Does Humour Belong In Music?

 

"Well, this is embarrassing, came for a photo shoot and the photographer's mother had us remove our boots and socks before we entered the studio..."

"Youse were ol muddy and soaking wet and I'm not mopping the floor a second time this week!" 

Does Humour Belong In Music?

Nick: 'Tis with pride that I looketh upon the proud beasts of the land, leaving their mark on these hallowed grounds!

Gregor: What are you on about mate? They're just sheep, shitting!

Aaron: Oh fer fucksake, do I have to shovel the grass again?

 

Spins Of The Week: 15-21 January 2024

 Obscurity - "Damnations Pride"

Morbid Angel - "Formulas Fatal To The Flesh"

Grave - "Into The Grave"

JIRM - "The Tunnel, The Well, Holy Bedlam"

JIRM - "Bloom"

Tiamat - "Clouds"

Amorphis - "The Karelian Isthmus"

Turbowolf - "Two Hands"

Mercyful Fate - "Melissa"

King Diamond - "The Graveyard"

King Diamond - "Voodoo"

Helstar - "Burning Star"

Helstar - "Remnants Of War"

Impaled Nazarene - "Ugra-Karma"

Angelcorpse - "Hammer Of Gods"

Metal Church - "The Human Factor"

Wardog - "Scorched Earth"

Tankard - "R.I.B."

Vassafor - "Vassafor"

Bathory - "Blood Fire Death"

Miasmal - "Cursed Redeemer"

Judas Priest -"Painkiller"

 

Random Appreciation Post: My Dying Bride

Something didn't fully click in me with "In Line Of Deathless Kings". Spinning it now, after what feels an eternity... maybe for the first time since 2006/07. 

The songs are great - had they managed to insert a little more "rough", a bit more "noise" and by this I actually mean a few more wall-of-sound dynamics, this would have been another masterpiece. It is not a masterpiece but it is a great record albeit within MDB's comfort zone (it is one of the most identifiable comfort zones in metal).

(Aaron looking for something he dropped on the Shepherd's Bush Empire stage, Friday 1 Dec 2023.)

Spins Of The Week: 16 - 22 October 2023

Napalm Death - "Enemy Of The Music Business" (2000, Dream Catcher)

Meshuggah - "Immutable" (2002, Atomic Fire)

Iron Maiden - "The X Factor" (1995, EMI)

Witchcraft - "Nucleus" (2016, Nuclear Blast)

Deicide - "Deicide" (1990, R/C)

Deicide - "Legion" (1992, R/C)

Joe Satriani - "Surfing With The Alien" (1987, Relativity)

Venomous Concept - "The Good Ship Lollipop" (2023, Decibel)

Fates Warning - "Long Day Good Night" (2020, Metal Blade)

Pallbearer - "Heartless" (2017, Nuclear Blast)

Prong - "State Of Emergency" (2023, Steamhammer)

Tiamat - "Sumerian Cry" (1990, C.M.F.T.)

Tiamat - "The Astral Sleep" (1991, Century Media)

Benediction - Grind Bastard (1998, Nuclear Blast)

Daily Thompson - "God Of Spinoza" (2021, Noisolution)

General Smartarsery: King's X, Prong

 Are King's X to progressive metal what Prong are to nü metal?

Random Appreciation Post: Nobody Fucks With Bitchwax!

I think it's almost 20 years since I saw The Atomic Bitchwax in Stockholm (Sweden). They were equally as no-nonsense heavy rock last night! A riff behemoth!

The legend Chris Kosnik

Spins Of The Week: 09 - 15 October 2023

The Obsessed - "Sacred" (2017, Relapse)

Bolt Thrower - "Realm Of Chaos" (1989, Earache)

Savatage - "Edge Of Thorns" (1993, Atlantic)

Bloodbath - "Survival Of The Sickest" (2022, Napalm)

Cemetery Urn - "Suffer The Fallen" (2023, Hells Headbangers)

Tank - "Filth Hounds Of Hades" (1982, Kamaflage)

Marduk - "Memento Mori" (2023, Century Media)

Frank Zappa - various 

Graveyard - "6" (2023, Nuclear Blast)

Witchcraft - "Legend" (2012, Nuclear Blast)

Random Appreciation Posts: In A World Of Compromise Some Don't

It's a shame that Shane does not have any "spectacular" things to say. He has been having spectacular things to play though, and for a while now. 

The public does not get what the public actually needs. Good Shane music through several outlets. No randomness, just commitment.

Be more like Shane!

The Politics Of Ecstasy: Zappa (for EVERYTHING)

Fuck you all!

 

The Politics Of Ecstasy: Uninsurable Disaster Capitalism

https://www.naftemporiki.gr/finance/economy/1514795/k-mitsotakis-apo-deth-odeyoyme-pros-montelo-ypochreotikis-asfalisis-tis-perioysias/

vs

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/09/21/parts-of-america-are-becoming-uninsurable

The Economist, hardly a publication with Left-leaning tendencies, also had a podcast on this.

I hope whoever is drafting the regulatory framework and policies for this... initiative(?) is doing so in good faith. We're talking about a country without the legal infrastructure or the technical expertise to operate, in theory, mutually beneficial agreements.

Random Appreciation Posts: Peasants of Death - Servants of Death

Caught Vader live last Sunday at the Underworld. 

Had to really try to take a second dose of antibiotics before I went to bed (to try to get some rest after 2 sleepless nights) and left halfway+ through their AMAZING setlist! 

They brought Mauser onstage. 

They thanked their fans in Polish (London has may poles). 

They played a song dating from the "Morbid Reich" (Re-ik) demo ("Chaos"). 

Couldn't fully understand Peter when he was speaking in between songs, but man... I literally cannot think of a more fitting voice for their material. Effortless awesomeness a-la LG Petrov.  

Vader-victors!

Random Appreciation Post: Ca&dle&mass - Gra&vi&tas

- Is "Born In A Tank" in the top-10 Candlemass tracks?

- Fuck off, no way!

- Top-20?

- Absolutely not!

- Top-30?

- Nah, stretching it.

- ...

- ...

- It is bloody great!

- That it is!

- Top-40?

Random Appreciation Post: Sceptre under Shovel under Shit-Soul

When Marduk aren't trying to be edgy-idiots ("Viktoria" sounded a bit empty - in a bad way; "Panzer Division Marduk" is nostalgic but mostly boring) and when they try to filter their idiosyncratic eccentricities (like in the bitter "Plague Angel") they are really good.

I do not think there is a chance for the magnificently titled "Memento Mori" to become my favourite Marduk-with-Mortuus album. However, it certainly feels likely that they nailed the best song title for 2023. 

  Death is Certain. Life is Not.

Random Appreciation Post: Fates Warning - "A Pleasant Shade Of Gray"

This toothache is a bane in my existence.

Standard painkillers don't help. Sleepless night.

So I am doing admin work, deleting emails, saving down documents, doing taxes, feeling so tired, grumpy miserable.

And then I remembered that back in the summer of '98 I had messed up my elbow (playing basketball probably) and I spent a sleepless night that was made transcendentally better by the "A Pleasant Shade Of Gray" VHS (and some late night TV videos from Ronnie Scott's).

This dawn is also made better by this unfathomably deep and rewarding album.

Fates Warning are one of the best bands of all time.

(If the pain persists after the visit to the dentist, I'll probably end up not-so-randomly appreciating King Diamond's "Conspiracy" next.) 

Playlists

 Playlist 05/07/2021

1) Sepultura - "Beneath The Remains" (Roadrunner/racer, 1989)

2) Sepultura - "Arise" (Roadrunner/racer, 1991)
Scott Burns is a truly legendary producer. Here we are confronted by a "nuclear" production (cf. "Deicide"). Here the overall sound works. There are musical and stylistic reasons for this, in addition to Andy Wallace (another great) doing the mixing. This sort of a production was unsuitable for Napalm Death. I'm not a big "Harmony Corruption" fan.

3) Diocletean

4) Voivod
5) Testament - "The Legacy" (Megaforce, 1987)
6) Testament - "The New Order" (Megaforce, 1988)
7) Witchcraft - "Legend" (Nuclear Blast, 2012)

I was annoyed at how good this was, when it first came out. Really solid songwriting, porting a plethora of moods from one section to the next, while always ensuring that the Witchcraft trademarks are experienced by the listeners. Angel Of Betrayal!

Playlists

 

Playlist 04/07/2021 

1) Clutch - "Psychic Warfare" (Weathermaker, 2015) 

Great album, with a "breezier" feel than the full-lengths that preceded and followed and a few should-be-all-time-classics.

2) Sepultura - "Schizophrenia" (Cogumelo, 1987)

Love the "Intro". Love it! The rest of the album is not bad either :)

3) Crypt Sermon - "The Ruins Of Fading Light" (Dark Descent, 2019)

Really good album with a thematic take that allows for doom metal vocabulary to shine in the lyrics. 

4) Vektor - "Black Future" (Heavy Artillery, 2009)

Vektor are, by far, the best thrash metal band of the millenium (so far). What a trip!

 

Playlists

Playlist 21/03/2021

1) Bolt Thrower - "The IVth Crusade" (Earache, 1992)

Make the world better. Listen to Bolt Thrower!

2) Bolt Thrower - "War Master" (Earache, 1991)

A better world is possible. Listen to Bolt Thrower!  

3) Baest - "Necro Sapiens" (Century Media, 2021)

Great multiverse of influences. Catchy songs. Non-pretentious music. Possible their best all-around album.

4) Spirit Adrift - "Enlightened In Eternity" (Century Media, 2020)

Really great stuff. Melodic yet heavy. I really like this band. 

5) The Mars Volta & Solitude Aeturnus mix

Because I can.

 

Playlists

 Playlist 21/03/2021

1. Immolation - "Shadows In The Light" (2007, Listenable)

Awesome album. It felt awesome when it came out. It still feels awesome over a decade later. Immolation are a great band!

2. Opeth - "Blackwater Park" (2001, MFN)

I'll always remember how perplexed I was when the brutal vocals kicked in. Biased prick that I was, I did not want to hear anymore from bands that were desperately trying to "mature", without having the same honest intentions and passion they had as when they were first starting out. Great album. Today the Pink Floyd influences (guitars) really stood out for me.

3. Opeth - "Still Life" (1999, Peaceville)

The pivotal step in their career. Leaders, not followers.

4. Deep Purple - "Abandon" (1998, EMI)

Clearly not as good as its predecessor, but good nonetheless. I think I saw them live in '99 and again in '01; on the strength of this album, could be claimed. I remember walking my uncle's cream beagle Irma (Beagles Rule! Paws Up!) with this cassette tape in my walkman. 

5. Deep Purple - "Bananas" (2003, EMI) 

It may have been in 2004, 2005 even, when I sat down to listen to release. Had I listened to this album first, I'd definitely prefer it to "Abandon". Alas, I heard them in chronological order, "Abandon" first and then "Bananas". I'd probably still go for the latter if squeezed.

Playlists

Playlist 03-07/08/2020

1. Karnivool - "Assymetry" (2013, Density)

2. Midnight - "Sweet Death And Ecstasy" (2017, Hells Headbangers)

Yes, they(?) are better than Toxic Holocaust, Joel Grind.

3. Yes - "The Yes Album" (1971, Atlantic)

It is a pitty that -at least until 10 years ago- there was more talk of and about "Tales..." rather than this feelgood record.

4. Metallica - "Ride The Lightning" (1984, Megaforce)

I'm willing to change an opinion I've held for 25 years just as a Fuck You to the intolerable fanboys of "... Puppets".

5. In Flames - "Reroute To Remain" (2002, Nuclear Blast)

Trendy metal, heavily influenced by Slipknot. They were fully aware of the Tool and Meshuggah impact on american or wannabe american ears. Their second best? They were NEVER a good proper (death) metal band.

6. Vital Remains - "Forever Underground" (1997, Osmose)

Still remember the (1-page?) interview at Metal Hammer Greece. Teenage wasteland. 

7. Six Feet Under - "Warpath" (1997, Metal Blade)

Great commercial album, great vocals, Necrophagia for stoner rockers, zombie groove. Allen West is a seriously awesome riffer (a meth reefer?) and "Back From The Dead" is a criminally overlooked '90s record. Summer metal, or no metal at all!

8. Six Feet Under - "Haunted" (1995, Metal Blade)

Very interesting take.

9. Six Feet Under - "Maximum Violence" (1999, Metal Blade)

Their last properly solid album. A career semi-wasted.

10. Mekong Delta - "The Music Of Erich Zann" (1988, Aaarrg)

11. Mekong Delta - "Dances Of Death (And Other Walking Shadows)" (1990, Aaarrg)

Metal for metalheads.

12. Blood Ceremony - "Living With The Ancients" (2011, Rise Above)

Stylistically trendy when released with organically orgasmic songs like "Daughter Of The Sun".

13. Blood Ceremony - "Lord Of Misrule" (2016, Rise Above)

Includes a few perfunctory riffs.

14. Cradle Of Filth - "Damnation And A Day" (2003, Epic)

Tastier than a pack of crisps, but pretty worthless in calories.

15. Motörhead - "Aftershock" (2013, Motörhead Music)

In the conversation for their second best album of the third millenium.

16. Clawfinger - "Clawfinger" (1997, Warner)

Ameriglobal 2000s nu rawk, done early right.

17. Suicidal Tendencies - "Lights... Camera... Revolution" (1990, Epic)

Kick... Ass... Masterpiece 

18. Black Sabbath - "13"

Better than "The Final Frontier", "Nostradamus", "Death Magnetic", worse than "Book Of Souls", "Firepower", "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct".

The Rewatchables - "Enemy Of The State"

Fargo (Season 2)

Knives Out (2019)

In The Electric Mist (2009)