Windhand "Windhand"

Today's album is a self-titled one from Windhand.

1. "Black Candles". The song starts with the sound of bugs, thunder, and someone walking. Kind of a stomp walk, like it's tracking something, but also wants that something to know it is tracking it. Doom sludge takes over, with doomy stoner vocals kicking up shortly after. Stoner guitar solo.

2. "Libusen". More rain and thunder starts this one. I wonder if this is a live recording. Deep in the woods on a rainy day. Another sludge of a song. I don't know what Libusen means, so I googled it. Besides the song, a Wikipedia entry for Libuše  came up. While it is likely that Libuše  has nothing to do with Libusen, it's still interesting enough to read. Apparently she established Prague in the 8th century. Her mother may have been an elf.

3. "Heap Wolves". It's raining even harder in the beginning of this song. Not a great day for Windhand. I'm not sure what a heap wolf is, but this image comes up on a google image search.

4. "Summon the Moon". No thunderstorms to kick this one off. Instead there is laughing. What's so funny, Windhand? There is nothing funny when you summon the moon. The lyric of "Heaven is on its way" is sung over and over before breaking into a guitar solo. This is a solid song.

5. "Winter Sun". This song starts with the howl of wind. I wonder if they will provide a conclusion to the little story that has started each song. Will we ever find out who that was walking on "Black Candles"? Was it Heap Wolves? The elf mother of Libuše? I don't think we are meant to find out. This track ends with more brutal vocals that appeared on the rest of the album, so I'm sure we might not want to know. If this is the Heaven that was predicted to be coming on "Summon the Moon", Heaven is not at all like you expected it to be.

Solid doom album. Not spectacular, but you could do a lot worse.

Grade: 3 out of 5 decapitated goats.

Top Tracks: 

1. Summon the Moon
2. Winter Sun
3. Black Candles

Old Man Gloom "NO"

Today's album is Old Man Gloom's NO.

Yes it is.

1. "Grand Inversion". Uncomfortable static noise intro turns into uncomfortable feedback. Feedback succumbs to single notes of an organ

2. "Common Species". "Grand Inversion" blends right into "Common Species, except there are now guitars. Jangly guitars at first. Then death guitars. Accompanied by death vocals. The common species must be death. And Loud. Loudus Deathimus. Old Man Gloom is an angry beast. It also turns out to be a supergroup, started by a dude from ISIS, who was joined by other dudes from Converge and Cave-In. Good stuff from Boston. A slow, brutal version of good stuff. Great panic attack near the end of the song.

3. "Regain/Rejoin". This comes from the band's Band Camp page:

"NO" was made using acoustic and electric instruments including but not limited to: 
sheet metal, toilets, human voices, guitars, drums, tambourines, shoes, hands, various 
other percussive tools, analog and digital electronic devices, and brains.

The Band Camp page also claims that they are the original OMG.

4. "To Carry The Flame". Even cooler than this band, which is certainly cool, is where the name comes from. Meet Zozobra, aka Old Man Gloom, who is a giant marionette effigy that gets burned to the ground by a bunch of crazy New Mexicols.

This song is great.

5. "The Forking Path". This song may have been created with sheet metal and toilets. Here's more information on the burning of Zozobra. And you can burn your own virtual Zozobra here.

6. "Shadowed Hand". More noises on this one. Although I had another window open with the virtual Zozobra, which probably contributed to some of the noises. If you burn him down, virtually, he does this virtual spooky laugh. So virtual. So spooky. "Shadowed Hand" is taking a while to build up, so feel free to burn away your problems. The song eventually turns into a brief church anthem, before it's stripped down to nothing. It builds up near the end, resulting in a solid, experimental song. ExperiMETAL.

7. "Rats". Good name for a song. Always. "Rats" has more sounds. And deep humming. This song is probably another spot where the toilet and sheet metal were utilized. The sounds turn into another good metalcore song. "HUMAN ROACHES/HUMAN RATS/WE'RE NO DIFFERENT/DON'T FORGET". That might not be the actual lyrics, but I imagine I'm pretty close. 

8. "Crescent". Acoustic guitars and singing. And howling sheet metal. I'm usually not a fan of this drastic mix-up, but it sounds good here. Old Man Gloom could make a living as a cranky old folk singer if he had to. 

9. "Shuddering Earth". This song starts with a man shouting. Then the music starts. Old Man Gloom is back to remind you that he is still angry. The folk interlude was brief. At 14:03, this song goes through a lot of changes, and they are all good. This album has officially been burned to the ground. Time to burn it over and over again.

This album mixes things up to avoid having everything sound the same. So I vote YES for NO. OMG!!

Grade: 5 out of 5 decapitated goats (and burning zozobras)

Top Tracks:

1. Common Species

2. To Carry The Flame

3. Shuddering Earth

Swallow the Sun "The Morning Never Came"

Today's album is Swallow the Sun's The Morning Never Came.

1. "Through Her Silvery Body". Starts with a piano lesson. Everything seems quiet and calm. The crunch begins a minute in. Nice melodic octaves, over a slow chug. Deep, evil vocals penetrate the soul. The sound of someone who ate a sun I guess. There is no sign of urgency, as the song takes a methodic and careful approach as it makes its way through her silvery body.

2. "Deadly Nightshade". Perhaps could have also been called Atropa belladonna. Another slow chugger.

3. "Out Of The Gloomy Light". One thing that I'm confused about is why all of these Nordic metal bands use English for their band names and song titles. There's probably a reasonable explanation, but I don't feel like looking it up. Instead I will copy and paste Finland's Coat of arms, as presented by Wikipedia:

4. "Swallow (Horror Pt. 1)". More melodic guitars, more slow pace. I had this on the other day and was more into it than I am right now. It's still solid, but I was hoping for more pace this morning.

5. "Silence of the Womb". Cool change up in the early goings of this. It even changes to regular singing, with the screams in the background. I'm usually not into that kind of mix, but it works real well at this point in the album. The singing experiment is short-lived (which is also good), as the growl continues. It's pretty bad that it has taken me five songs to realize that if you swallow the sun, the morning will never come, as stated by the album's title. At the end of this song, there's creepy talking and a baby crying. As to be expected from a metal song referencing the womb.

6. "Hold This Woe". Piano over more octavey guitar. More singing. Drums kick the singing out. Then the drums chill, and the singing comes back. I'm not sure if I love this, or hate it, but it is a good change of pace from the rest of this album. I'll appreciate it. Metal vocals take over midway through the song. I like that they don't let the singers have too much time to do their singing. No one wants an 8 minute song of singing. 8 minute of decay is perfectly fine. 

7. "Under The Waves". Under the waves you will find more meeeeeetal. And this guy:

8. "The Morning Never Came". More singing. More majestic anthem rock. More solid metal vocals. More slow pace. If you're not in a rush with your metal, this album will work fine.

9. "Solitude (Bonus Track)". A bonus track that starts as a ballad. "Please let me die in solitude" cues the end of the ballad, as the crunch of distortion takes over. I guess the request was denied. This might be the best track.

Grade: 3 out of 5 decapitated goats.

Top Tracks: 

1. Solitude (Bonus Track)

2. Under The Waves

3. Through Her Silvery Body

Final Conflict "Ashes to Ashes"

Today's album is Final Conflict's Ashes to Ashes.

It comes recommended by Pitchfork: "In 1987, they released their pulverizing debut album, Ashes to Ashes—a venom-soaked takedown of the Reagan years, as well as one of the decade's best crossover releases." Pitchfork also links to this article about the suburban LA punk scene in the early years.

A venom-soaked takedown! Let's check it out.

1. "Apocalypse Now!". Late 80s hardcore at its finest.  The music is surprisingly really tight. A crisp 1:39 of "Apocalypse Now" shouts.

2. "One Answer". A comparison to the Gorilla Biscuits could definitely be made. Gorilla Biscuits, but better at playing instruments.

3. "Private War". Helicopters. Into music. Classic touch! The chorus contains shouts of "Nightmares, Nightmares,Nightmares, WHAT I SEE (I think)". I miss good political punk rock. Are people this fired up anymore? Ends with a few notes of the national anthem.

4. "Crucifixion". Standard hardcore punk song. Guitar solo included. This would have been fun to see live back in the day...I'm mad I completely missed out on this band.

5. "Abolish Police". An anti-police brutality song. Obviously. "We must continue to. FIGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM". I would have had a finger pointed in the air while shouting this one. Then I would have got my head stomped in. Police violence...bad/pit violence...OK!

6. "Shattered Mirror". This one features the first sing along chorus. Nothing wrong with a good sing along.

7. "Burial Service". Just some more thrash punk. Get out your skateboards. "Human nature will destroy us".

8. "What Kind of Future?" I'm from the future, and I'll be happy to tell you about it, Final Conflict. It's more of the same, but a lot more bleak. We need more Final Conflict. Less real conflict.

9. Constant Fear". At 2:59, this is the longest song. "HOW LONG MUST WE SIT IN SILENCE". "TIRED OF LIVING IN FEAR OF OUR NUCLEAR CONFRONTATION." I can rep this. THEY MUST BE DISAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARMED. This might be the best. Punk rock > nuclear warfare. This is taking DIY to a much more profound level.

10. "Political Glory". A sound clip of someone talking about how the economy is getting worse under Ronald Reagan. This stuff is important to remember.

11. "Central America". "TORTURE/NEVER STOOOOOOPS". It's true, unfortunately.

But instead of hearing about torture, let's all talk about pop culture.

12. "Outcasts". A recruitment song. Reaching out to the outcasts. I would have signed up.

13. "Self-Righteous Pigs". I think the song is talking about people not even knowing what people are fighting for. I'm not entirely sure what the song is actually talking about, but I do hear them talking about how the self-righteous pigs just want more power. Again, it's true. Then and now.

14. "The Last Sunrise". A sound sample of "Generic Reagan political speech" repeated over and over. Then it does a sound clip of the evil man of himself saying "Don't Tread on Me'. This band does not like Reagan.

I wish I listened to this when I was younger. Pretty accessible for any skate punk, from any time period I imagine.  It has held up well 27 years later. The Final Conflict was the same then as it is now. And I imagine it will be how it will always be. We go in circles. 

Final Grade: 5 out of 5.

Top Tracks:  You really could listen to any of them. They are all the same. If you don't like the first track, you won't like any of it.

1. Constant Fear
2. Apocalypse Now!
3. Abolish Police

Naglfar "Téras" .

Today's album is Naglfar's Téras.

That cover is intense.

1. "Téras". Swedish black metal. Good vocals, decent backing music. Not any noticeable gimmicks. Naglfar is keeping it real. Cool breakdown part near the end to keep the pit happy. The pit of death, not the mosh pit. At the end, the singer repeatedly wants you to bring out your dead.  I just realized I wasn't even listening to Téras at all. I'm not sure what I was listening to. I'll keep this for now.

1. "Téras". This one is a little slower than what ever I listened to first. The real Téras is somehow more bleak than requests to bring out your dead. Still a good song though.

2. "Pale Horse". This starts off more in your face than the first track. After the intro, there's a gasp of air and then it somehow gets faster. So, the origin of the name is kind of cool:

The name Naglfar is derived from Norse mythology; Naglfar is the ship made of dead men's nails that will carry the giants and forces of chaos across the sea to the battle of Ragnarök.

3. "III: Death Dimension Phantasma". You can detect elements of thrash. You don't really need to be a metal detective to see this. It is fast. Cool guitars when the song breaks down later on. Everything fits well on this album. This ship made of dead men's nails is sailing to a prosperous land. 

4. "The Monolith". A song about a rock I guess. Slower, doesn't stand out. Unlike a single rock standing on its own for all eternity. There is a cool breakdown vocal explosion halfway through. The song gets better after this.

5. "An Extension Of His Arm and Will". Tempo is brought back up. This is a good thing.

6. "Bring Out Your Dead". This was probably the song I listened to first and thought was the first song. Here's a copy and paste from what I wrote up there:  Good vocals, decent backing music. Not any noticeable gimmicks. Naglfar is keeping it real. Cool breakdown part near the end to keep the pit happy. The pit of death, not the mosh pit. At the end, the singer repeatedly wants you to bring out your dead.

Here's a blog about the Naglfar (ship, not the band).

7. "Come Perdition". Still just thinking about a ship of dead men's nails. I guess that's why they needed you to bring out your dead.

8. "Invoc(H)ate". I see what they did there. The songs have blended into each other at this point. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it might have benefited from a little bit of variety. The songs are thrashish, with a hint of fantasy epicness. Lots of speed, great vocals, and a predictable breakdown at some point of each song. "Invoke. HATE" chants at the end.

9. "The Dying Flame of Existence". The epic conclusion. Existence is barely holding on. I'm not sure if the band is celebrating this or regretting it. I imagine the former. The ship will sail on undoubtedly. With more nails to use so it will get more powerful.

Solid, but not great album. It does inspire me to get into Norse mythology.

Grade: 3 out of 5 decapitated goats.

Top Songs:

1. Pale Horse
2. III: Death Dimension Phantasma
3. An Extension Of His Arm and Will

Lantlôs ".Neon"

Today's album is Lantlôs' .Neon. It was a random Spotify selection, so I have no idea what to expect.  Internet searches call it post-black metal, but I'm not entirely sure what that means. German wiki helps a little, "Lantlôs is a deitsche Black Metal und Post-Rock Gruppn".

1. "Minusmensch". Subtle intro. Indie-rock Joan of Arc-ish style music. That changes abruptly when the vocals start. Intense, screaming vocals over melodic guitars. Joan of Arc set on fire? Similar to Deafheaven, but darker. The music simmers down as it broadcasts fuzzy radio that erupts back into the metal. This song is cool. I think I'll call it art metal.

2. "These Nights Were Ours". Another quiet intro. Broken up by thrash. Guitars hammering away at octaves, drums doing what it can to keep up. Urgent vocals that fade out as the song builds. A breakdown brings the vocals back.

3. "Pulse/Surreal". Uh-oh, singing on this one. The first two tracks allow for a little interlude, but hopefully it doesn't last the whole track. At two minutes, order is restored as the screams continue. At 4:06, the screams explode. This ends up being a solid song, despite the nervous moments at the beginning. Lantlôs gets the benefit of the doubt from here on out.

4. "Neige De Mars". More melodic octaves. Stops immediately two minutes in, only to break out into another scream.

5. "Coma". More of the same.

6. "Neon". Seems like a regular instrumental track, until it reaches the halfway point, when it slows down so a recording of a lady talking can start to play. I'm not sure what she is saying.

This album is pretty great, although it could have benefited from a little variety. The album kind of blends into one big song. Still, it's worth a listen.

Grade: 4 out of 5 decapitated goats

Top Tracks: 

1. Minusmensch
2. These Nights Were Ours
3. Pulse/Surreal

Woods of Ypres "Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light

Today's album is Woods of Ypres' Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light.

1. "Lightning & Snow". Starts pleasant enough. Melodic guitars. "There was a flash of lightning, followed by snow". Damn lightning snows. There is a weird chorus part that sounds like it's sung by the singer of the Crash Test Dummies. That sounds pretty awkward. Not a fan of this first track.

2. "Death Is Not An Exit". More Crash Test Dummies vocals. I'm nervous now about this choice for the album of the day. I think this song is about how humanity was nothing 4000 years ago and how we'll be nothing again in the future. Nope, not feeling this at all. "Wooooo-oh-ohhhhhh, death isssssss not an exxxit".

3. "Keeper Of The Ledger". Better vocals open this track. More of a growl. I think one of the lyrics in this was "Nature is the business after all". Keep the Crash Test Dummies guy on the sideline for this one please. I wonder if it's actually the same guy. A quick Wikipedia search shows that the only similarity, besides the sound of some of the vocals, is that both bands are from Canada. Wikipedia also shows that the singer of Woods of Ypres died in a car accident in 2011. I'll stop the CTD comparison at this point, because this revelation actually kind of bums me out.   RIP David Gold. I'm not a huge fan of your band, but it's still pretty cool all the time you put into it. 

4. "Traveling Alone". Wikipedia calls Woods of Ypres a "blackened doom metal band". I'm not hearing it. It's pretty straight forward corny rock, with tinges of metal. It's not good at all. I think the song is about how there is no god. 

5. "Adora Vivos". Guitars start off pretty messy. Lyrics kick in: "A moment of silence/But not one moment more/The dead are to be forgotten/We are here to be...ADORED". I have no idea what's going on in these Woods of Ypres. I think this is knocking sermons, which I'm ok with, but the execution is just so bad. The metal vocals kick in halfway through the song to save it. If they stick to the growl, I think they would have been a lot better to listen to. "We shouldn't worship the dead".

6. "Silver". Balladish*. Not good. "When you're silver, you never combust/When you're silver, the truth always hurts". 

*After skimming for my review before posting, I have no idea what I meant to type here. "Balladish"? Not sure, but it's staying.

7. "Career Suicide (Is Not Real Suicide)". True.

8. "Modern Life Architecture". So bland I'm sure. At 7 minutes 22 seconds, I guess Woods of Ypres have a lot of thoughts on the subject. I have no interest in paying attention to this song, but it turns out the history of Ypres is pretty significant. Pretty big World War I battle site. Here are the ruins of Ypres from 1919, which suggest a need for modern life architecture:

9. "Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye)". Ugh. The song is somehow worse than the title of the track.

10. "Finality". I'm lost.

11. "Alternate Ending". This could have ended like 10 songs ago. The alternate is an alternate for a reason.

This was bad.

Grade: 1 out of 5 decapitated goats.

Top Tracks:

1. Keeper of the Ledger

2. Adora Vivos

3. 

Blood Ceremony "The Eldritch Dark".

Today's album is Blood Ceremony's The Eldritch Dark.

1. "Witchwood". 70s rock vibe. Church organ. Female vocals singing, "Black magic has risen in Witchwood". Makes me want to buy a motorcycle with a sidecar. Josh Taylor made me review Blood Ceremony today. He also said that if I review it, I will need to mention that the band now follows him on Twitter. Shameless plug. I'd add his twitter name, but I don't know it. You can just follow him on Instagram for now. Halfway through this song, it breaks down completely into some stoner riffs. Pretty good...and wiiiiiiiiiitchy. Killer flute solo. Here's a picture that Josh made for the band. Enough talking about Josh now. He is an evil human. The band is good, if you like Witchrock. 70s witchrock from the now times. And they are Canadian.

2. "Goodbye Gemini". Flute intro. Subtle bass. Witch seduction? Picks up into a nice jingle jangle. This would go well with a 90s skate video. Preferably a part by Marc Johnson or Jamie Thomas. Goodbye Gemini, let me hypnotize you with my flute solos. Nice little guitar solo at the end balanced with the mighty flute.

3. "Lord Summerisle". Nice, calm intro. Male/female lyrics about the seasons. Makes me think of this (but a lot of things make me think of this):

4. "Ballad of the Weird Sisters". Good song title. Irish folk song rhythm to the vocals. A good tune to sing along to with a pint of something. Ridiculous flute breakdown in this one. This stuff is good.

5. "The Eldritch Dark". Rocking organ intro. This band is doing their own thing. This band of witches. I checked wiki for Eldritch and came across this:

6. "Drawing Down the Moon". A song about walking through a garden. Walking through a garden with an organ of course. I imagine there will be a flute too. I spaced out a little bit too much on it.

7. "Faunus". A trembling bass. A blast of flute. More rock. Still pretty great. The vibe makes me think of nag champa. It also makes me think of my 1974 Plymouth Duster that I had in high school. There was a mysterious liquid that always appeared in the back seat, passenger side. We called it the Swamp Ooze. It was possibly just rain water, but it always had a tint of mold. You better call shotgun when riding in that car, or else you'll be stuck in the swamp. Regardless of where you sat though, we were going to Rock Fantasy. To buy Blood Ceremony albums before they existed.

8. "The Magician". Song about a magician I think. A cool musical spell seems to be cast at the end of the track.

Solid album. More stoner witch rock than metal, but that's fine.

Grade: 5 out of 5 decapitated goats.

Top Tracks: 

1. Ballad of the Weird Sisters

2. Witchwood

3. Goodbye Gemini

Impetuous Ritual "Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence"

Today's album is from Australia, because, well, it's time.

It is Impetuous Ritual's Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence.

1. "Verboten Genesis". Fog guitars and the slow sound of someone marching. Ends abruptly into blast beats and fuzz. Vocals are guttural. Very guttural. If your throat is located in the hell section of your body. More fuzz. The fuzz drowns everything else out. Ridiculous guitar solo does what it can against the fuzz. It loses.

2. "Venality in Worship". More bleak stuff. This stuff is dark. Another frantic guitar solo. I wonder if they practice in remote caves. I don't think any neighborhood, or studio, would allow for this to occur anywhere near civilization.

3. "Sentient Aberrations". This is actually terrifying. This time the vocals somehow out fuzz the fuzz. At one point, death takes a break to burp or something. Kind of weird, not really sure what the scream sound was, but it was out of place. It happens at the end of the track too.

4. "Despair". 9 minute song, going to need some coffee. Not that you really need caffeine to listen to this stuff. A little bit of a slower intro to this one. This must be their "ballad". The vocals contain a lot of throat clearing. Halfway through the song, there's a pause, interrupted by an end to the ballad. The new onslaught is tamer than the first three tracks. Maybe this is their experimental track.

5. "Inservitude of Asynchronous Duality". Skeptical of the choice for the song name. More fuzz/wind guitars. Weird screams in this one. It almost sounded like a guitar. Oh man, this is a torture song. And now the guitar is meant to sound like a chainsaw. This should be great, but I'm not digging it.

6. "Womb of Acrimony". Still kind of mad about the last song. Here's a picture of the blood moon that was a result of the lunar eclipse last night:

7. "Metastasis". This one blends in perfectly with "Womb of Acrimony". Kind of cool swirling guitars. A crazy gong is hit every once in a while. It works, surprisingly. 

8. "Abhorrent Paragon". More blasts. This album has saved itself. I thought it was going to get lost somewhere in the middle. Still real dark, real fuzzy. There's something about parts of the vocals I don't like. The deep stuff is fine, but every once in a while, there is a louder burst of vocals that just doesn't sound like anything. It's like a throat clear or something, but it just doesn't work with the rest of what is going on. 

9. "Blight". 14 minute track, that basically seems to serve as a recap of what just went on in the eight tracks that preceded it.

I don't really know what to think of the album. It's definitely doom. I'm just not sure if it's good doom or bad doom. I didn't love it or hate it, I guess. I'll listen again another time, and maybe it'll sink in.

Grade: 3 out of 5 decapitated goats (although it is possible hundreds of goats were sacrificed in the making of this album).

Top Tracks:

1. Metastasis

2. Verboten Genesis

3. Venality in Worship

Son of Aurelius "The Farthest Reaches"

Today's album is Son Of Aurelius's The Farthest Reaches.

1. "Mercy for Today". The music on this is insane. The guitars are running up and down scales, matching the vocals. There are two vocals. High pitched and low pitched. Death and deather. With the exceptions of the drums and the vocals, the music doesn't scream metal. It is kind of just doing its own thing in the background. There is a guitar solo near the end of this one. It's not a guitar solo for the hell of it, it actually works. I'm not a fan of guitar solos, but this one fits perfectly. Good start.

2. "Let Them Hate and Fear". This song starts off with manic instructions from the deep growler. The music is great again. These guys seem to know what they are doing. Ridiculous double bass. Ridiculous guitars. Ridiculous vocals. 2 for 2. Dillinger Escape Plan-ish, but better. Candiria also comes to mind.

3. "The Farthest Reaches". I just went to the Son of Aurelius facebook page, and it says "Technical Death Metal". That description fits. In unrelated news, I started rewatching that TV show Lost.

4. "Olympus is Forgotten". 80s symphony intro. Into all out war. It worked. I didn't think it was going to be a song, just some sort of space-filler. This is an album I'd like to figure out the lyrics too. Jazz guitar over witchman vocals. Man, then they do some crazy guitar gymnastics that slows down into fazed out vocals. Another good track.

5. "Facing the Gorgon". According to Wikipedia, a gorgon is a female creature. The name is derived from the ancient Greek word for "dreadful". Crazy folksy guitar solos in this one. In between metal blasts from hell. Here's a cool cover photo for a British horror film starring Christopher Lee, among others. Never seen the movie.

6. "Pandora's Burden". Didn't really pay attention to the song because I was checking out The Gorgon. It's available on Netflix (disc-only) as a double feature with Scream of Fear. I bumped it up in the queue, so I'll let you know how it is.

7. "A Champion Reborn".  More of the same. Seizure-inducing guitars. Matching drums. Kind of an epic guitar solo. Not a fan of the use of epic there, or really anywhere, but this one kind of has an arena death battle, or climbing a big mountain feel to it. Makes sense for a champion being reborn.

8. "Myocardial Infarction". That means heart attack. The music may be trying to cause one. The muscians may experience this one if they ever played this album in its entirety.

9. "The Calm". More 80s cinema inspired music. This one has an 80s-ish guitar riff. It seems to fit on the album as an intermission. I think everyone needed a break for a minute. 

10. "A Good Death". Opens with a bass solo. As any good death should? Intermission is definitely over. 

11. "The First, the Serpent". This song makes me think of this article. Here's a website of a study that looks to "Advance knowledge of trench and hadal ecosystems, informing stewardship of the deep ocean."

12. "They Have Fallen". This has a majestic feel to it. Short song that feeds right into the next track.

13. "Slaughter the Immortals". The title sums this song up pretty perfectly. It's not a good day to be an immortal. Will anyone survive the battle?

14. "Throne of Broken Gods". Guitars sound like lasers at one point. I'm not sure if it's a continued onslaught of the immortals, or the Gods are striking back. This is an album that needs to be listened to in its entirety. 

15. "Feast of Feminine Flesh". This album has blended into something out of Total Recall/Blade Runner. I'm not sure if that's what they were going for, but it works. 

16. "Divine Are Slain". I guess the mortals won. But what did they win?

Grade: 5 out of 5 decapitated goats

Top Tracks:

1. Mercy for Today

2. Let Them Hate and Fear

3. A Good Death

This album is great.

Seven Kingdom "The Fire Is Mine"

Today's album is Seven Kingdom's "The Fire Is Mine". I read an article on Metal Injection yesterday that talked about Game of Thrones-inspired metal, so I thought it would be worth checking out Seven Kingdom. Fantasy metal can either be good (Amon Amarth) or really bad (just about everything else), so I'm a little nervous.

1. "Beyond the Wall". The sound of wind, storms, and crows. No music at all till the end. The cry of a wolf In the book/show, stuff beyond the wall is pretty cool. Ghosts and giants and other weirdos. Good start.

2. "After the Fall". Thrashy start. Female vocals. Pretty clear. Guitars are dancing through silly riffs. I think the lyrics said that "wings will replace these broken legs, which will lead me to my destiny". This song is more punk than metal. It's not the worst. This song is probably referring to the part of the show/book where Bran falls and gets crippled. I didn't really read much of the books. Too tedious. The show is good enough though. "The future of your life isn't always what it seems".  What? Punky metal guitar solo at the end. Kind of corny, but so far it works.

3. "Forever Brave". More of the same. I think they are singing about having a noose on their necks. It's tough to be brave when your about to be hung (hanged?). The lads and ladies in GoT are all pretty brave. And crazy. Forever Crazy. More guitar solo. I smell a formula. Forever guitar solo-y

4. "Flame of Olympus". Thunder is rolling in the sky. Wow, they just whispered "The Power. To Kill" and then opera squealed "COMES FROM WITHIIIIIIIIIN. That was weird.

Here's a picture of the band:

Hey, weird pic guys. Nothing screams fantasy metal like posing on a boring midwesternish dirt road. This picture makes me want to stop listening. From left Tyrion-Jaime-Cersei-Jaime-Tyrion.

5. "Symphony of Stars". The intro makes me think of Saved by the Bell. The episode where the big money businessmen want to drill underneath Bayside because it's sitting on top of oil. Zac foils their plan when he destroys their model school by dumping oil all over it. I think there was a duck covered in oil too. Poor duck. I wish this song was actually about that. The chorus is actually kind of catchy once you get over the cheese and just accept it for what it is. SYMPHONY OF..........STAAAAAAAAAAAARS. More guitar solos. This was a powerful SbtB episode too, btw.

6. "The Fire is Mine". Cool intro. Palm-muting all over the place. "You've fallen from your horse/How I long to see your light (?) again". I'm probably wrong, but I think the lady just said "Fire and blood are my best friends". Aaaaaaand another guitar solo. Too many guitar solos.

7. "Kardia". Uh-oh this sounds like a ballad. Oh god, it's a ballad. I guess the ballad was inevitable. And it is bad.

8. "Fragile Minds Collapse". This one starts off with more of an edge. Glad we didn't get back to back ballads. "I can't escape these feelings anymore". Me neither, singer lady. Seven Kingdoms is not for me. Kind of cool guitar solo at the end of this one. Might be the best guitar solo. Oh man and a bass solo?! Pretty terrible bass solo.

9. "In The Twisted Twilight". Another song. This one happens to be called "In The Twisted Twilight". I think I like the guitars. They are pretty good in this twisted twilight.

10. "A Debt Paid In Steel". The sound of horses. This is a clip from the show. Or maybe the audio book? This is actually pretty great. It has to be the audio book. Might have to get the audio books now. This clip features Jaime Lannister and his missing hand.

11. "The King In The North". This is more of the band and none of the audio book. Need more audio book!

Grade: 2 out of 5 decapitated goats

Top Tracks: 

1. A Debt Paid In Steel
2. After the Fall
3. Fragile Minds Collapse

The Body "Christs, Redeemers"

I'm not big into wrestling anymore, but Ultimate Warrior was always a good one. RIP, Warrior

Today's album is The Body's Christs, Redeemers.  It probably would make more sense to review this album if Jesse Ventura died, but he didn't. Is it weird that he was a governor for a while? Was the Ultimate Warrior a governor? Should he have been?

1. "I, The Mourner of Perished Days". This starts off angelic. The lady singing sounds like she is singing a lullaby in a cloud as angels swirl by her. As it goes on, something begins to creep in. Something that shouldn't be here. The swirl is getting louder, drowning out the lullaby. It's chaos. And it prevails.

2. "To Attempt Openness". Metal doom crunch guitars, with a chorus of angels. There's a lot of fuzz going on with the guitars. Halfway through, vocal screaming starts. It's the sound of someone trapped, yelling for help. Different screams follow. These are a little more threatening. The drums sound like an ancient tribe ritual. These sounds are pretty cool so far.

3. "Melt Away". Gloom. The sound of assisted breathing. Maybe on a boat? Definitely creepy. Clear vocals say something about "This being one of those days". It's pretty clear, but I still can't understand what exactly what is said. This triggers more doom accompanied with the angel choir. According to Jesse "The Body" Ventura's finishing moves were the body breaker and the inverted bear hug.

4. "An Altar or a Grave". Doom guitars contrasted with a string section. This one sounds nice and dreary at the same time. Is it an altar or a grave? Quick key change makes me think it's a grave. The niceness has vanished. But only momentarily. The angel choir reemerges to bring the balance back. This song is a slow-paced volleyball song where nobody wins.

5. "Failure to Desire to Communicate". This starts off like The Body's interpretation of thrash. The vocals sound like a guy screaming from the top of a building that is a couple blocks away. The guitars sound like a collapsing building. At the 1:45 mark, this song pauses with the sounds of an emergency test. After the test, the struggle continues. Solid, unexpected breakup.

6. "Night of Blood in a World Without End". Good song title. Starts with a cello (?). Hopefully a cello. The singer from the first track is back, lullabying. The lullaby seems to trigger the buildup of something awful again.

7. "Prayers Unanswered". Unless you prayed for your prayers to be unanswered? Roof screamer is back on this one. I wonder what he prayed for. The screaming ends eventually and is replaced by the sound of a television broadcast. Possibly a satanic television broadcast.

8. "Denial of the Species". This one sounds like an alien invasion. But the aliens are different from those seen in Men in Black. I'm thinking they are more like this. This song ends in a crazy clash of strings.

9. "Shrouded". Static intro. Or maybe it's rain. Maybe both. Thunderish sounding drums. Or possibly it's a bomb. The static cuts in and out.

10. "Bearer of Bad Tidings". Song starts out with more of the same. Doom guitars, roof screaming. About 2 minutes in it turns into a Wolf Eyes song. Which is pretty cool.

Grade: 3 out of 5 decapitated goats

Top Tracks:

1. To Attempt Openness
2. Failure to Desire to Communicate
3. Denial of the Species

Negura Bunget "Virstele Pamintului"

Today's album is Negura Bunget's Virstele Pamintului.

1. "Paminit". Starts with some flute kind of thing. Possibly just a flute. Possibly not. I'm not an expert at wind instruments. With the slow build up flute solo, it's worth checking out the band's Spotify biography. In the bio there is a comparison to Bathory (!!!) since both bands incorporate national legends into their songs. The cool thing about Negura Bunget is that they are from Romania, so their national legends come directly from Transylvania.  The flute solo is still going on three minutes into the song. There is an orchestra building up in the background. There is also some random sticks hammering in the back. Stick banging in metal is underrated. At 3:30, some talking starts. It doesn't sound English. It's church-ish. Some frantic acoustic guitar strums. Crazy key changes, overshadows the church chanting priest singer guy. The priest is getting mad at the 5 minute mark. The hammering is still going on. Priest is screaming at 5:15. A second set of vocals come in...death vocals. Anthemic guitar, drums, etc. kick in shortly after. Pretty cool intro. This album is off to a promising start.

2. "Dacia Hiperboreana". After the freakout at the end of the first song, things are pretty calmed down again. With the calm taking over, it seems like a good idea to recommend watching Nosferatu. Either Murnau's or Herzog's work. Or just watch them both. Talking on the track starts around the 3 minute mark. I think it's the same priest guy, but it could be someone else. His talking becomes more frantic. He's trying to get something across. By the four minute it sounds like a pretty desperate situation.  Yup, death is back echoing some of the more important points of this monologue.  High shrilled screams of a woman in distress. Or possibly a banshee. This is terrifying. It is also great.

3. "Umbra". Single note oboe or something. Marching drum procession. Sounds pretty eerie. Sounds kind of like a group of people leading a prisoner in shackles away. That's all this song is. A pretty important transition song, or did they just forget to write lyrics?

4. "Ochiul Inimii". More talking, more symphony, until about the 2 minute mark when a death scream breaks out and a decent metal guitar riff takes over. This song turns into full thrash around three minutes, which is cool. The ambiance could only hold up for so long. What makes the song even better is there is a flute solo going on behind all the madness. Pretty good song. It has a little bit of everything, that should make everyone happy. Or angry. I guess metal heads would prefer to be angry.

5. "Chei De Roua". A little bit too much synthesizer in the intro/first verse of this one. At the 1:45 mark, things get weird with a folksy chant. This might be an album it'd be worth knowing what was being said. It is kind of fun hearing the guitars crunch in the background behind the chant.

6. "Tara De dinicolo De Negura". More thrash. More split vocals between a growler and a devil witch man. Chorus breaks down into priest chants, mixed with a cool tea pot whistle sounding thing. Pretty good song. Everything is starting to sound the same, but it's not a bad problem. All in all, this is a decent album so far.

7. "Jar". Jar starts with sounds that sound like blowing into a jar. I'm guessing jar doesn't mean jar here, but maybe it does. Another transitional song. I think it sounded like chilling out with some jars in a misty forest. Wikipedia says that Negura Bunget translates into black fog, so I guess it makes sense.

8. "Arborele Lumii". More thrash. More chorus with random vocal effects. This one sounds like a guy shouting from the top of a mountain. "Give me back my jars". The verse metal vocals respond by saying, no you can't have these jars.

9. "Intoarcerea Amurgului". Deep bass underneath choir chant starts this one. Plucks of an acoustic guitar, and maybe a french horn? Or is that just a trumpet. We've reached the end. The beat picks up, and it kind of sounds like it could possibly become a techno song. A real old country techno song. Folksy. There are cool whisper vocals in this too.

Here's a photo from their website:

I guess Liam Neeson is in the band, which kind of explains a lot.

Decent album. Initial excitement kind of dissipated as it went on because it all started to sound the same.

Grade: 3 out of 5 decapitated goats.

Top Tracks:

1. Ochiul Inimii
2. Dacia Hiperboreana
3. Tara De dinicolo De Negura

Wolves In The Throne Room "Black Cascade

Today's album is Wolves In The Throne Room's Black Cascade.

I let Spotify pick the album today, and they suggested this because I listened to Horseback and Drudkh. I like those bands. I do not like the band name Wolves In The Throne Room at all. Wolves are cool, and throne rooms are cool, and yes it's cool when wolves are in the throne room, but it's still too much of a name. Throne Room Wolves might have worked a little bit better, but that probably makes for a better basketball team name. Let's check this thing out.

1. "Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog". Any sea fog song should start with rain, and this does just that. Then a fuzzy guitar wanders in and plays a riff. A crescendo of screams emerges next, served over drums. The vocals sound good. More dying witch man, than ferocious growl. This song sounds good, but it is also over ten minutes long. My attention is already starting to wane by the 2:30 mark. With this extra time, we can look at the band's Spotify bio. According to Spotify, the band is from Olympia, WA and are inspired by long, bleak winters and pagan legends. These inspirations are both evident in the early parts of this four song album. This song does make me envision pagan winter deathlands. There isn't a lot to do here, so you just kind of sit and wait. If you're looking for decent metal to put on in the background while you space out or work, this could work. Other than that, it's not very exceptional. It's pretty boring and the length is unnecessary.

2. "Ahrimanic Trance". This song starts with feedback, and some screaming and the blast of music. Sounds like evil witch man is conjuring up some evil black magic. I will check google to see what Ahrimanic means. The symphonic music on this song is actually kind of cool. A lot more interesting than the first song. Ahrimanic brought me to this Wikipedia page. "Angra Mainyu is the Avestan-language name of Zoroastrianism's hypostatis of the "destructive spirit". That's cool that the Wolves In The Throne Room are into this kind of stuff. I bet they originally wanted to call themselves that entire quote, but were convinced to switch to WITTR. The acronym is even worse than the band name. Anyway, I guess Ahrimanic has to do with Ahriman, who is the Middle Persian equivalent of Angra Mainyu. Oh man this song sounds like it's ending at the 6 minute mark, but there's still 8 more minutes to go on the track. I wonder if it will be an 8 minute outro. Oh wait, second wind and we're back into what sounds like a brand new song, even though it's the same track. SNAP OUT OF THIS EVIL TRANCE, WANDERER ABOVE THE SEA OF FOG. IT'S A TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP. As Spotify grays out while you listen to the music, it shows an image of Anchorman 2. I do not want to see that. Back to the Wikipiedia page. This is kind of cool: "The primary guitarist and songwriter of black metal band Dark Funeral is called Lord Ahriman". We listened to Dark Funeral last week, and we liked it. Seems like referencing Ahriman is to metal what incorporating the word ska in your band name is to ska. If I had a ska band it would be called Skahriman.  You can't take this band name.

Geico commercial. These are usually tolerable.

3. "Ex Cathedra". More rain. Drip drip drip drip drip. Crescendo of guitars and drum. Very medieval sounding. This song is good. It's also over ten minutes long.

4. "Crystal Ammunition". 14 minute song. Sounds like the previous three. Cool build up of music. I'm not paying attention though, and instead am thinking about food carts in Philadelphia. I'm not sure if there is a documentary about the people who run these things, but if there is I would watch it. If there's not, I would pay a few bucks to get the thing started (like maybe $7). Vocals start at 3 minutes on this song. Pretty good. This song could go on that documentary. Once again the song stops around the six minute mark. It feels like it could (should) just end here. Instead it does a quiet thing, and will probably build into another more 8 minutes of a song. Yup, at the 8 minute mark there is more blasts into a song. It's pretty uplifting sounding too, which is cool. It's the sound of a successfully served food cart cheese steak.

Grade: 2 out of 5 decapitated goats.

Top Tracks:

1. Crystal Ammunition
2. Ex Cathedra
3. Ahrimanic Trance

Imaginary Band Names mentioned:

1. Skahriman
2. "Angra Mainyu is the Avestan-language name of Zoroastrianism's hypostatis of the "destructive spirit"-Wikipedia

Skeletonwitch "Swerpents Unleashed"

Today's album is Skeletonwitch's Serpents Unleashed.

1. "Serpents Unleashed". Title track. Slayerish thrash guitars. Good vocals. A song about unleashing serpents. This is good metal. The song is only 2 minutes and 12 seconds. All it really needs to be. It doesn't take that long to release a couple of serpents.

2. "Beneath Dead Leaves". This song opens up by smashing you directly in the face. Full out scream. Something is scary beneath these leaves. Scary but beautiful. Beautifully scary? When the song settles down, it sounds a little bit like the first song. This is not a complaint. Guitar solo at the end is kind of unnecessary. Guitar solos in general are unnecessary.

3. "I Am of Death (Hell Has Arrived)". More of the same. Singer announces he is of death and he is the killer of men. "You become my sacrifice/I am here to take your life". Wouldn't really expect anything else from Skeletonwitch. Didn't think there would be many songs about kittens. The chorusy breakdown part almost sounds like it could use cowbell. Kind of weird, but it also kind of works.

4. "From a Cloudless Sky". Was caught up reading about that book that is going to have photos of metal bands and their cats. Didn't pay attention to the song. It's good though. They are all good.

5. "Burned from Bone". Slow buildup into an all out thrash. This song is great. Very fast. Slow breakdown parts. I'm mad I missed these guys with Amon Amarth in early February. Quick internet searches show that they basically tour year round so maybe next time. A good blog would have a link to these tour dates...

6. "Unending, Everliving". It starts off slow, so you think this might be their ballad. About a minute into it they are over the chill out segment and get at it again. There is basically one speed to this album and that speed is good. Skeletonwitches are in constant freakout mode i guess.

7. "Blade on the Flesh, Blood on My Hands". Seems like what would happen if your blade struck flesh. Not sure if the blade hit himself or someone else. The chorus mentions a butcher of life. Life Butcher seems like a good band name. Probably taken. If not, it's yours. I also thought of the band name Slut Missile today while I was driving. Pretty random. Also could be yours. Just give me a dollar if you make it big.

8. "This Evil Embrace". Starts off kind of chill again. Weird bassline. At about a minute the vocals start again. This one isn't as fast as the others, so it must be their ballad. Probably trying to get on the radio. How to infiltrate the masses I'm guessing. This song, while slower, is still damn good. It is a damn good evil embrace.

9. "Unwept". Ballad is over. On to Unwept. Not sure what unwept means. A floor that is dirty is unswept. Tears that were not cried were unwept. I like it. A big lake of unwept tears. Seems pretty terrifying. I'm not sure what the song is actually about, but I like this unwept tears lake idea. Might use it for something. Maybe for my space instrumental metal band. Lake of Unwept Tears. I think this song is actually about murder and sacrifice. Oh, Skeletonwitch...

10. "Born of the Light That Does Not Shine". I know what light they are talking about. I lived in a dorm room once.

11. "More Cruel Than Weak". Ok this song is probably the actual ballad. Starts with reverby guitars. Kinda basic. Something's building at the 1:15 mark. Probably some thrash metal. This song is just ok. More ok than weak.

Skeletonwitch has been my favorite band for a few months now.

5 out of 5 decapitated goats.

Top Tracks:

1. Burned from Bone
2. This Evil Embrace
3. Beneath Dead Leaves.