** Metal ** The Thread! II

[The Lazarus Pit]

the main riff in this song is incredible

 

[moondust]

the main riff in this song is incredible

strong vocals

 

[Gee]

AOTY material. The last four minutes of the album...*chef's kiss*

 

[BatLobster]

I've never been huge into them, but really enjoying the new Motionless in White album.



It's basically modern metal/metalcore with huge melodic Breaking Benjamin-style choruses. Which is pretty much algorithmically tailored to my taste.

 

[Gee]

New Megadeth album in September.



Porcupine Tree released a new album last week:

 

[Zantera]

Quite like the new PT more than anything SW has done in the last 10 years or so. Might not end the year as one of my favorites or anything but pretty great return (better than I expected) and I like it more than The Incident for sure.

But it's not very metal and in terms of more metal releases I have been enjoying the new Dir En Grey (Kyo's vocals are still crazy) and the Rolo Tomassi from a few months ago was great stuff.

 

[lespaul59]

My go to for the last month has been the new Powerwolf live albums.

 

[Gee]

Some new releases I've been enjoying:

Blackbraid - Blackbraid I
This is a one-man Native American black metal project. Album reminds me of Agalloch especially the acoustic tracks.

Spoiler

White Ward - False Light
Black metal + jazz... AOTY contender for sure.

Spoiler

The Halo Effect - Days Of The Lost
Former members of In Flames with Dark Tranquility's vocalist. Not very original, but still a solid album with the Gothenburg metal sound.

Spoiler

An Abstract Illusion - Woe
Album just released on Friday and it's my AOTY so far. Prog death/melodic death metal with influences from Opeth and Insomnium. Some great melodies in here.

Spoiler

 

[Gee]

Another solid black metal release. The last track is fantastic.

 

[Demoniac]

Haiduk - Morph [melodic black metal]

 

[Gee]

For fans of Opeth, this is a solid prog metal release:

 

[Man in the Suit]

Metallica's new album "72 Seasons" will be out April 14, 2023.

 

[Zantera]

Seeing Devin Townsend live on Tuesday and I'm really hyped about that. Been a fan for a while but more on the casual side. His latest album Lightwork, as well as getting tickets to see him inspired me to check out the albums I had not yet heard and there's so much fantastic music across his solo career and his earlier band Strapping Young Lad. Love his range and versatility where you get polar opposites like extreme metal and new age ambient music and a lot of things in between.

As for new 2023 releases there hasn't been that much new metal yet that has caught my eye. The new Katatonia was great and I thought the new In Flames was okay, but perhaps a bit overhyped. If they hadn't been putting out underwhelming albums for 15 years now I don't think it would be getting the same positivity it's getting, but it is better than their last few albums.

 

[Gee]

Seeing Devin Townsend live on Tuesday and I'm really hyped about that. Been a fan for a while but more on the casual side. His latest album Lightwork, as well as getting tickets to see him inspired me to check out the albums I had not yet heard and there's so much fantastic music across his solo career and his earlier band Strapping Young Lad. Love his range and versatility where you get polar opposites like extreme metal and new age ambient music and a lot of things in between.

As for new 2023 releases there hasn't been that much new metal yet that has caught my eye. The new Katatonia was great and I thought the new In Flames was okay, but perhaps a bit overhyped. If they hadn't been putting out underwhelming albums for 15 years now I don't think it would be getting the same positivity it's getting, but it is better than their last few albums.

I didn't even bother with the new In Flames. The first few singles sounded promising, but after checking out the reviews, the album seemed to be just above average. That's not good enough for me.

Haven't listened to a Katatonia album since The Great Cold Distance came out. The first big 2023 release for me is Insomnium's new album which came out last Friday. It's decent, but compared to their previous releases in the last 15+ years, it's quite a disappointment in my opinion.

I'm going to see Rotting Christ next week. Guest bands include Uada, Carach Angren and Gaerea. I bought a ticket just to see the latter. Can't wait!

 

[Demoniac]

Haiduk - Sea of Fire

 

[Zantera]

The new Periphery is pretty good, they've been on a fairly consistent run with their albums. Heard some mixed things about the new Ne Obliviscaris but might check that out this week, also got a concert in 1 ½ week - seeing Between the Buried and Me again (big fan) supported by Cryptodira and followed by Haken. Should be a good show.

 

[Gee]

Metallica's new album is just aggressively mediocre. It sounds like a follow-up to their Load/Re-Load albums.

I don't mind long songs, but many songs felt like a chore to listen to. Ironically, the best song on the albums is the last one IMO and it's 11-minute long.

The new Periphery is pretty good, they've been on a fairly consistent run with their albums. Heard some mixed things about the new Ne Obliviscaris but might check that out this week, also got a concert in 1 ½ week - seeing Between the Buried and Me again (big fan) supported by Cryptodira and followed by Haken. Should be a good show.

I'm seeing BtBaM this June (National holiday here). They'll play The Parallax II: Future Sequence in its entirety. Rivers of Nihil is one of the guests.

I recently saw Enslaved & Insomnium few weeks ago. Next month is Harakiri for the Sky!

 

[Man in the Suit]

I wish Metallica's new one sounded like a follow-up to Load and Reload. Bob Rock's production and the mix on those albums are fantastic, and they have plenty of good songs. 72 Seasons just sounds leftovers from Hardwired sessions. Or like an A.I. made a modern Metallica album. Demo riffs, programmed drums (the hi-hat annoys me more than the St. Anger snare), and ideas stretched out for 8 minutes. A couple good songs, but it's all so boring.

 

[Zantera]

I actually had my first listen of 72 Seasons just now and I enjoyed it, but it's more of a 6/10 "enjoyed" and it would be closer to the bottom of their discography just based on 1 listen. I agree the closing track was the best by a margin for me, the rest was mostly fine but at 80 minutes, many of the songs just blurred together for me.

Then again, I think my Metallica discography ranking would have some controversial placements in it. Load for me would be 4th (behind Master, Ride and Justice) and I actually love that album a lot. A few weaker songs in the second half, but I like it more than Black Album or Kill Em All. Reload is not as good, but I like it for some of the same reasons I like Load.

I actually think Load/Reload/Garage Inc was an interesting time for the band because it felt like they were moving in an interesting direction of doing what they felt passionate about themselves. And I know a lot of metal purists did not like them stepping away from thrash, but for me their modern albums in the 00's/10's/20's (so far) just sound so devoid of passion or ideas. It feels like they went back to what the fans wanted from them, even though they don't really seem excited at all about it. Even if you don't like Load/Reload I don't think you could argue that their hearts weren't in those albums.

 

[3rdstone]

For various reason this Lebanese all female thrash band has totally occupied my brain for quite a while now. They are an excellent band in terms of grooves and riffs (the drummer is just ridiculously good). They only have this video out so far:



They also only have five songs on Spotify atm. But going through that list reminds me of the first times I went through Reign In Blood by Slayer (which I assume these gals also has gone through some dozens of time lol), back when a LP was just around 45-50 minutes and then it suddenly was over. Same feeling here, just shorter.

There's actually a documentary about Slave To Siren simply called Sirens. That documentary focuses more about their friendship and being young women (and even coming out as bisexuel) in a country like Lebanon, than their music. Still an interesting film I recommend.

 

[Gee]

BlackBraid is already back with a new album.

Spoiler

Saturnus' new album is decent. A bit disappointing for me after 11 years of absence.

Spoiler

Wayfarer has a new album coming out later this year. Here's their first single:

Spoiler

 

[Gee]

New album out. Going to see them live next Saturday for the second time this year.

 

[Man in the Suit]

 

[Batman jr.]

 

[Gee]

Got my ticket! 🤘 Ex-Slayer guitarist Kerry King will be part of the opener for his solo project.