yea Ares Kingdom fucking rips. I've always said Epoch of Unlight has some touches of early Arghoslent riffing. Similar awkward riffing style, but different vision. Lots of mood shifts and melodies throughout.
Epoch of Unlight - What Will Be Has Been

MezzoForte said:
edit: forgot how long ago I made this image originally, but I did it again just for laughs. I still can't believe this coincidence.

141207_01_zps5e5d6084.png
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Haha, Cazz Jeremy/Eddie Sturmer
 
Andrew_Korenchkin said:
On Blind Guardian, what are your favorite songs? I'm especially interested to hear your favorite songs, MetalGuardian.
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It changes all the time, but in hype of their new stuff I am listenening their whole discography so here goes:

-Goodbye My Friend (original)
-Time What is Time (original)
-Somewhere Far Beyond (original)
-Script for My Requiem (original, demo has a very cool deleted part near the solo though)
-Mordred's Song (1996 acoustic version)
-Curse of Feanor (original)
-Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns) (original)
-Mirror Mirror (2003 Live version)
-Soulforged (original)
-And Then There Was Silence (2012 rerecording, sounds better and less overbloated to me. Both have their own advantages though)
-Ride Into Obsession (original)
-Wheel of Time (original, love listening to the orchestral piece too)

My current top 12 covering their whole discography, on chronological order. Nightfall is my favourite album, followed by Somewhere Far Beyond and At the Edge of Time. I love both new and old BG.
 
Royal_Flush said:
So basically the whole Dutch symphonic metal scene came together and made a cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's The Power Of Love. You also can donate to the red cross and get a download of the song. Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRh60UXUdeE

I really like this kind of things, huge collaborations for a good cause :)
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So many artists I love are involved, they will get my money. But I am no fan of the song in question. Still, this one is all about the initiative.
 
Listening to Twilight of the Gods on Google Play now, and it sounds miles better than what that youtube video tried to pass off as listenable.
 
That new Blind Guardian song doesn't do much for me. BG was one of the first metal bands I listened too, so the guys have a special place in my heart (besides: Imaginations from the Other Side is one of the best epic metal albums ever recorded), but since A Night at the Opera, that had some outstanding songs, they haven't really done anything memorable.

My favorite songs:
- Born in a Mourning Hall
- The Last Candle
- Mirror Mirror
- Valhalla
- Welcome to Dying
- The Curse of Feanor
- Battlefield


I've been on a epic (doom) metal binge lately. Mountain Throne are good, Scald even better, but I don't think I can handle the awesomeness that are Reverend Bizarre.
 
Andrew_Korenchkin said:
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/he...te-music-that-is-unfocused-and-lacks-passion/

Not sure why, but this story provided me with plenty of lulz. Horrendous band, at that.
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Saw this band live when we all had a girls night out to see Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour a few years back. (Not my cup of tea but hey, they offered the tickets for free and paid for hotel accomodation!). Researched them before I left and was intriqued when I heard the singer was "Kud" in Mudvayne. They were pretty mediocre at the show, felt sorry for Chad Gray though, he was trying to be enthsiastic and stay hyped for what little of the crowd had shown up to see them, didn't help they were the first act out either. Had a chat with him afterwards and got him to sign my copy of Mudvayne's L.D 50 though, seemed like a pretty nice fella.
 
nailbombxx said:
They do seem to be trying to be like an anti-Islamic GBK, but I feel that they don't replicate their style as much as House of Atreus does Arghoslent. The similarities are undeniable, however. Solid rifftastic black metal all around: there were plenty of times when listening to it I was like like "wow those riffs tho". I like the vocalist's style. But, as for the cons, I think they could improve greatly in their songwriting, as the album started to feel pretty repetitive towards the end.
Click to expand...

well I guess if you're going to imitate GBK, you might as well be utterly repulsive to some demographic while you're at it to achieve the full effect. I definitely agree with you though. Sub-GBK overall, but some (really) solid riffs and they show a lot of promise. The bridge in track 2 in particular really caught my attention.
 
Just returned from Vienna. That was brutal. From 18:40 until 23:40 with minimal breaks. Add very unconfortable bus to the mix and you have 24 hours without sleep. My ears are ringing, my leg hurt, my neck is sore....

Detailed report will follow, only bad thing was that Sodom members caught flu and they were forced to shorten their set, because singer simply lost his voice.

UPDATE:
After six hours of sleep, I can write some more impressions. I have some photos and three videos (but phone saved them in wrong orientation even if I had phone in right position during filming and HTC Desire X is not good for this) :
VADER : They had the worst sound of all four, but managed to produce nice warm up. They played 9 songs, their drummer is a complete beast and I heard Wings live.

SODOM: As I said before, they performed with some health problems (confirmed later by the drummer to one from our group). Angelripper said before the start that his throat is fucked and promised us that he will try to put a good show. And they did, pure fucking energy. Tom on bass and vocals rips it even with badly sore throat, Bernemann kills on guitar. They shortened the set, i hope that they would squeeze "Tired and Red" in, but after eleven songs, they said goodbye and promised that they will return in top form :) If you haven't, go see them live...Saw is the law!
2ammyxu.jpg
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ARCH ENEMY : Pleasant surprise of the evening. Alissa is awesome with good crowd interaction and she is a looker, that's for sure. And she rips it live. Also with Lommis, they have one hell of the guitarist there. Also played eleven songs, with older stuff getting the best reception (Nemesis, My apocalypse, Dead eyes see no future).

KREATOR: Well, you know it - hundred minutes of nonstop barrage. Moved to the back of the hall, because I was already tired and enjoyed the show. Nice kudos to dead musicians on the song 'Voices of the Dead', they had a roll of their portraits on the background. Song after song, pure bombardment with fantastic sound .Only questionable song of the evening was cover of Number of the beast' at the start of the encore.
And too bad that my phone battery was going out, because two (probably high as fuck) dudes in front of me had very interesting moment of revelation during Flag of Hate/Tormentor duo. Like they were touched by some higher being, they danced around waving their hands like trance. That would surely turned viral :D
 
Oh my god, hahaha, wow. Classy item indeed.

New Blind Guardian trailer for those interested btw!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51WwAtdMfAc

Love the piece they tease at the end of the trailer (something epic and orchestral, sounds great). Intro metal piece is also cool. I have no clue why there is a Control the Divine riff in the trailer though (you see them actually playing it in the studio). Maybe that melody makes a comeback on the album? (if certain pieces would make a comeback, I would expect Bright Eyes or And the Story Ends material more, considering the concept).
 
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