I think I have posted this one before, but I just listened to it in the car, and it's a damn banger. So, here it is again...



And I think this'll be up your alley, Smudge. These dudes are unique, and hard as heck. Their style has a certain filth about it. They create a very fun contrast between brutal/fast/dirty and melody with clean vocals. I enjoy the majority of their discography...

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Dammit. I just saw that TFU got back together last September and played a couple shows. This EP blew my mind back in the fall of 1998. I would've traveled to see them burn it down live a quarter century later. Brings back memories. I learned to fry scream to this EP. Jumbling up the track listing to close it out with the EP version of Skin Like Winter because it's better than what made it onto the album a year later. Dan Weyandt was at the absolute top of his game here.









And now, Training For Utopia's live set from Furnace Fest last summer. This is only a test.

Feeling the electronic stuff lately. Good breakdowns definitely don't hurt, and a reference to Limitless push this one over the top.



Haven't checked in on these guys in a bit. French symphonic/melodic death metal. Digging this one so far.



And on the more deathcore end of things, I've been listening to these guys lately. There isn't any one standout thing about the band themselves, but they're very tight and the songwriting is pretty good. Solid albums, some good thumpers.

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Wife gave me 'a ticket' to go see Iron Maiden in Charlotte. I am so stoked. Ordered the t-shirt.

So to celebrate, a few of my favorites:



Now the Number of the Beast.



Would it even be a collection without Alexander the Great?



And my last one, Lost in a Lost World. For reasons only known to me, Senjutsu is one of my favorite albums of all time. I personally think it is there greatest work. But I also think that Rammstein's Zeit is their greatest album as well. Anyway, here is my faforite track from Senjutsu, Lost in a Lost World:

That's awesome! Triple Strat onslaught live! I need to see some of the old guard bands while they're still touring. I really do.

Discovered these guys the other day, really pleasantly surprised. Incredible musicianship. Truly. Being a guitarist, I am blown away by the guitarist's tone, his phrasing, and his skill. Tasteful solos, really meaty riffs.

If I had to try to compare them to anyone, I think of Gojira and Mastodon, but also early-mid 90's Living Sacrifice. Bruce Fitzhugh-esque riffage and vocals on the second album. Oh, and this man studied his Darrel Abbot. The Pantera reboot oughta fire that clown Zakk Wylde and hire this guy instead. Wes Hauch is a fucking monster. I feel like they picked up where metal was going in the late 90's before it got lost in the Nu Metal tangent. There's some prime Metallica and Megadeth tinges here and there. It's really good stuff.

The first album is all instrumental.



Now, the first album is really good, but sweet mercy, the second one is where you can tell things have really gelled for them. It's so dense and beefy. It's a wall of layers of sound. Here's a link to the playlist for the whole album, I'm not sure it'll queue the whole thing or not, so I'll embed some selected favorites as well:
https://youtu.be/j7q2j0NUuTU?si=hZ8DbNxaRu4-3gq2





Here's some of those signature Dimebag Darrel riffs:




Some Gojira meets Tool kinda vibes here. Really love this track:


Really, really liking these guys!

I had the deep longing for annihilation in my cd player for months.
My favorite track is Gabrielle. I never got into instumentals when I was younger now I really like them.
You might enjoy Conquering Dystopia (Jeff Loomis, Keith Merrow, Alex Webster).

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. S:
I had the deep longing for annihilation in my cd player for months.
My favorite track is Gabrielle. I never got into instumentals when I was younger now I really like them.

Awesome! Yeah, really liking this band. In addition to all the musical stuff, the production value is off the charts.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. S:
You might enjoy Conquering Dystopia (Jeff Loomis, Keith Merrow, Alex Webster).

Oh shit, I hadn't heard Jeff left Arch Enemy. That sounds like a killer lineup. I'll definitely check them out, thanks for the lead!

More brutality:



This one in particular is so heavy and just grooves. This is such a nod to Darrel Abbott. Love this track.

New Whitechapel track. Just... damn.

Top comment sums it up nicely:
"I not speak english very well, but this music is a fucking"

One of the heaviest tracks of the year. Phil Bozeman showing off his mastery here.

Disembodied Tyrant giving them a run for their money. Some incredibly heavy stuff here, especially if you like the symphonic/operatic stuff. Lorna Shore who? Definitely a fan of bands that don't just scoop all the mids out.

Ooooh, a new Spiritbox track. Courtney LaPlante just gets more gorgeous as time goes by. I don't usually say stuff like this, but that fishnet catsuit... damn.

Of course, as always, she knocks it out of the park with the vocals.



They snuck another one in under my radar earlier this year.



I'm not a huge Kublai Khan TX fan, but this track reminds me of the mid-late 90's northeast hardcore scene. Love the guitar tone. These guys groove.

The new Black Dahlia album slaps pretty hard.....

I went on a Black Dahlia kick for a solid two weeks after that, thanks!

This track is from 2014, but it gives me serious 1997 Prayer for Cleansing vibes.



In fact... there's some riffs in the chorus that are a spin on the intro riff to Prayer For Cleansing's Sonnet.



Who likely wrote that riff? Lead guitarist Paul Waggoner, of Between the Buried and Me. I'll embed a couple of their most notable pieces. Listening to these again for the first time in years, I hear everything from shades of Rush to bits of Dillinger Escape Plan's first EP "Under the Running Board."





If you listen to neither of the previous tracks, this one is, to me, their opus:


In digging back through these tangents, I discovered they put out an album of covers I somehow missed. Their vocals on Blackened took a few listens before I began to appreciate it, but damn that version slaps with the tight riffs on a very slightly looser guitar tone. You can hear the bass! From the wiki: "In the following year, the band released their first cover album, The Anatomy Of, a collection of covers of bands that influenced them, including Metallica, King Crimson, Pantera, Faith No More, Queen, Pink Floyd, Earth Crisis, Counting Crows, and Soundgarden." Currently spinning "The Day I Tried To Live" and loving the guitars-forward mix and simple production value. No funky effects, no wild vocal layering (except Bicycle Race where it's well... the song), just stripped of all extras, and you can clearly hear every instrument. I'm already gonna go ahead and say the whole album is worth a listen. I'm finding it more enjoyable than Metallica's Garage Inc. We start with the first track, Blackened:



I was never a huge Mötley Crüe fan, but this is a damn good cover and worth an embed for those who won't chase down the rest of the playlist.



Seriously, just listen to the whole thing.