Octopus Overlords

The year's half over, and I've somehow (continuing to work from home) scrobbled over 6,800 tracks. That's my second-highest total of any full year (going back to 2006) except for last year, when I ended just beyond 8,100. (Though you couldn't scrobble mobile listens back in the day.)

And so far, it's been a Monster Magnet year:

1. Monster Magnet - 424
2. Nine Inch Nails - 158
3. Tribulation - 152
4. Bloody Hammers - 132
5. Alestorm - 129
6. Avatar - 118
7. Vale of Pnath - 103
8. Helloween - 99
9. Hammer Horde - 96
10. Imperative Reaction - 95

I can't tell if Mountain Witch's stoner/doom is outstanding or mediocre. These grooves hit deep when I'm in the right mood.

Mountain Witch - The Cold Hands of Fate (2016)




Lead Into Gold's self-titled 1990 album is one of my favourites of all time. It's Paul Barker's (of Ministry, 1986-2003) side project. Some reviews say it sounds like Ministry's incomplete, synth & beats atmospheric half, but I find it to be a complete and distinct, more introspective experience. I remember being thrilled to hear a new album was released in 2018, The Sun Behind the Sun, and think I even mentioned it here, but I don't think I ever gave it a second listen. Which is too bad, because it's fantastic.

Lead into Gold - Hard Won Decay (2018)

At the 2021 mid-point, I'd go with the following top 5 albums:

1. Thy Catafalque, "Vadak". Time will tell if this is just a recency bias pick, but I feel like it'll have significant staying power. It's a truly unique and fascinating album.
2. The Ruins of Beverast, "The Thule Grimoires". The cleans can sometimes be a bit rough, but the songwriting here is absolutely stellar.
3. Baest, "Necro Sapiens". Old-school death with hooks galore
4. Cannibal Corpse, "Violence Unimagined". I'm actually pretty surprised this one grabbed me as much as it did, as I've typically found CC to be ok - but not great - death metal background noise.
5. Wheel, "Preserved in Time". Fantastic doom metal throwback, a la Candlemass.

Honorable mentions: Youth Code & King Yosef, "A Skeleton Key in the Doors of Depression"; Frontline Assembly, "Mechanical Soul", Cerebral Rot, "Excretion of Mortality"

Best non-2021 album that I found for the first time this year: Black Tongue, "Nadir". Legit one of the heaviest, most brutal albums I've ever heard. It's a gorram force of nature.

Most disappointing album: Tribulation, "Where the Gloom Becomes Sound". This one really pains me to say, as I have absolutely loved everything Tribulation did prior to this one. There's just simply very few good riffs here, nothing that really sticks in your mind or is particularly memorable in any way. For a band that has thrived on fantastic earworms that burrow their way into your skull (the riff from "Melancholia" is running through my head just from typing this), WtGBS is simply...forgettable. Which sucks.

Mid-point Song of the year: Wheel, "At Night They Came Upon Us"

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:34 pm Most disappointing album: Tribulation, "Where the Gloom Becomes Sound". This one really pains me to say, as I have absolutely loved everything Tribulation did prior to this one. There's just simply very few good riffs here, nothing that really sticks in your mind or is particularly memorable in any way. For a band that has thrived on fantastic earworms that burrow their way into your skull (the riff from "Melancholia" is running through my head just from typing this), WtGBS is simply...forgettable. Which sucks.

That's got to be one of my top ten albums of the past five years. Mind you I don't have history with the band and am a little turned off by some of their earlier lyrical content so haven't listened to their full catalogue deeply. But yeah, I've pounded that so far this year... it's got my most album listens so far, followed by The Summoning's Bloody Hammers (2019) and Avatar's Feathers & Flesh (2016) which I discovered for the first time. At this point I think I like Hour of the Wolf better than Leviathans. I guess I can appreciate that it may not sound very fresh, but I don't listen to a lot in its sub-genre.

Yeah, I figured you and I would probably disagree on that Tribulation album.

I keep giving it a shot (listened to it in yesterday’s run) hoping that it’ll ‘click’, and it just never does. It just keeps leaving no impression on me at all, which is the last thing I would have expected from a band I generally like a lot.

Sly & the Family Stone - A Whole New Thing

going through most or all of their discography. they're goooood. sonically interesting, but can play it (mostly) straight when they want to.

Getting ready for the return of the mighty Mr B.
Could be the most epic Riot Fest aftershow ever.....

Liliac binge...these plus many more.

Courtney Barnett.
Rae Street from the new album 'Things Take Time, Take Time'. Out November 12th.

The debut Wizardthrone album dropped this morning. It's a blast, and exactly what I was hoping for (i.e. Gloryhammer with harsh vocals).

I'm finding it pretty bland so far but I know it will grow on me. Definitely my kind of sound, but the hooks aren't immediately grabbing me.

That music video is also pandering and silly. I dig the overall aesthetic though.

Sudy wrote: ↑Fri Jul 16, 2021 1:58 pm I'm finding it pretty bland so far but I know it will grow on me. Definitely my kind of sound, but the hooks aren't immediately grabbing me.

Yeah, it's definitely a little less "hooky" and more chaotic than I expected, considering those involved. Still, I've had it on repeat most of today and am still really digging it.

Hrdina wrote: ↑Fri Jul 16, 2021 8:33 pm

Crimson Police? i think i knew of this at one point, but totally forgot about it.

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Fri Jul 16, 2021 10:04 pm

Hrdina wrote: ↑Fri Jul 16, 2021 8:33 pm

Crimson Police? i think i knew of this at one point, but totally forgot about it.

Andy and Robert did two albums together; you can here both of them with playlists at the Robert Fripp YT channel. The first one (I Advance Masked) sounds more Crimsony to me. The second (Bewitched) has more of a Police vibe, or at least it seems to feature Andy's guitar more.

I've been listening to the Police since they were an actual working band. KC has been more a recent obsession.

I don't understand how this song is so amazing (if derivative), while everything else I've heard from this band is the worst variety of heavy/power worship.

Beast in Black - Beast in Black

Im just listening to basically all Liliac all the time and reactions to them. I do toss in a little Volbeat from time to time.

Frank Ocean, "Channel Orange."

But here's the thing: I've loved this album from the first listen I gave it. But I just have a hard time getting into the more critically acclaimed follow up, Blond. I have a hard time explaining it, except that it just doesn't sound good to me in the same way Channel Orange did. Rough. Weird. Strange. Jarring. Missing all the great melodies. Just not fun for me to listen to.

My daughter disagrees 100% and swears that Blond is one of the best albums EVER. I just don't see it.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

New Coheed and Cambria!



I still can't stop listening to Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures from 2018. It's just so damn good and I'm hoping whatever is coming next (Act 2?) continues...

It's been a long time since I've found anything new, so I go backwards

Been listening MGLA today. They have a definite Tribulation vibe...Sudy, you'd probably dig them.

Finally giving the new Powerwolf album a spin. They've done some interesting stuff in the past, but I'm really digging this album. Lots of catchy hooks abound.

With the passing of Joey Jordison yesterday, I've been spinning Slipknot's first album this morning. While I've never liked anything from them since, this first album was a banger. His drumming, while nothing special technically, brought an insane level of energy and chaos to the music.

I'm back on a Radiohead kick after watching some of Rick Beato's videos about them.

There was a time when I was a closet Radiohead fan because it was cool to hate them. Now I'm in my 40s and in the stage of my life where I don't give a flying f*** what anybody thinks of my musical tastes. Plus I saw them in 2008 and it was the best damn concert I've ever been to.

I submit, for your consideration, this masterpiece of a song which is essentially a scrapped reject.

The great Graham Bonnet with a version of Rainbow.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Jul 30, 2021 2:56 pm The great Graham Bonnet with a version of Rainbow.

I saw Rainbow on the Down to Earth tour with Graham Bonnet. It was really a terrific show and the album was one of my favorites at the time (IIRC, they opened for Blue Oyster Cult). The album went gold, but Ritchie Blackmore really wanted platinum and always blamed the singers for failing to get there. Bonnet was fired after that tour and Rainbow fell off my radar.

Gods, I can't that song or that band.

All shtick, no talent (imho).

I really like Devil is a Loser and It Snows in Hell.

You are?

I am irrationally obsessed with this cover of Taylor Swift's "Cardigan"





It's really great.

Seeing Danzig live for the first time on Saturday, and he'll be performing Danzig II in it's entirety. I think I've listened to this album 15 times in the last couple days. I had kinda forgotten how awesome it (and Danzig III) were.

KMFDM - IN DUB

KMFDM goes back to the roots (reggae) - i am enjoying it (easily among the best releases this band has put out in the last two and a half decades, to my ears) but am totally unsure how much of their current audience will 'get' it

This one came up on shuffle today. Doubt I've heard it in over 15 years, and I immediately listened to the full album.

Deadlights over ever recorded one record, and It was really good (in an early 2000's Slipknot-ish sort of way)

Time trippig with Daehawk and missing the 1990s



Haven't thought of this song in years...