After the Burial - Rareform
Every summer I make it a point of going the the Summer Slaughter tour, which has in the past had such awesome headlining bands as Necrophagist, Vader, Dying Fetus, Suffocation and more. However, the line-up usually includes a good amount of up-and-coming bands which get to play in front of a large audience drawn in by the more well-known acts. Whoever is selecting these newcomers has (generally) a pretty good ear, and I've been pleasantly surprised each year I've gone. After the Burial is one of those surprises from this past summer. Their name and album art give the appearance of a run-of-the-mill deathcore band, but take a listen and you will discover a very talented and technical death metal band (with no squeals!). Keep an eye on these guys, it sounds like they're going places.
Favorites: Ometh, Cursing Akenaten
Get it here.
The Meads of Asphodel - The Early Years
I have posted in this blog before about The Meads and how amazing I think they are, so if you're curious check out this post for more info. The Early Years is a compilation of the band's EPs, their half of the Jihad split with Mayhem, as well as miscellaneous covers and other songs they have done. Great as an introduction to their music or an addition to their discography if you've heard them already.
Favorites: I'd heard most of this already, but I really enjoyed the synth-heavy cover of Bulldozer's 'Neurodeliri' as well as 'Og's Last Stand' and 'Bleed for Me'
Get it here.
Viraemia - Viraemia EP
Another young, up-and-coming band from Phoenix, Arizona of all places. Viraemia is an extremely technical brutal death metal band that was recommended to me by my friend Will because of a link he clicked on accidentally while reading a different blog. I don't have too much to say about these guys, except that they're an interesting band and, if they keep up this kind of intensity in their music, they'll go far. Also, points for not having the cadaver on the operating table be obviously female-bodied - there can be brutal death metal without misogyny!
Get it here.
Fluisterwoud - Langs Galg En Rad
Black metal from the Netherlands, Fluisterwoud is one of those bands that I hear recommended often but only bothered to get their full-length debut, Langs Galg En Rad, in the past year. This album is very good - the band plays fairly straightforward 'raw' black metal, but tracks like the introductory 'Een Sinister Schouwspel' and the closing title track add some creepy atmosphere. Also, the album art is badass. Like many great bands, Fluisterwoud put out a single excellent album before breaking up (with another, post-mortem release which came out this year). Are they worth the hype? You'll have to check them out to answer that question.
Favorites: Langs Galg En Rad (the outro!), Hoer Van De Zeven Hemelen
Get it here.
David Bowie - Station to Station
Probably my favorite David Bowie album of all time. Flash back to 1976. David Bowie is an effete, coke-addled mess whose persona "The Thin White Duke" makes controversial allusions in support of fascism. I quote Wikipedia at length:
According to biographer David Buckley, the Los Angeles-based Bowie, fuelled by an "astronomic" cocaine habit and subsisting on a diet of peppers and milk, spent much of 1975–76 "in a state of psychic terror".[6] Stories—mostly from one interview, pieces of which found their way into Playboy and Rolling Stone—circulated of the singer living in a house full of ancient-Egyptian artefacts, burning black candles, seeing bodies fall past his window, having his semen stolen by witches, receiving secret messages from The Rolling Stones, and living in morbid fear of fellow Aleister Crowley aficionado Jimmy Page.[4] Bowie would later say of L.A., "The fucking place should be wiped off the face of the earth".Out of this maelstrom comes Station to Station, one of his most acclaimed albums. Containing such classics as 'Golden Years' and 'Wild is the Wind', it's a must-have.
Favorites: Station to Station, Wild is the Wind.
Get it here.
Orgy - Candyass
This one takes me back. Candyass by the band Orgy was one of the first cd's I ever bought, and was definitely one of my most played of all time. Readers may remember these guys from their popular cover of New Order's 'Blue Monday'. That track came off of this, their debut album, which was released in 1998. For those who have not heard them, Orgy is synth rock which incorporates elements of industrial, New Wave and goth music into their sound and appearance.
Favorites: love the whole damn album
Get it here.
And that's a rap! I hope you enjoyed these posts, and please give me some feedback (these posts took some time and energy). Until next time...
1 comment:
Post a Comment