Red's Legion of the Necro-Horde

[Sloddikus]

Just finished listening to it.

Uninspired drivel by a tone deaf moron.actually it's pretty good but muddy production

[The Maple Syrup Baptist]

Originally Posted by ReclusiveDemon

Just finished listening to it.

Uninspired drivel by a tone deaf moron.actually it's pretty good but muddy production

o i c wut u did ther.

These guys are Black/Folk, and I like em: Askival - Whispers In The Breeze.

I don't really know many Funeral variant bands but I think I'll go ahead and order that Licht Erlischt album tomorrow.

Also, tomorrow is the release of Arkaea's debut, Years In The Darkness. It is essentially half of what was intended to be the new Fear Factory (with adjustments and refinements), so you best believe I will be holding it under very heavy scrutiny.

[Raine]

Originally Posted by ReclusiveDemon

actually it's pretty good but muddy production

Thanks, buddy. Maybe one day when I finally move to Japan I'll be important enough to actually own a copy...

...here's hoping he releases more in the future? -.-

Originally Posted by Omega Mitch

These guys are Black/Folk, and I like em: Askival - Whispers In The Breeze.

That's actually the first time in quite some time I've listened to anything tagged as folk aside from Leonard Cohen and Falconer. I enjoyed it, looking into other songs.

Red, listed under the related videos section I saw an old band I was once interested in called Pagan Hammer. I had forgotten about them, but they were actually one of the first bands I discussed with you. I imagine their music is far more common now than it was back then. So my question for you is, do you have any of their CD's yet?

Originally Posted by Omega Mitch

I don't really know many Funeral variant bands

There isn't a lot of it. If you'd be interested in atmospheric funeral doom, I suggest Monolithe. Most of my favorite funeral bands are funeral drone/doom or something of the sort. Nevertheless, I remember what happened the last time I brought up drone metal, so I won't go there again.

Originally Posted by Omega Mitch

Also, tomorrow is the release of Arkaea's debut, Years In The Darkness. It is essentially half of what was intended to be the new Fear Factory (with adjustments and refinements), so you best believe I will be holding it under very heavy scrutiny.

I listened to "Locust" the other day, and they just didn't manage to woo my ears. The riff just wasn't special.

[MaskedJackal]

Originally Posted by Raine

There isn't a lot of it. If you'd be interested in atmospheric funeral doom, I suggest Monolithe. Most of my favorite funeral bands are funeral drone/doom or something of the sort. Nevertheless, I remember what happened the last time I brought up drone metal, so I won't go there again.

I've never heard of Monolithe. What are they like? My funeral doom collection consists of Esoteric, Wormphlegm, Mournful Congregation, Skepticism, Thergothon, and Ahab. After I got over all the hype, Ahab became a little stale. The rest is awesome though.

[Sloddikus]

Well you're not huge on songs that are 50+ minutes, so Monolithe probably isn't for you.

[MaskedJackal]

True, the longest song I have is Crimson.

I picked up a couple of CDs today, namely Carcass' "Symphonies of Sickness" and Obituary's "Darkest Day".

The new Obituary is a decent slab of groovy death metal, but it lacks the atmosphere and aggressiveness of their first two masterpieces.

"Symphonies..." is, of course, legendary.

[MaskedJackal]

Sorry for the double post, but I've written my first (real) review.

Obituary: Darkest Day

I was having a look through the record store in the mall the other day and, lo and behold, I came across the new Obituary album, Darkest Day. Having heard mixed opinions on it, and due to Xecutioners Return being so boring, I was a bit skeptical. However, nothing else in the store was of much interest at the moment, and since Obituary was the band that got me to like death metal in the first place, I figured I'd buy their latest output.


The album starts out quite nicely with "List of Dead". Yeah, it's sort of a lame song title, but it's a nice, speedy (well, for Obituary) track with plenty of headbangable riffs and little shred solos. One thing I noticed right away is that the production has been kicked up a notch. Unlike this band's previous offering, the guitar tone is actually heavy. That massive, muddy tone that characterizes Trevor Perez's groovy riffing is still present. The drumming is style is unaltered and sounds like vintage Donald Tardy. Obituary sounds like they are expected to.


"Blood to Give" follows the opener, and it's reminiscent of "The End Complete" in how it shifts between mid-paced grooving and up-tempo thrashiness. As a matter of fact, this entire album is highly derivative of middle-era Obituary. The band doesn't introduce any new concepts; groove-laden riffage accompanied by bizzare vocals and simplistic yet competent drumming are what these guys have been about since their third offering. The material present isn't idealy different from what was on Xecutioner's Return. It's just done with seemingly more effort and more of an adherence to what made their previous albums so celebrated, and that's what makes Darkest Day superior to its predecessor,

I found every track to be of similar quality; there were no real stinkers, but at the same time there weren't really any tracks that stood far out above the rest. That's not to say there aren't any memorable tracks though. "Payback" has a catchy chorus that will implant itself in your memory for days ("Payback by default!"... as always, the lyrics don't make much sense). "Left to Die" is very repetitive, but it's quite catchy and it manages to keep your attention. "Your Darkest Day" is a slow crusher, but unlike the previous release's "Contrast the Dead", it doesn't drag on and break your balls for seven minutes. "Violent Dreams" is a faster track that resembles the classic "Words of Evil" from the debut, with a song structure that is almost identical to that of the aforementioned track. There really aren't any "singles" (technically "Blood to Give" is a single, but I don't find it to be a standout track), but each song has characteristics that distinguish it from the rest.


Ralph Santolla seems to get a lot of flack for not "fitting in" with the rest of the band. Personally, I don't see what the problem is. His leads aren't Murphy's, but I fail to see why Allen West was any better. Santolla's leads may sound a little more "ubeat", and if this were Slowly We Rot, I could see why this may be a problem. However, this album lacks much of the dark atmosphere found in the aforementioned debut, so Santolla's leads don't really cause any issues in that department. Both have contributed neat little shred solos that spice things up and add a little more excitement to the constant groove-laden riffage.


The vocals are almost exactly the same as they were on Frozen in Time, with possibly a little more aggression. Tardy doesn't sound like he did in the early days, but he still sounds like no other. However, he doesn't sound as "tired" as he did on the previous album. It definitely sounds like he is putting forth more effort, and in turn, his growls sound more hostile. Overall, his performance here is fair.


In conclusion, Darkest Day is a solid piece of groovy, mid-paced death metal. It's not Cause of Death, but then again, I wasn't expecting it to be. Those days are long gone, and what we're left with is a solid, old-school death metal band that is still able to churn out quality material.
If you're a fan of Obituary, don't hesitate to give this one a listen.

Final Rating: 80%

[Sloddikus]

@Andrew: Good review.



Meanwhile

WHO NEEDS A GOOD LAUGH?

http://www.last.fm/music/Tectum

That is some seriously laughable shizzle right there. That band has been spamming all of last.fm artist pages (Doom Metal mostly) trying to get people to listen to them. The production quality of their music is alright, but the first song alone is... ugh. I'm not sure if it's Slipknot or Coal Chamber theft.

The rest of the music is pretty generic and awful, too.

[MaskedJackal]

Originally Posted by ReclusiveDemon

WHO NEEDS A GOOD LAUGH?

http://www.last.fm/music/Tectum

That is some seriously laughable shizzle right there. That band has been spamming all of last.fm artist pages (Doom Metal mostly) trying to get people to listen to them. The production quality of their music is alright, but the first song alone is... ugh. I'm not sure if it's Slipknot or Coal Chamber theft.

The rest of the music is pretty generic and awful, too.

Laugh? It bored the **** out of me. =(

[Tombi]

Guess who's seeing Amon Amarth in November

[Orthar]

Originally Posted by Tombi

Guess who's seeing Amon Amarth in November

You.

I guessed right, I demand a prize!

Andrew, I added your review to the first page.

[Tombi]

*gives you a prize*

*of a ticket to the inevitable Megadeth world tour*

[Sloddikus]

Vesen

Because I know how much you kids like filthy, festering Blackened Thrash

[MaskedJackal]

Originally Posted by PainKiller

You.

I guessed right, I demand a prize!

Andrew, I added your review to the first page.

Cool. I sort of re-wrote it so it doesn't suck.

@Red: I do... if the Celtic Frost debut counts.

[Orthar]

Originally Posted by ReclusiveDemon

Vesen

Because I know how much you kids like filthy, festering Blackened Thrash

You know me so well baby.

<3

They're good, maybe as good as Skeletonwitch.