Entry 809 - Batushka - Hospodi

Style: Religious black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes:

Thoughts: I'm not getting into the history of this band. That is better discussed elsewhere. This entry will focus solely on this album and nothing else. 

Hospodi is an incredibly powerful album. It mixes well produced black metal with the atmosphere of a Catholic mass. This is a combination that has been done multiple times in the past, and I swear I'm a sucker for it every time.

When the band starts chanting "Hallelujah" in Dziewiatyj Czas I'm done, the album has swept me away and I'm completely caught up in the bands spell. The same thing happens when the band goes to full speed in Wieczernia. The chants and combined with tremolo picking make me stop everything I'm doing and go "wow..." 

Not every song has one of these moments in it, but there are enough here that this album routinely gives me pause. It's full of moments that make me take a step back and realize how powerful music can be when done correctly, and boy howdy it's done correctly here.

I can't get enough of this. I know that it's a very decisive album, and I will let people think what they will of this. For me though this thing hits all the right notes and evokes an atmosphere that few other albums have.

Written May 9th 2024

Entry 808 - Bathory - Nordland II

Style: Viking metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: An old warrior has come to rest at the tables of Valhalla, this is their final meal... the final voyage... the end

Thoughts: This is it. The final Bathory album. The last album that would ever be recorded under this bands legendary banner. The final voyage of Quorthon before his untimely passing a year later.

As much as I would like to say that this is the exact same as Nordland I it is not. I actually highly prefer this album to the first entry in the Nordland saga. The songs are livelier, they have a sense of fun to them that the first entry did not have. Nordland I seemed to be Quothon getting his Viking metal groove back, Nordland II is him in full stride.

Listen to Sea Wolf and its incredibly cheesy intro and tell me that's not someone having fun with their music. The whole song sways like a sea shanty and it feels like some vikings getting drunk at sea before a big raid the next day. Great stuff, especially towards the end with the choirs and the pipe organ... phenomenal song writing. It rivals the classic Bathory sound.

The album is full of small touches that Nordland I was missing. A tasteful keyboard accent to a massive riff. A choir to drive a song from having good vocals to having a goosebump enduing climax. To my ears its objectively better than the first album. 

This album is such a bitter sweet end to Bathory. On one end you have the proper continuation of the Viking sound of yore. On the other I wish that I could have seen what would have come next for the band. We will never know. This tale has concluded. Rest in Power Quorthon you are missed.

Written May 9th 2024

Entry 807 - Bathory - Nordland I

Style: Viking metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: A wayward son returns home to the hearth

Thoughts: So this is it, part one of the last chapter of Bathory. The "return to form" as it were. The continuation of Twilight of the Gods. 

I was skeptical of this release when it was announced. The last few Bathory albums had been absolute garbage (putting it nicely), and I had no hope for this. Going back to the sound that was so completely abandoned after Twilight is not something that can be easily done. I didn't think Quothon had it in him.

So does it succeed? Well yes... but no. Yes this is a continuation of the viking metal sound that Bathory pioneered. No, it is not nearly as good as Twilight or even Hammerheart. Speaking of Hammerheart, this feels more like the continuation of that sound rather than Twilight. 

The songs have a similar speed to them and the riffs all have that massive quality, but they tend to blend together more than I would like. The one thing that is a beautiful return to form is the vocals. Quothon's voice is as clear here as it was on Twilight, perhaps even more so. 

If anything this album sounds like it should have come between Hammerheart and Twilight. It's got some of the variance that Twilight does, but leans more heavily into the metal portion like Hammerheart does. Not a bad combination at all. 

Nordland I was a pleasant surprise for me. I didn't think that there was anyway that the band could return to it's mid period albums with any level of success, and yet here we are. A solid hour of massive viking metal the way that only Bathory can make it. 

Written May 9th 2024

Entry 806 - Bathory - Twilight of the Gods

Style: Epic Viking metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: The very definition of how to create an epic soundscape within the metal genre.

Thoughts: It's always difficult writing about my favorite albums. This one in particular is going to be a monumental challenge to capture adequately in words. 

Twilight of the Gods is my definition for epic. There is no single album that comes close to the scope of this one. These seven songs - and especially the title track - are among some of the finest compositions ever penned in the metal genre or otherwise. 

Every knock I had on Hammerheart has been resolved here. The riffs and pacing in Hammerheart sounded way too similar for me. Here they have been greatly expanded to include an incredible variety of riffs, emotions, and even instruments. 

The best way to do this is to go into the title track and explain exactly why this is so special. The intro is composed of a soft blowing wind with an acoustic guitar. This entire sequence lasts just over a minute and is barely audible. So many albums are scared to get truly quiet, Bathory is not one of those bands. 

When the metal finally does come crashing through it's as if the very world is crashing down on me. Layers up on layer of guitars, layer upon layer of acoustic work, chanted vocals, drums. It's nearly too much to take in at once.  Welcome to the Twilight of the Gods, this is now what Bathory has become.

The song continues in a march like fashion for the next minute or two until the drums steady out into a back beat, the riff normalizes into a massive strum and the vocals finally enter in. The vocals no longer show any sign of harshness, this is all clean signing. Quorthon has learned how to not only develop his clean vocals, he's done so remarkably well. Much better than I ever would have thought considering the bands past.

The title track continues for a good eleven minutes before fading out into wind and an acoustic outro again. It transitions directly into the next track and we are off to another adventure. 

Unrivaled, unequaled, superior, elite. This is it. This is the single most epic album in my collection. The very definition of grandeur. One of the very few albums that I consider the greatest of all time.

Written May 9th 2024

Entry 805 - Bathory - Hammerheart

Style: Viking metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Hail to ye brother! Tonight we sail to victory! For honor and Valhalla!

Thoughts: This album is such an anomaly to me. It's the continuation of two of the best songs that Quorthon ever wrote... yet somehow I have trouble getting into it on a consistent basis. 

Blood Fire Death and A Fine Day to Die are the two songs in question. I don't think I've ever heard a song that comes close to that level of epicness or song writing, and certainly not from the eighties. An entire album in that style should be a dream come true should it not? That's how I feel, yet somehow Hammerheart always seems to fall short for me.

It's not that it's a bad album, if it was an outright bad album it would join Octogon and Requiem in the trash bin. No, this is more like the songs overstay their welcome and the riffs don't carry the weight that they should considering the legacy of this band.

The style on Hammerheart is about as far removed from Under the Sign of the Black Mark as you can get. The riffs are slow, the vocals are clean, the drums are pounding, the guitar solos are emotive instead of speed metal influenced, its the same band but god damn have they changed.

Again though this is not a bad album. Shores in Flames starts out with an amazing sample of waves crashing into a shore accompanied by a clean electric guitar. It still gives me chills from time to time when I listen. The riff is so simple yet it stirs up such deep emotions in me, a rarity for the album. 

When the metal finally does come in the cracks begin to show. The riff while heavy plods along for far too long and doesn't progress enough for what it is. Maybe if the song was a bit shorter... seven to eight minutes instead of eleven I would enjoy it more. I'm not sure, but it loses me about five minutes into it's run time. 

Valhalla is the second song and it is a bit better in terms of pacing. It's riff is intermixed with acoustic guitars from time to time which helps break up the plodding nature of the song (which is nearly exactly the same as Shore In Flames). 

Maybe that's the root cause here. All of the songs are nearly the exact same pace. There is almost no variety in the drumming and tempo. It's all about 120 bpm with a back beat. In essence it makes the whole album sound like one fifty five minute long song. 

Despite the shortcomings of the album this is still one that I spin fairly frequently... at least a few times a year. This is Bathory we are talking about here, one of the most important bands in extreme metal... if not the most important one. Hammerheart feels like untapped potential, fortunately the next release would rectify all of my complaints about this album and then some.

Written May 9th 2024

Entry 804 - Ba'a - Deus Qui Non Mentitur

Style: Black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Stand tall and stare into the face of god, heed my call oh ye of heathen blood.

Thoughts: I had no idea that this band existed until just a few months ago. I found myself scrolling through several record labels inventories and found this on Osmose records site. For whatever reason the cover stood out to me so I gave it a listen. 

Ba'a play a sort of long form black metal. There are essentially only four songs on this record, with an intro and an outro sandwiching the album as a whole. The end result is 40 minutes of incredibly intense, blast beat driven, spite driven black metal. 

That all sounds incredibly generic when written out like that, and to a certain extent Ba'a does not bring anything new to the table. However, what they do bring is an incredibly competent entry into the black metal field that is executed with such precision and skill that it is nearly impossible for me to ignore this.

The primary thing for any album is the riffs, and boy do Ba'a bring the riffs. They are fast and relentless, focusing on tremolo picked semi melodic sections of songs that progress over the lengthy run time of these songs. 

Nothing is overly complex in the way that the songs are written, but oh man do they deliver on the intensity. Somehow the band has picked exactly the right note to play at the right moment at nearly all points of this forty minute journey. This combined with the constant blasting makes for an acutely compelling listen. 

This then leads the vocals. They are provided by none other than RMS Hreidmarr. This gentleman has provided vocals for several of my favorite French bands in the past. It's his vocals that bring this music from intense to overwhelming. His delivery is flawless and his venomous voice is second to none when it comes to delivering potent vocals. Elite is the only word that applies here.

Ba'a turned out to be a wonderful surprise. It's the perfect set of circumstances. A new band, the record was inexpensive and I enjoy the hell out of it. Excellent stuff.

Written May 9th 2024

Entry 803 - Bal-Sagoth - Atlantis Ascendant

Style: Incredibly over the top fantasy metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Sit upon thine throne oh great conqueror, let me recount you the tales of our ancestors

Thoughts: Bal-Sagoth is entirely unique in all of music. No other band has ever sounded like them, and no other band will. Even Kull which contains most of the members is missing Byron on vocals... it's just not the same. I miss these guys so much.

Atlantis Ascendant is probably one of my least favorites of the band. While the music is still unmistakably Bal-Sagoth its as if the life has been pulled out from them. The light in the music that was there in the past few albums is just missing. It's a paint by numbers version of the band, and it's a damn shame.

All that said this is still an excellent album by most band's standards. The music is well written an executed with precision, the vocals are as bombastic and over the top as always, and the band is at the top of their game when it comes to perfecting the sound that is Bal-Sagoth. 

The keyboards are sweeping and epic (with their trademark cheese added in). The guitars match the keys note for note and are locked in an eternal battle between the two for which one is the dominant instrument. The bass and drums back up the two lead instruments like a battalion of the galaxies best solders. This is a fine oiled machine and it shows. 

Where the band falters though is in the overall scope of the album. Whereas the previous albums - especially The Power Cosmic - had music that truly gave me pause, this one does not. A spoken passage by Byron, a killer riff, a keyboard line that gave me chills. This album has none of it. It's all lifeless, and almost boring in comparison to the earlier albums. 

In a vacuum the album is excellent, but this band has never been content to be ordinary, so the comparisons with the earlier albums is valid. That said, this is still the mighty Bal-Sagoth and even at their worst they are still unique and better equipped to fill my ear holes with joy than many other bands, so the record stays. It simply will not get spun as much as their other albums.

Written May 8th 2024

Entry 802 - B Dom - Good Time

Style: Instrumental hip hop with jazz influences

Primary Emotions/Themes: Pour me your best glass of whisky barkeep, I want to listen to the band 

Thoughts: I absolutely love jazzy hip hop. It's one of my favorite things in music. The combination of beats with the improvisation that comes with jazz is second to none. It makes me chill out and relax in ways that most genre's can't. Pure bliss.

B Dom's album Good Time puts me right in this mood. Every time this thing hits my turn table (which isn't nearly often enough), I pour myself a glass of Scotch and relax to the wonderful sounds coming out of my speakers. Pure bliss.

Something about this makes the world slow down. I'm back at the Martini Lounge that I used to frequent with my friends back in university and we are all sipping away at our drinks listening to a mix the DJ is putting on. Or we are listening to some small band that no one has heard of in the corner playing away as if their lives depended on it. Pure bliss. 

Good Time replicates that. The smoke filled room, a trumpet soloing away over the backing instruments. It brings me back to a simpler time in my life. Things that I had forgotten about but I'm reminded of when the music hits the right notes. B Dom has managed to hit nearly every single one of them. It's pure bliss. 

I'm starting to think I need to intentionally seek out more jazzy hip hop for my collection. I've only got a handful of albums, and I adore the hell out of all of them. Yeah, this needs to happen.

Written May 8th 2024

Entry 801 - Ayreon - 1011001

Style: Metal opera

Primary Emotions/Themes: Science fiction baby!

Thoughts: Any time you get a new Ayreon album it's a special occasion. Somehow this one eluded me until the last few years. Not sure why I didn't look into it much, but I'm glad I finally came around. 

It's hard to quantify everything in an album of this magnitude into a few words. The scope is so massive and there are so many contributors that it's bursting at the seams. I mean just look at the (partial) list of vocalists:

Daniel Gildenlow
Tom Englund
Jonas Renkse
Anneke van Giersbergen
Hansi Kursch
Floor Jansen

That list isn't even 30% of the vocalists on here, the undertaking is truly massive. The way that the vocalists interact with each other, interplay their unique voices and interplay with the various styles throughout the album... it's incredible. 

Not only do you have m a s s i v e riffs courtesy of Arjen, but you have the return of the science fiction elements of almost all Ayreon albums. The album also has a keen sense of how to ebb and flow nearly perfectly. Just listen to the opener Age of Shadows from start to finish, you'll get a strong idea of everything that the album has to offer. 

There is one important note (at least for me) that deserves special mention. The closing song The Sixth Extinction has Jonas Renkse growling again. This was the first I had heard him use his harsh vocals in... years, and they are absolutely monstrous. The fact that they are contained to the final track of the album makes them all the more impactful.

If any of the previous Ayreon albums were a point of interest then 1011001 is an easy recommend. This continues the project's incredible legacy and is a worthy follow up to The Human Equation. Now if we could get a vinyl reissue of THAT album I will be exceptionally happy.

Written May 8th 2024

Entry 800 - Awakened Souls & From Overseas - Keep the Sun Orange

Style: Dreamy ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: Waking up in a window filled room with the first crack of dawn beaming into your eyes

Thoughts: Like all albums in my collection this one has a story. This was one of the last records I bought before I started chronicling my collection on this blog. I decided to start writing about half way through listening to all the orders that came from Past Inside the Present that summer. While some of the records in that order are the earliest entries in this blog, this one is being visited much later.

Keep the Sun Orange combines two of my favorite things in the ambient genre: dreamy soundscapes filled with hope and awe, and female vocals. I've mentioned several times before that vocals need to be more of a thing within the ambient genre. Not vocals in the traditional sense, but using vocals as another instrument alongside the ambient soundscapes often brings it to another level.

The entirety of this album can be summarized by one word: peace. Every note, every chord, every effect, every vocal line, every single iota of information on this album is geared towards the peace of the listener.  

Open piano chords that are delayed ad nauseum, a low hum similar to that of a humming birds wings, a phased chord that caresses the listener like one would a lover in the morning sun... all things that accompany the beautiful opening of the album. Certainty of Tides introduces the listener to exactly what the  artist intend for the duration of the album. 

Like so many other ambient albums Keep the Sun Orange's strength is hidden deep within the confines of these grooves. The music is so comforting, so wonderful that it brings me to a place of great serenity... regardless of my previous mental state. 

Awakened Souls and From Overseas have created an album that is as warm as the morning sun caressing my skin as it breaks the horizon. The warmth of a loved one embracing you, the feeling of being cherished when receiving a thoughtful gift. All these things and more are contained within the forty or so minutes of Keep the Sun Orange. A truly special album.

Written May 8th 2024

Entry 799 - Automatisme - Transit

Style: Experimental Ambient, noise, field recordings

Primary Emotions/Themes: Feeling lost in a city with no point of reference

Thoughts: This was an album I picked up randomly from a local shop. It was in the clearance bin and was labeled ambinet, so I figured why not? Let's give it a shot.

I can definitively say that there is nothing else like this in my collection. While normally that is a good thing, I not as certain of this release. 

Transit is a curious mix of field recordings, noise, and uncomfortable ambience. The combination sounds like a winning one on paper, but the execution here is a bit lacking. Instead of the ambience putting me into a tense state, I'm annoyed. Instead of the field recordings making me wonder what's going on, I'm wanting the sample to be over. Instead of the noise making me question my sanity, it makes me want to put the record away and never listen again.

The main problem here is that none of the elements that are designed to make the album inaccessible are compelling. There is a way to do this kind of music where the listener is appalled yet compelled to listen. Much like watching a train crash unfold before you, you can't look away. Here though it's as easy as changing the channel. 

I'm a bit conflicted with getting rid of an album like this. On one level I feel like I should keep it. It's unique and I firmly believe that even if an album does not offer much for my enjoyment it should remain because of the very fact that it stands on its own. On the other hand, it's just so god damn annoying. I can't stand listening to it for even a couple of minutes before I want to put something better on. In this case, the primary rule of my collection wins: if I won't listen to it, it's gone. So adios.

Written May 6th 2024

Entry 798 - At the Gates - The Nightmare of Being

Style: Melodic death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Recounting the tales of an old master, showing the younger generation how things are to be done

Thoughts: My initial reaction to this album was quite negative. I thought the songs were disjointed, and Thomas' vocals were sub par at best. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement, especially since the previous album was so excellent.

I let the album sit for several months, maybe even a year before revisiting. I didn't want to give up on it so easily, especially on a band as storied as At the Gates. These guys were a pivotal part of my transition into extreme metal, I owed them at least a second chance for that.

Well today is the day for that second chance. I have to say that there is quite a bit more going on here than I ever remembered on my first listen. Yes, the vocals are a bit more strained than before, but they are undeniably Thomas' style. Even though they seem a bit more strained they are not lacking in their normal venom.

The riffs which I thought were odd at first, now have me listening with great intent. The first half of the album shows the band playing to their strengths: melodic death metal with two guitars, dynamic song writing, and various tempos. In a lot of ways this is the direct continuation of the previous album. How I didn't see this before is beyond me.

Where the band begins to truly experiment though is on the second half. Brass is used in multiple songs, I even think I heard an oboe on a couple of the tracks. We even have a saxophone solo sprinkled in. This is fascinating stuff.

When the band does incorporate other instruments into the fray, it's done so tastefully. Never overwhelming. Always complimenting the main instrumentation and vocals. 

Honestly I think this album was written for vinyl. The first half has a distinctive sound, and the second side ups the experimentation as well as additional instrumentation significantly. The two sides acting as a compliment to each other is not only excellent in terms of pacing, but it's masterful planning for the album as a whole. 

I can see why I was a bit disappointed with the album the first time I listened. It's a bit of a slow burn for the album, but once it got it's clutches into me I was hooked. At the Gates are a strong as ever with their latest album and I look forward to seeing what the band comes out with next. If they decide to leave The Nightmare of Being as their final album, then they have certainly gone out with one hell of a swan song.

Written May 6th 2024

Entry 797 - At the Gates - To Drink From The Night Itself

Style: Melodic death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: A phenomenal album ruined by a poor pressing. 

Thoughts: When At the Gates reformed they proclaimed that there would be no new music created by the quintet. That statement is obviously a falsehood at this point, where we are now looking at three post reformation albums. To Drink from the Night Itself is the second of that trilogy and it contains some of the better music that the band has created.

The music in At the Gates' sixth full length sees the band exploring the creativeness that was first seen on With Fear I Kiss the Burning darkness, but with a more mature eye. The songs on this album are as varied as anything the band has created in their entire career. There are scorchers like we have come to expect from the band. The band contrasts this with slower, more contemplative tracks as well.

Daggers of Black Haze is a personal favorite that incorporates the slower tempo and atmosphere to an excellent end result. Thomas' vocals are biting and the bands riffs match his venom note for note. The combination of tremolo picked lead guitars mixed with the massive rhythm section gets me nearly every time. The chorus in particular gets stuck in my head for days at a time, truly excellent stuff. 

There is also a return to using classical instrumentation here. The intro and outro specifically have strong use of stringed instruments, similar to that found on The Hive from Terminal Spirit Disease. Again, expertly crafted. 

I have this feeling that To Drink Form the Night Itself is the band looking at their entire discography and taking another stab at the different sounds that they had. The end result is so varied, and almost experimental for such a storied band. It's this experimental feeling that gives me the comparison to With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness. Instead of many of those experiments failing however, the band is now fully mature in their musical endeavors and creates music that is not only enjoyable to listen to, but ends up being one of the bands better albums regardless of era.

----

A quick side note: as much as I love this album, the pressing that I own (or owned at this time of this writing) is sub standard. There is a ton of inner groove distortion. The songs sound like they are changing speed mid track, and it sounds flat... no dynamics at all. It's a damn shame.

Written May 6th 2024

Entry 796 - Asher and Jordan

Style: IDM

Primary Emotions/Themes: A flash back to the UK garage scene of twenty years ago

Thoughts: Whenever I put this album on, I want to break out the Robin Williams meme of "what year is it?" This record has such an uncanny resemblance to all the IDM, 2-step, UK Garage from right around the turn of the millennium that its truly uncanny.

Complex and tasteful beats with ambient backings? Yes they are here in spades. Interesting melodies that are almost ambient in nature, but just present enough to drive the song forward? Yes, they are here and they are expertly executed. I swear this is a trip back in time. 

Asher and Jordan have created IDM that is so true to the roots and so genuine that I've fallen in love with this album. It's subtle yet consistent sway constructed from waves of ambience mixed with samples and off kilter beats is a pure joy to listen to. 

Minimalist, intelligent, pure. Asher and Jordan not only pay tribute to the pioneers of the genre, they put their own stamp on it with their self titled debut. 

Written May 2nd 2024

Entry 795 - Ard - Take up my Bones

Style: Religious doom metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Please take my soul oh lord, this vile earth has destroyed my will to live

Thoughts: Father why hast thou forsaken me? Life has focused its endless line of cruelty on me yet again. It's always been said that god giveth his toughest challenges to those most loyal to him... but why am I to suffer when others prosper? Why have I been chosen for this plight? 

I pray unto thee oh lord, I pray that you would lift this burden from me. May thy holy hand shield me from evil and may thine holiness grace these halls. May the music of thine angels come upon me in this chamber so that I may bask in the glory of thine radiance. 

I singeth with mine brethren so that we may extol thee. We praise thine name within this holy sanctuary with these instruments that thou hast graced us with. Thine light shinest upon us. Thine divine sorrow is felt throughout the recounting of thine blessings. The trials thou givest to Job thou has now bestowed upon me as well. We singeth thine praise with these trails for they grant us strength. 

Thine music gives us comfort in times of need. These six hymns grace the walls of this dwelling so that we may praise thine name once again. Here in the midst of thine divine trials we are once again driven to thee in our time of need. Forgive us our sins as those who would sin against us. For thine name is the glory and is to be exalted for ever and ever. Amen.

Written May 2nd 2024

Entry 794 - Aphonic Threnody - When Death Comes

Style: Doom/death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Rather bland and emotionless doom/death 

Thoughts: I don't know why I have this album. I don't know why I keep it. Every time I put it on I'm bored. Yet every time I'm done with it I put it back in my shelves. I really need to stop doing that.

This checks every box for doom/death metal. Slow songs, huge chords, and soaring melodies. While it checks all the boxes, the end result does nothing for me. It's just bland. I think I would rather listen to nothing than have this on to be honest.

The melodies do nothing to stir emotion up in me. The vocals are standard doom/death fare. The drums do nothing to add to the music except keep a beat. It's like a poor mans My Dying Bride without any of the emotion or goth. 

For most records I can find some sort of redeeming quality, but here I'm a bit at a loss. Nothing ever rises above mediocrity. Not a single melody, not a single moment in the hour plus of the album. Even if half of the content was cut and the best riffs were put into three songs instead of five... it still would do nothing for me. 

That's it. This is the last time this one hits my turn table. Maybe this record can find a better home with someone else, but as for me it's had it's last time. Not every record is for everyone, and this one is certainly not for me.

Written May 1st 2024

Entry 793 - Aosoth - V: The Inside Scriptures

Style: Dissonant black/death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: The swirling vortex of chaos has beckoned me into its eye

Thoughts: God damn I miss these guys. I can't think of another dissonant band that does it as crazy as these guys do. This is serious fucking chaos, yet it feels completely under control. It's a paradox that I will never understand, but I will enjoy the hell out of their albums regardless.

V sees the band evolving their sound a bit more from the past two. This album takes the chaos and makes it more intense yet at the same time scales it back for more of the album than I am used to. To put this into context, more of the album than usual is interludes or parts where the band will tone down the chaos... perhaps even include a melody or two. 

When the band does explode into their signature sound though... watch out. It's potentially the most vicious they have ever been. These riffs absolutely obliterate me, even after listening to this album for over half a decade. When these riffs go full force they sound like a gale force wind that can rip the flesh right off my bones. It's such a unique sound, it's difficult to think of another band to compare this to.

I think by having the album be a bit more dynamic than the previous two the album lends itself to repeated listens a bit more easily. Especially after the epic that was Arrow in Heart. This is about forty five minutes long and while a lot of the album means to destroy my sanity, there are breaks that are incredibly appreciated. 

And thus ends the last chapter of Aosoth's discography. They are an incredibly potent band, and they are sorely missed. Even if they never reform then they have left one hell of a legacy behind them. 

Written May 1st 2024

Entry 792 - Anubis-XIII

Style: Beat driven ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: Flying in from a distant land to a city that spans as far as the eye can see, it's an entirely different world and I am keen to explore it.

Thoughts: This one takes me back. This was one of the first albums I got from the evolving dreampunk movement during the pandemic. Before this I was into ambient, and some other forms of electronic music, but I hadn't truly explored the genre in many years. I got into vaporwave for a brief moment and then transitioned into said subgenre as soon as I found out about it.

I've heard plenty of arguments about how dreampunk is a subgenre of vaporwave. I just used that analogy myself... but if I take a step back I think that association is only from the perceived evolution of the genre. I would argue that "dreampunk" is actually a stylized form of ambient music. It's cinematic, it's bombastic, and it often has beats... and rain, lots of rain. All of those things normally would not go with ambient, but here they do.

Anubis' album is a prime example of how the genre works so well. The music feels full and all encompassing, much like good ambient music does. It is slow to progress and explores ideas thoroughly once introduced before moving into the next one. XIII offers up quite an extensive collection of beats as well, almost to the point where one could call this a trap album. Again though these beats never dominate, but rather compliment the larger atmosphere. 

This album often sounds like it's on the verge of creating something massive, but most of the time it holds itself back. It never takes that final step to explode. By reading that I would think that the album lacks dynamics and a true climax. Not so. Rather the music restrains itself and keeps the listener engaged by its evolution of both percussion and atmospheres. 

One moment the song will phase in and out like a ripple in a pool of water, the next it will become crystal clear for the listener. Sometimes the beats are so intricate that 808's are used alongside the snare and bass drum, the interconnectivity of everything is expertly done. Other times the percussion will be abandoned completely in leu of letting the music speak for itself. Really the music does whatever the music needs to to sound good.

Albums like this is why I'm doing this progression through my collection. This thing has been sitting on my shelf for about two years now without a listen. I forgot how cool this thing is and I'm glad I revisited it. Lots of fun memories associated with this and a lot of the earlier Vill4in releases. It's funny how I'm nostalgic for something that occurred less than five years ago. Time does funny things to your mind.

Written May 1st 2024

Entry 791 - Animal Crossing - KK Slider Selections

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: Silly ditties played by a dog

Thoughts: When this record got released I was shocked. Not only is this a cool nod to everyone that loves KK Slider, but this is an official Nintendo release. Granted it was a pain to import, and it was expensive... but ya know, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

There's 19 of KK's innumerable songs on here (95 actually), and they are all sweet as a cavity inducing piece of candy. The kind that gets stuck in your teeth and you can feel the root canal happening as it sinks in deeper. 

Are they amazing? No they are not, but they are fun. This record is the kind of thing that you put on when friends are over and you want some nonsense in the background. Maybe it starts a conversation or two about the game, maybe it doesn't. Either way it'll fill silence, and do a half decent job of it.

This is a novelty record if I've ever seen one. It's a specific character from a game that I didn't enjoy, but somehow I enjoy this record. It's not something that hits the table very often, but when it does I smile.

Written May 1st 2024

Entry 790 - Animal Crossing - New Horizons

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: Happy go lucky soundtrack that is sugary sweet.

Thoughts: No sir, I don't like it.

I tried really hard to get into Animal Crossing. Every. Single. One. of my friends got into this game during the pandemic, and yet I couldn't do it. I put 20 hours into it and gave up at that point. It's not my thing, it probably never will be my thing.

The music was something that I thought I enjoyed while playing it, but listening to it again here I'm not feeling what I used to. I've tried all week to get into this, but I just can't. I have to admit that I'm not a fan of the music.

I do like the 24 hour songs, and they are mixed in between the other tracks on here. They are the highlight of the album for me, but they don't make me like it enough to keep the record. You win some you lose some, this one just didn't make the cut.

Written May 1st 2024

Entry 789 - Anaal Nthrakh - Vanitas

Style: Industrial black metal with grind influences

Primary Emotions/Themes: Completely unhinged violence

Thoughts: I've been with Anaal Nathrakh from the very beginning. The Codex Necro was more intense than just about anything I had ever heard at that point. The combination of black metal played with the intensity of grindcore was enough to blow my young mind. 

That was over twenty years ago now, and my tolerance for extreme music is much greater now than it ever was in the past. I've heard things now that make Anaal Nathrakh sound tame in comparison. They are still a quality band, but it's not the insane uppercut to all my senses at once like it was when I first heard them. 

The albums leading up to Vanitas were of varying quality. Eschaton was excellent, as was Constellation. Passion and Hell is Empty were lacking though, especially Passion failed to grasp my attention in the slightest. It was a significant step back for the band. 

I'm happy to say that Vanitas is a return to quality for the band. At this point there really isn't much new for the band to cover. They have a formula and don't really deviate from it much if at all. Does that make for a bad record? Hardly. It's simply not as innovative as some of the earlier stuff was.

Anaal Nathrackh play an intense form of black metal. It's violent, its uncompromising and it's got some of the best vocal work this side of the river styx. The riffs often have that "black metal played at death metal intensity" feel to them. Almost always they are accompanied by a blast beat going 666 bpm. Nothing here is subtle, everything is played at 11 and the intensity of the music matches.

The vocals are the real star here though. They are all over the place. Sometimes they will be a gurgling growl, next it'll be a throat shredding scream, the next it'll move straight into an operatic clean vocal chorus. Vitriol (appropriate name if I've ever heard one) never lets up and adds that spicy "it" factor to the music to move it beyond it's peers.

My favorite moment of this is Foraging Towards the Sunset. The verses on this song are a garbled mess of different vocal styles that result in something akin to a tar pit mixed with lava burping out vocals. It's spastic and one of the finest moments in extreme metal for a vocal performance. The chorus has a soaring vocal line that is opposite in execution as you can get from the verse. The cleans uses here come from deep down and are filled with such passion and conviction I usually have to be sitting down when they come on. The song finishes up with a nearly thirty second scream as all instruments stop... just one last testament to why this guy is elite. 

Vanitas isn't anything new or different from Anaal Nathrakh. Rather it's a refinement of everything that they have perfected to this point. In a lot of ways they write the same album over and over again these days - with varying degrees of success. Vanitas happens to be the best rendition of said album.

Written May 1st 2024

Entry 788 - Baise Ma Hache - F.E.R.T.

Style: Black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Pride. Unadulterated, arrogant pride.

Thoughts: There are bands in my collection that come with a certain amount of controversy to them. Baise Ma Hache has always been on my radar as a band that has a cool sound but never quite got there until this album. F.E.R.T. is a powerful black metal album, both musically and lyrically. Commanding, formidable, and arrogant in its approach.

First off on a purely musical and vocal stand point this stuff is incredible. The pride that is in the lyrics carries over to the music. These riffs ooze confidence, they look down on lesser music and know that it is inferior. The vocals in particular have a nasty ass bite to them the few bands have. There is a ton to like here, and it's the reason this record is in my collection. 

This starts off with a 12 minute militaristic epic. It's hard to beat that. The combination of riffs, samples of warfare, vitriol filled vocals, and elite song writing is a rare combination. It's a bold choice to start an album with such a long song, but these guys don't miss a beat. This thing rips.

I have to come back to the vocals for a moment here. I don't think I've ever heard the French language spoken with such contempt and hatred as I have during these fifty minutes. Holy shit this stuff is vicious. I've been listening to this album for several years, but I only recently figured out why I like the vocals so much. They are provided by none other than the one and only RMS Hreidmarr - the voice behind Anorexia Nervosa, The CNK and so many other bands. His forceful voice works perfectly with Baise Ma Hache's sound. 

That leaves the lyrics. I'm normally not one to care at all about what a band is saying except in extreme circumstances. This is one of those circumstances. The lyrics here promote France over everyone else, France is the superior, everything else is inferior. While that's not explicitly in line with other artists in the field, it's treading that line awfully close. 

Is it close enough that I am going to get rid of the record? Probably not, but it's on the back of my mind. For now the music is so damn good that I keep it in my collection and enjoy it. Does that mean that it will always stay in my collection? Who knows, only time can tell that.

Written May 1st 2024

Entry 787 - Amon Amarth - Once Sent from the Golden Hall

Style: Viking infused melodic death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Grab your horn and axe, we row for victory!

Thoughts: This is a story of a warrior before they became great. Every tale starts somewhere, and this is the beginning of the mighty tale that would become Amon Amarth. 

The music is raw, it's furious, it has an energy of a band that put their all into this release. It's truly epic. The rawness has nothing to do with the production. It has everything to do with the way that the band is playing. They come out of the gate swinging with Ride for Vengeance. The opening riff rips my face right off and the band never lets up... not once. 

Johan's vocals are unrefined and tend to rely more on his upper register, something that would be changed in later albums. While I prefer his vocal style from Vs. The World and later, there is an undeniable charm to the early albums, especially this one.

The drums - courtesy of Martin Lopez -  also are much more active than they ever would be in future albums. While the typical "Amon Amarth" beat is there, there is so much more to the drumming on this album than there is on any of the later ones. The accents on the symbols, the off beat hits on the snare. The fills worked in-between each of the main sections. This is phenomenal drumming, and it stands as Amon's only album that is at this level. 

That leaves the riffs... oh mama the riffs. Olavi knew how to write back then, and still does. But damn, on here it was something special. These riffs already have a distinct sound to them, and that combined with the rawness of the album gives it an undeniable allure to me. 

When was the last time you heard an epic from Amon Amarth? Something that stretched to nearly ten minutes long? I can't even remember the last time... on here there are two epics. The powerful Victorious March and the bands self titled song... both are crazy good, particularly Victorious March which may be my favorite song of theirs.

Not everything here though is amazing. Without Fear is... a bit lacking. The vocals are a shouted yell that don't work for me, and the riffs don't have the same punch that the other songs do. One bad song out of eight? Not too bad though, especially since its one of the shortest ones here.

Once Sent from the Golden Hall is one of the better debut albums in my collection. Amon Amarth are arguably the AC/DC of melodic death metal at this point, but here - here they were something special. 

Written May 1st 2024

Entry 786 - Aeternus - Dark Sorcery

Style: Atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Absolute power, crushing my enemies below my boot

Thoughts: Thunder clashes in the distance. The church bell rings to chime in the mournful tones of those who have been crushed before me. A time of mourning has arrived.

Aeternus is a special band... or rather was a special band. Their early days are completely unmatched. They were completely unique. No other band sounded like them at the time and no other band has matched this sound since... not even Aeternus.

Dark Sorcery is the last missing piece of the glory days. The debut EP from this legendary band. Four songs, four more entries to some of the best black metal ever recorded. It's short, it's potent and it's nearly perfect.

Aeternus' sound takes quite a few nods from death metal without ever going into death metal territory. The riffs are heavy (for black metal), the vocals are deep and profound. A lot of the riffs are slower and brooding... but it's not death metal. It never was. This isn't even blackened death metal... it's just black metal played at a lower register and lower speed. 

That said the band knows absolutely when to speed the fuck up. The blasting sections of Dark Sorcery are a clear highlight. This is the closest that the band ever sounds to their peers, yet even here there is a depth to both the riffs and vocals that were unseen in the scene... and remain so nearly thirty years later.

Four songs, each portraying a different side of the band. Black Dust is the band's core sound, slowly evolving heavy chords with an acoustic backing. Victory shows the band blasting away with the best of the scene. Raven and Blood is a mixture of the two above songs and Nordlys is an acoustic outro. Everything that the band was to become is covered here. 

Dark Sorcery is one hell of a debut, and needs more recognition. This is some of the finest black metal ever recorded, and I'm glad it finally got repressed. Even though its only 20 minutes long the effects of the music are felt long after. It's the perfect length for one side of an LP, and makes for easy repeated listens. Now if you'll excuse me I need to do just that.

Written May 1st 2024

Entry 785 - Alex & Tokyo Rose - Akuma II

Style: Synthwave, darksynth

Primary Emotions/Themes: Second verse same as the first: kick ass synthwave

Thoughts:  Sequels are such a curious thing aren't they? Sometimes they go in a completely different direction, other times they aspire to one up everything that the original did. Lucky for me, Akuma II is the later of those two options - it takes everything that Akuma did and makes it better.

Everything about Akuma can be said about Akuma II. This album is undeniably the evolution of the style started with Akuma. This time though the album shows more maturity, better grooves, and stronger songs all around. 

Right off the bat with 3 AM the album shows it's true colors. The synths have a wonderful phase on them that makes the melody seem like it's panning around you. This combined with a subtle, almost trap like beat gives the mellow track a sense of urgency through nothing else but production values. It ends up sounding like someone who is desperately searching for something, anything and is running out of time. 

This is the crux of most if not all of Akuma II. The album is objectively softer than the first entry in the series, but through better instrumentation, song writing, and production values the album takes on a more dynamic tone than the first album ever could achieve. 

There are less songs on here than on the debut, but that ultimately works in it's favor. The songs are a bit longer, and allow for concepts to develop and mature. Melodies are played with in creative ways and beats are layered in ways that were never even thought of before. This is synthwave at it's best. 

I love it when albums sound better than you expect them to. Akuma was a killer album, and Akuma II takes that formula and amps every single aspect up. The samples, the vocals, the instrumentation, the production, the beats... everything here is better than the first album. This is how you do a sequel. 

Written May 1st 2024

Entry 784 - Alex & Tokyo Rose - Akuma

Style: Synthwave

Primary Emotions/Themes: Brain go brrrrr

Thoughts: This album and it's sequel have a special place for me. They are two of the albums that got me deeply into synthwave for a time. I was never able to get a copy of Akuma I on vinyl until NewRetroWave randomly released a repress a few years after it was out of print. Needless to say, that's the version that's on my turntable right now.

Some albums are built different. They hit in a specific way that no other one does. Akuma is one of those albums. The bleep's and bloops from the synths are programmed in such a way that they hit that primitive part of my brain. They help me focus and project the primal instincts that come from instinct instead of rational thought.

Looking at the first real song The Pact, everything is done just about perfectly. The pulse that is synonymous with synthwave is there. It's deep and it's harrowing. It pulls me in like so few other albums can. Maybe it's because it's one of the first I ever got, maybe it's something deeper. I don't know and honestly I don't really care, this shit rules.

The synths themselves burrow their synthetic melodies deep into my head and never let go. I'll have the melodies to these songs come out of no where and be stuck in my head for days. They are catchy, but they are also compelling - the two often don't go together. 

The album doesn't stop there though. As it progresses there are moments of serenity among the chaotic synths. Torment offers an ominous yet somehow calming interlude before the brutal Sacrifice comes in and obliterates my speakers. Alex works with Rachel McAlpine on the title track of the album to create an almost pop atmosphere with her chilling voice.

Akuma does not have a weak track on it. Wither it's something that Alex wrote or Tokyo Rose, they are all of the highest quality. I'm not sure I would call this album elite, but it is certainly in the upper escalon of synthwave. That in and of itself is pretty damn good.

Written April 24th 2024

Entry 783 - Alcest - Kodama

Style: Blackened shoegaze, blackgaze

Primary Emotions/Themes: Driving through a long tunnel with nothing but artificial lights to guide you. When you exit and see the night sky in all it's glory from exiting that tunnel is this album

Thoughts: Alcest is such a fascinating band. They effortlessly mix that atmosphere of early shoegaze and post rock with black metal. Granted the black metal aspects of their sound are limited, reserved more for climaxes and moments of great turbulence... but they are still there. 

It's my understanding that Kadoma is supposed to be inspired by Japanese culture and folklore. I'm not sure that I hear it in the music at all, but the artwork certainly reflects this. The music itself is pretty much par for the course with Alcest. 

The music leans a bit more to the shoegaze side than a few of the other albums, but not nearly to the extent that Shelter does. There are a few moments of black metal injected into the music. While those moments are exciting, they feel a bit out of place compared to the rest of the album. They almost feel like they were included just out of obligation rather than because they fit the music.

That's kind of the overarching theme for the album too. Most of the album feels like it was written out of obligation. Almost as if someone said "this is what people expect us to sound like, so let's do that." It's a damn shame, because Neige is capable of creating incredible music when he puts his mind to it. 

There are glimpses of course of what the band is truly capable of. The entirety of the title track is an incredible build up where many different melodies and parts of the song have their own section. The song springs into life at the end when they all intertwine to create this wonderful climax filled with majesty and all gives me all sorts of wonderful feelings.

The middle of Je Suis D'ailleurs has an incredible transition from post rock to black metal. It's the one point in the album where the black metal feels like it truly fits. It's stunning and fills me with the same sense of awe and glory as the title track does.

Other than those two parts and a few other riffs or transitions this album is petty dull. It's good by default because Alcest creates that level of music. However it is not up to the quality that the band set in previous albums. Fortunately this was a slight misstep rather than a sign of things to come. The following album brought the band back to it's full glory.

Written April 22nd 2024

Entry 782 - Abstract Void - Into the Blue

Style: Synthwave mixed with black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Put on the corpse paint while driving through neon drenched streets

Thoughts: Fusing two genres can be a razor's edge. Sometimes it works perfectly, other times it fails miserably. With Abstract Void those two genres are black metal and synthwave. The results are interesting, but I'm not sure if it's interesting good or interesting bad. Maybe over the course of writing this I'll figure that out.

This is an interesting record for me. Synthwave is a genre that I have a tentative relationship with at best. When it's good it's exceptional, but there are very few artists out there that I would put into that categorization. Black metal on the other hand is my favorite genre, and my tolerance for less than perfection is higher than it is with most other genres. 

So how do they fare when they are smashed together like an atomic collider? Well, you get synthwave synths with black metal guitars and vocals. That's pretty much what this album is, synthwave for most of the album, but then there will be bursts of blast beats and guitars to back up the synths. It doesn't sound too original but at the same time I can't think of another band/project that does this to this extent.

Sure there are synthwave bands that work in metal from time to time, or even ones that are a full on fusion band. Normally though these bands fuse with thrash or death metal... never black metal. Abstract Void really is alone in this field. 

That said, is it good? I think it's tolerable. The synthwave is standard run of the mill music, while the black metal is about as generic as you can get. Yet somehow with these two mixed together they become a little bit more than the sum of their parts. Whereas normally either one of these would be an easy pass if it was just synthwave, or just black metal... here it's something a bit more. 

The music is a bit more compelling. It has a bit more life to it. It keeps my attention a bit longer. It feels a little fresher. All these things add up to not just a tolerable album, but maybe even a decent one. The fact that it's thirty minutes long also works in it's favor. It never overstays its welcome with the short play time. I would much rather play the record over again than be thinking it's time to move on completely.

I still have strong views on both genres of music, but here I think I'll let both of them slack just a bit. Maybe this is something I should learn to do a bit more: take things just a little bit less seriously. I think I need to sit back and enjoy things for what they are more often.

Written April 22nd 2024

Entry 781 - Abigor - Hollenzwang (Chronicles of Perdition)

Style: Black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Pure unadulterated black metal

Thoughts: Every band, even the finest in the genre, have an album that doesn't seem to click. This is that album for me and Abigor.

It's well documented elsewhere how much I revere this band. They have managed to create some of the finest black metal to ever be released and are likely my favorite band in the genre. While all of that is still true on this release, the band seems to have an approach on this album that does not make a lasting impression on me.

The band has completely forgone keyboards, electronics, clean vocals, and anything else besides the most traditional staples in the genre. Guitar, vocals (crazy as they are), drums and bass. Nothing more, nothing less.

The song writing on the album is as aberrant and unpredictable as always with Abigor, it just seems to be needlessly limited. At any point there is only ever two guitars playing, the band's past shows that they are capable of so much more. Three even four guitars/melodies at once are not uncommon practice. It seems like the album would have benefited greatly from the inclusion of an extra guitar or two at places, if not through the entire album.

That said, this is still Abigor. Their art is unmistakable and that is still the case here. The song structures, the riffs, the vocals. All of it screams Abigor. That by itself is enough to elevate this album well above most of it's peers. 

Unlike nearly every other Abigor album I don't have a lot to say about this one. It's unremarkable for such an accomplished band. It is by far the least listened to album of theirs that I have in my collection. Despite all of this it still manages to be an above average black metal album. It simply does not live up to the legacy that the band has set.

Written April 19th 2024