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.