Entry 901 - Destroyer 666 - Unchain the Wolves

Style: Black/thrash

Primary Emotions/Themes: A violent and quirky black metal album with huge thrash influence

Thoughts: Destroyer 666, a name that when I first heard it made me laugh out loud. Probably one of the more... interesting... immature? band names in my collection. Not really sure what Mr Warslut was thinking... actually scratch that. With a name like Warslut nothing further needs to be explained.

Unchain the Wolves is the debut album from this long running black metal band... well, black metal with a huge dose of thrash thrown in every now and then. The black metal plays a larger part on this album than it would on subsequent ones, and for my money that's what makes this album the superior one in their discography.

Starting with the epic Genesis to Genocide the band goes through several movements including a keyboard driven intro, a massive chorus backed with mighty percussion, Bathory inspired guitar solos and leads, and riff after monstrous riff over the course of the ten minutes of the song. Most of the song is played at a slower tempo than the rest of the album and it works quite well. It gives the song a brooding feeling as it builds and builds. Even at the end when the guitar is soloing and KK is wailing the song remains at a medium pace. Great opening track and one of the best the band ever penned.

It's after this that the band starts to show it's true colors. Australian and Anti-Christ is a full on thrash song with... questionable lyrics. Lots of swearing, lots of praising of satan, lots of nonsense. I'm not one to normally complain about lyrics... but man some of this stuff is painful. It's this part of the album where I start to check out a little bit. The thrash is ok, but it's not really my thing. It almost sounds like a poor man's Bathory.  

The band phases in and out of quality songs. Usually the longer the run time the more I like it with Genesis to Genocide and the title track being the best songs on the album by a large margin.  It's on these long form songs where the band is free to explore more than just speed and dumb lyrics. It's here that the band realizes their true potential... it's a shame that this is really the only time they would record songs this long in their career. Regardless, Unchain the Wolves remains an inconsistent album with moments of brilliance. 

Written July 30th 2024

Entry 900 - Desolate Shrine - Deliverance from the Godless Void

Style: Dissonant black/death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Hopelessness as the darkness collapses in on me, here in this light starved place only death and decay remain

Thoughts: Subtlety: the quality of being understated, delicate or nuanced. When applied to music this generally means that the music requires in depth listening and has layer upon layer of qualities to unfold as the music takes the listener deeper and deeper into its grasp. Deliverance form the Godless Void has none of that.

The instant the albums starts Desolate Shrine uppercuts the listener with a riff that is so aggressive and infused with hate that it knocked me flat on my ass the first time I heard it. The guitars act with such malice that they are an instrument of dismantling the human psyche. There is no mercy, no hesitation, and most of all... no subtlety to their intent. This is as overt as it gets. 

Of course this is all conjecture, I don't know the intent of the band when they wrote this song... but The Primordial One is one hell of an opener. Even as the song devolves further into madness the blatant nature of the song unfolds to deeper levels. By the end the band has gone through so many riffs that it's hard to tally them all up... and I swear I hear almost an entirely different song being played along side it as the piano distorts reality further and further in the background.

Lord of the Three Realms takes a slightly different approach... it implores the same results, but with a slower pace. The song, rather than obliterating the listener immediately, takes its time to bore it's tendrils deep into my mind and slowly grind me to dust. Perhaps this is the more painful way to go, as with the first song at least it was over quickly.

The imagery and band name is one of the best that I've seen in metal. Desolate Shrine is such a vivid name... a holy place abandoned by everyone. I get this image of a forsaken building in the middle of a distant mountainside waiting for worshipers of a god that will never come. The minimalist artwork feeds into this even more, with a disembodied hand reaching out to an empty landscape.

The music is the embodiment of this visual image. Violence, rage, death, decay, and yes, even subtlety are all found in copious amounts throughout Deliverance... Desolate Shrine play with a rare intensity. It's this intensity and their attention to the finer details that creates an album that stands on the shoulders of giants... the giants of dissonance. 

Written July 29th 2024

Entry 899 - Desiderii Marginis - Departed

Style: Dark ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: Slow brooding dark ambient with explosive moments

Thoughts: Dark ambient music can be a trap. It can lure you in, and make you think that something interesting is going to happen. It can build and build... and then it results in nothing. The equivalent to musical blue balls. 

Despite the crude comparison, it often does feel like the dark ambient genre is a lot of hoopla for no pay off. Either the music does not progress overstaying its welcome or it gets too caught up its own idiosyncrasies to produce anything of meaning. Almost anyone can put creepy soundscapes together in a DAW... doing it well, or with some musical prowess... that's what separates the great artists from the masses in dark ambient.

Departed is a slow burn. Like so many other entries in the dark ambient genre it takes it's time to get where it want's to go. The main difference that I feel in this release with so many other dark ambient albums is that Departed knows where it wants to go. 

Desiderii Marginis has created a journey with Departed. The music starts out droning, but as the songs progress, small bits of melody are added in... often hidden deep in the mix, but sometimes overt. This with the subtle shift in tone in some songs makes the album go from a generic sounding soundscape to a cinematic tour de force. 

Like an artist that is working on an abstract painting Departed is slowly laid out before the listener one stroke at a time. An uneasy setting for a few moments, a glimmer of hope at another, perhaps a moment of clarity at yet another juncture. I don't feel like there is a single moment wasted on this record, if anything I do wish that there was more.

Unfortunately the album is cut down quite significantly for the vinyl release. The digital release is almost eighty minutes long, and here we are limited to a single LP. To be honest, I don't really notice it until I go to listen to the digital when I don't have access to my records. It's only then that I get a small pang of sadness that the full release isn't on vinyl. That said, I'm glad I have what I do as this album is an excellent slab of dark ambient and is highly recommended to fans of the genre.

Written July 29th 2024

Entry 898 - Cyberblock - Metal Orange

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: An unknown gem in retro video game music, it feels like the best of the genre while still extremely fresh due to the novelty

Thoughts: I had no idea this game existed. I had no idea this soundtrack existed. Leave it to the likes of Very Ok Vinyl to dig up the hidden gems of yesteryear for the masses to enjoy. 

Cyberblock Metal Orange is a arcanoid type game where the female characters clothes come off progressively as the levels are cleared. Who would think that an old hentai game would have such a great soundtrack? Not I for one.

The music here calls to mind the very best in the VGM genre. I could easily see this soundtrack working for a 16 bit Mega Man game. Some of these tracks could be mistaken for Casltevania b-sides. All of the music in this album reeks of quality, and after looking at the composers it's no surprise why. 

Hitoshi Sakimoto is the primary composer for the album. If that name doesn't ring a bell then his soundtracks certainly will: Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, Radiant Silvergun, Odin Sphere, Tactics Ogre... just to name a few. Masaharu Iwata backs him up... and this guy is just as an accomplished composer as Sakimoto: Ogre Battle, Bloody Roar, Shadow Hearts, DoDonPachi DaiOuJou, Grim Grimoire... just to name a few. Of course none of this would be possible without Yoshio Furukawa, who while not as well known is still an integral part to the arrangement and overall excellence of the music.

Is the quality of those soundtracks carried over to Cyberblock? You bet your ass it is. This is album is a clinic in how you make video game music. This fully utilizes the sound chip of the PC98 and the way that it's captured on vinyl here does the album complete justice. 

This is the kind of VGM that I want in my collection. An obscure album that I had never heard of before that unabashedly sounds like video game music. I've gone back and fourth on this a lot lately, and while I do enjoy video game music I feel like ultimately a lot of the newer soundtracks lose the "video game" feel that the earlier soundtracks did. Other genres cover their respective music better than what VGM tries to emulate. It's because of this that I've started to embrace the time when VGM sounded like VGM and nothing else. Cyberblock Metal Orange has been a key factor in that transition for me.

Written July 29th 2024

Entry 897 - Den Saakaldte - All Hail Pessimism

Style: Experimental black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Black metal with trumpets, who would have thought it would work so well?

Thoughts: Avant-garde black metal is one of the most hit and miss genres that I've ever exposed myself to. Most of the albums I've heard in this genre are of... suspect quality. Once in a while though you get a true gem. Lightning in a bottle as it were. All Hail Pessimism is one of those albums.

Much of the album sounds like typical black metal: fast riffs, blasting drums, minor key melodies... you name it. In fact one could be forgiven if they gave up on this album after listening for five minutes, it really doesn't do much remarkable until about six to eight minutes in.

Honestly the band could have done a better job with the start of the album. While Kvarforth's vocals are interesting, they are not enough to hold the album together... that is until the first breakdown. When the music starts fading away to ambience and the guitars distortion begins to turn clean that's where the trumpet comes in.

The trumpet is this albums wild card. It is utilized in a way that is rare in metal, and even rarer in black metal. It is both atmospheric and triumphant at the same moment. It beckons the music forward while adding to the whole. It can play the supporting role or it can play the lead, whatever the song needs. It's not used in every song, or even in every moment of the songs that it is. Rather it is used as that additional part to the song that takes the music from mediocre to good, good to great, great to elite. 

That's what makes All hail Pessimism apart. This novel use of an ancient instrument. This fascinating inclusion of an element that is rarely used within the metal medium. It's so uncommon, even the same band would decline to use it on the follow ups... and in doing so would lose the one key ingredient that made their music unique.

Written July 29th 2024

Entry 896 - Paradise Lost - Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us

Style: Gothic metal with heavy doom influences

Primary Emotions/Themes: The parodical son returns home.

Thoughts: I don't know if there is a discography in metal as varied, yet consistently good as Paradise Lost (you could argue Ulver, but they never returned to metal). The early albums are undinably important for the genre, and even as they strayed from their roots they produced several excellent albums culminating in the fantastic Host. 

Host serves as a bit of a lynchpin in their discography. It would be the furthest that they ever strayed from metal as every album released after it became progressively heavier again. It wasn't until In Requiem that the band truly embraced metal again. Both Symbol of Life and the self titled album were close, but not quite there. 

As good as In Requiem is, Faith Divides Us, Death Unites us is better... in nearly every way. We need look no further than the opener to see the evidence of this. That opening riff is the heaviest they have written since... Gothic? I don't remember anything off of Icon or Shades of God sounding that crushing. The way that the song builds and builds until the pre-chorus, it's monstrous. 

Nick's vocals, while not yet quite to the intensity of the early years, has once again stepped it up in the intensity factor. His clean vocals have always been immaculate, but here his gruff vocals break free of the James Hetfield impressions and become his own once again. He has the equivalent of a melodic grunt for most of the album, resembling something close to Icon or Draconian Times in execution. Good stuff.

Of course not everything is as intense as the first track, but the album does truly feel like a Paradise Lost album. One of the defining factors in this is the lead guitar work. Greg's mournful leads permeate nearly every moment of the album, and this right here is what makes this such a strong album. In Requiem leaned into this, but Faith Divides Us... truly embraces it and god damn is it phenomenal.

Faith Divides Us is likely in the top five releases for me in the band. It surpasses several of the early albums and several of the newer ones as well. They balanced everything perfectly here: melody, aggression, and that gothic overtone that I absolutely adore from Icon and Draconian Times. Honestly if you told me this was released in 1995 I would have believed you. For fans of Paradise Lost's gothic metal era, this one is a no brainer.

Written July 29th 2024

Entry 895 - Mili - Miracle Milk

Style: Vocal driven classical, Jpop, and others

Primary Emotions/Themes: A feeling of losing innocence slowly eroding over time

Thoughts: I love the soundtrack to Ender Lilies. It perfectly captures the feel of a young child as her world crumbles around her. Sadly the soundtrack may never get a vinyl release. I did some digging and found that the soundtrack was created by the group Mili. Lo and behold they have a few albums out, with Miracle Milk conveniently being available for purchase at the time that I was looking for music from the band. Fast forward a few weeks and the record is now in my collection. While it is not exactly the same feeling as Ender Lilies, it's close enough that I'm satiated. 

Miracle Milk much like Ender Lilies combines classical music, electronic and Jpop in such a way that it evokes strong feelings of innocence and the erosion of it as the realities of the world slowly sink in. The main factor here is the vocals from Momocashew. Her voice has a child like character that strongly adds to the feeling of innocence. Even when the music gets darker or more mature, her voice remains the anchor in keeping this feeling rooted throughout the entire album.

One of the main attractors for me on this amazing album is the band's ability to switch genres so effortlessly between every song. One song will be a piano driven vocal arrangement, the very next track will be a rock inspired Jpop anthem, only to go back to a string driven vocal dirge on the next. It's truly rare that a band can switch genres so easily and Mili does this so effortlessly that it is a key part of their sound. 

Miracle Milk is not Ender Lilies... it doesn't need to be. It brings the joy of Mili's music into my collection. I do truly wish that Ender Lilies would get a vinyl release, but until that day comes I at least have something of this amazing band's discography in my collection.

Written July 29th 2024

Entry 894 - Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows

Style: Melodic death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: The full realization of the potential this band has shown over the past few albums.

Thoughts: Omnium Gatherum is the audio equivalent of a volcano that had been threatening to erupt for nearly a decade. They had released some real duds, but almost every album had at least one or two songs that were outstanding. They kept showing flashes of potential that were never fully realized... at least not until this album.

New World Shadows was an album that I was legit excited for when it released. I heard that Dan Swano was producing it - an automatic plus. I also heard that they were taking more time and refining the songs more than previous albums... another plus. 

When I first got the album I saw that the opening track was nine minutes long... this was by far the longest song I had ever heard from them. Something fundamental had changed on this release. Everfields isn't just a song, it's more of a journey through different movements. The riffs are deep and powerful, in a way that the band had never been before. They work in some wonderful acoustic work towards the middle of the song as well, only to top everything off with a legit blast beat at the end. For a band that had never really gone beyond middle pace in the past this was huge. 

Jukka's vocals have always been an interesting part of this band. He's got a deep and potent growl, something you would hear more in brutal death metal than anything in the melodeath field. Yet here he is, singing his heart out in one of the most melodic act that Finland has produced. It shouldn't work, but somehow the band figured it out and now I couldn't think of the album with anyone else on vocals.

The opener aside, this album is full of tracks that are killer. The pacing... perfect. The slower songs are spaced in such a way that they are broken up by either instrumentals or faster songs. They ebb and flow in such a way that it puts most other albums to shame. God I wish that they had kept this up in future albums. 

New World Shadows is the finest album that these guys ever put out. The follow ups left a lot to be desired, and outside of a few moments here and there were back to the mediocrity of the first few albums. Regardless of the questionable quality of the other releases, they have this crown jewel in their discography.

Written July 29th 2024

Entry 893 - Beyond Creation - The Aura

Style: Technical brutal death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Mediocrity with moments of pure brilliance

Thoughts: Brutal death metal and I have a bit of a mixed relationship. It's hard for me to get into the breakdowns, and the chugga chugga really doesn't do much for me as much as it used to. I feel like I've moved beyond the confines of the genre and it takes something pretty special to get me to enjoy it. 

Technical death metal and I have a bit of a mixed relationship. It's hard for me to get into the more notes more better song writing style, and a lot of the time it seems like the music has no sense of direction. I feel like I've moved beyond the confines of the and these days it takes something pretty special for me to enjoy it. 

Beyond Creation play technical brutal death metal... they already have two strikes against them just by the style they play. That said, these guys have the benefit of me getting into them when I was more open to death metal. Even these days when I'm not nearly as open to the style as I used to be, there is something here for me.

For most of the album the music is well executed death metal with incredibly technical riffs that ascribe to the more notes more better philosophy. The big difference is that they actually do keep the overall song in mind though... at least sometimes. 

Most of these songs are enjoyable enough to listen to, at least to the point where I won't turn them off if they are playing in the background. All of them save one are competent, and do a great job of representing the style. But there is that one song.

Coexistence is not just a song, its a journey. It's the one outlier on the album... it's not a good song... it's an epic. It combines the very best part of technical death metal, brutal breakdowns, epic songwriting (listen to that acoustic breakdown in the middle of the song), and it actually sounds like a complete song over its seven minute time period. 

The songs riff are all over the place, but they are not impossible to follow. The breakdowns are deep and chuggy, then they breakdown the breakdown... this is the stuff of deathcore and I normally hate it. Here though it's done so incredibly well that my brain just short circuits. The way the song goes back to the original riff at the end as well is the perfect send off to a near perfect song. 

The Aura is one of the better albums in the tech death field. It keeps me interested throughout the run time and never feels like it overstays its welcome. I passed it up years ago when it first got pressed and I've always regretted it. I recently found it for dirt cheap on discogs, so finally had a chance to rectify the mistake. I'm really glad I did.

Written July 29th 2024

Entry 892 - Demen - Nektyr

Style: Dark ambient with haunting female vocals

Primary Emotions/Themes: Like witnessing the world slowly decay in front of you in slow motion... all the while you are drowning and there is nothing you can do to stop either

Thoughts: I find myself waking in an unfamiliar place. The walls are dank with ages of mold and mildew build up. I have a distinct sensation of floating, yet I am completely grounded. I feel like I cannot breathe, yet I feel my breath with every movement of my lungs. I feel like I am stagnant, yet the world moves around me. 

I will myself to move, yet the world resists me. Every action I take is met by an opposite reaction. I am forced to bend this place to my will, yet even then I move at a snails pace. Every footstep reverberates around the entire world and then implodes as if it were never there. 

I feel an absolute sense of loneliness, yet I have this feeling I am being watched. The world distorts itself around me like I am some invasive species, it is trying to reject my presence here... yet I persist. 

The only comfort I have is the distant echo of a gentle female voice. I try to reach it, yet it feels like the closer I get to the source the further away it moves from me. Try as I may I struggle against everything that this world has, yet I am not tired. I feel as fresh as the day I was born. 

This is the world of Demen and the poison of its Nektyr. 

Written July 29th 2024

Entry 891 - Deicide - The Stench of Redemption

Style: Melodic death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Kick ass death metal with a huge sense of melody.

Thoughts: I only have on Deicide album in my collection. I only need one Deicide album in my collection. This is it. This is the best album that the legendary death metlers have put out.

Who would have thought that after the long running Hoffman brothers left the band, Glen took another vocal duty with Vital Remains, and the band released some of the worst albums in their career they would release this monster. It's not just that Stench of Redemption is good, it's that it's great... it's great in a time when I had completely given up on the band. 

Everything past Serpent's of the Light was total garbage. I had not even bothered to look up the past few albums based off of what I heard from some friends. Even Scars of the Crucifix was lacking compared to the first few albums... but then this thing came out. 

I actually checked this one out on my own. I loved Glen's work on Dechristianize and I wanted to see if this album took any of the intensity and craziness that it had over to Deicide... fortunately for me it did. This isn't just Dechristianize but with shorter songs, this is defiantly its own thing... but the influence is obvious. 

Right out of the gate the title track kicks off with a powerful riff and an intensity that the band has not had since... Once Upon the Cross...? Maybe even Legion. Both guitars rip me to shreds right away with that main riff, and then Glen comes in... he sounds identical to how he does in Vital Remains, and that's a wonderful thing. Steve's drumming has also stepped it up. His blasting is tight and his fills haven't sounded this good in ages.

Where the album really starts to shine though is during the instrumental section. The band infuses melody like they never have before. This is where the band really differentiates themselves from Vital Remains. Instead of having the melodic sections contained, Deicide lets them bleed all over the main riffs. Melodic leads, solos, accents everywhere. All over the album... it's glorious. This isn't melodic death metal... this is death metal with melody, that's an important distinction to make. 

The album isn't a one trick pony either. Songs like Desecration shows the band can play at a slower pace and still ramp up the intensity. The opening to Death to Jesus is one of the coolest riffs I've heard the band do. Ralph and Jack really kick ass throughout the album, huge upgrade in the guitar department. 

The Stench of Redemption is better than the self titled album, it's better than Legion, it's better than Once Upon the Cross, it's better than Serpents of the Light... it's better than any of the legendary albums that the band started with. This is the definitive Deiceide album.

Written July 28th 2024

Entry 890 - Deep Fear

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes:

Thoughts: Kenji Kawai. A legendary name in Japanese composers. The guy who did Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, Ranma 1/2... and an obscure Sega Saturn game named Deep Fear...?

Deep Fear is a game I've never played. I've heard it likened to a "Resident Evil Killer," in that it has a similar atmosphere and controls. Where it differs rather substantially though is in the music. Whereas RE has a largely dark ambient driven soundtrack, Deep Fear's soundtrack is filled with memorable melodies and tracks.

Before anything else: this is undoubtedly a horror game soundtrack. The music is creepy, it's atmospheric, and it's got that old school charm that games from the 90's have. There is something about this era, PS1, Saturn, Dreamcast, Jaguar etc... the sound chips were great but they still had that video game feel that the earlier systems had. Once we got out of this era the music began to converge with conventional music... and I would argue that VGM lost some of its uniqueness because of that.

Deep Fear fully utilizes the Saturn chip so that the music evokes all sorts of emotions. Nostalgia (maybe not intended, but it's there for reasons discussed above), tension, mystery, and in some cases even beauty. 

Kenji has always been a master at creating memorable soundtracks and Deep Fear is no different. All of the tracks in this album share a strangeness to them that is uniquely Japanese. The music will zig when you expect it to zag, it will pull in full orchestra hits right after a near ambient section. It will bestow calm during a boss fight or a confrontation with enemies. It will evoke tension while exploring. It's great.

Deep Fear is a game that I should probably try and play at some point. It's getting harder to justify buying older games though with the prices going up and up. In the mean time however, I do have the soundtrack to the game, and while it's not perfect - it certainly is good enough to stand on its own in album form.

Written July 28th 2024

Entry 889 - Deathspell Omega - Drought

Style: Dissonant black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Absolute hopelessness

Thoughts: As if Deathspell Omega has anything to prove at this point. They have shown time and time again that they are in the elite of elite in the world of metal. Not one musical act has the same level of song writing prowess that they do time and time again. There are many bands out there that will write masterful album after masterful album... but Deathspell will write genre defining album after genre defining album... the difference is subtle but enormous at the same time.

Salowe Vision shows that Deathspell can write a song truly devoid of hope, devoid of all things that bring a sliver of light. It is a truly desperate instrumental, one that fits the cover of the album perfectly. The mourning of people abandoned by god, facing an eternal drought... this is the emotions that this opening instrumental brings. It's incredible, and one of the strongest tracks the band has ever written.

One may have gathered by this point that Deathspell Omega is one of my favorite black metal bands... scratch that, they are one of my favorite metal bands... let's try that again... they are one of my favorite bands, period. End of story... and this EP is another reason for that. It continues the ideas and concepts that were started by Paracletus but tries with various degrees of success to heighten the emotional impact.

The opener aside, there is a LOT going on in these songs. Every one of them lays on the dissonance thick, and barely gives the listener a moment to breathe. When those moments do come the band layers on so much negative emotion that it's nearly suffocating. The transition from Sand to Abrasive Swirling Murk is one of the strongest examples of this.

Sand is a short song that allows the listener the smallest of respite, though it is steeped in sorrow and hopelessness. It's only about a minute long, but when it ends any sort of reprieve is lost. The chaos has returned and will not be content until the listeners sanity has gone with the peace. 

If anything Drought takes the concepts of Paracletus and further segregates them. The melody is contained to two moments in the album, the remainder is arguably more chaotic than even Fas... was. It's a brutal twenty minutes, but this is not about the quantity of music contained here... rather this all about the quality that the band has set. 

After this they would have nearly an impossible task of topping their dissonant sound... and needless to say they did not succeed. Outside of it's amazing album title the follow up here would be a rather large disappointment. That said, for an eight year period they created some of the strongest music in any genre.

Entry 888 - Deathspell Omega - Paracletus

Style: Dissonant black metal with moments of beautiful melody

Primary Emotions/Themes: The beats that the band unleashed with their previous album has evolved, it is now a skilled hunter seeking its prey rather than ravishing everything in it's path.

Thoughts: Violence is such a delicate thing. It can bring about such unbridled destruction that there is nothing left (see Sherman's March to the Sea). It can also be refined, honed, and implemented with such precision that a singular act can bring about the downfall of an entire civilization, put the entire world at war, or end a life at a moments notice. 

Violence can be harnessed in musical form as well. It takes many forms... anything from the chaos incarnate to a focus so intense, so fiercely acute, that it strikes exactly where it is mean to, no more, no less. It's this second version that Paracletus examines during its forty two minute run time.

Like most, if not all of Deathspell's releases Paracletus is difficult to define in the written word. Trying to describe everything contained in the album is an impossibility. Rather the generalities are the best that I'm going to be able to conjure. 

Paracletus is a mix of controlled violence with moments of strikingly beautiful melodies. I would say at least 70-80% of the album picks up exactly where Fas... left off: riffs that aim to disintegrate everything that is listening, drums that match that cadence perfectly, and vocals that aim to dissolve everything with their strikingly potent vitriol. On this front, little has changed for the band. The dissonance remains, even if it is a bit more contained than the previous album. 

Where the band deviates greatly though is that last 20-30%. It's here that the band explores what "dissonant melody" would sound like. This is not typical melodic black metal mind you, these melodies are created form the same violence that the dissonance is... but they are crafted in such a way that the violence is more palatable. Mere moments in the album were given a series of notes where the chaos resolves and my mind can go "oh! that sounds normal!" right before my sanity is stripped away from me again.

It's this balance of melodic dissonance (I realize that is not a possibility, but that's what this sounds like), and true dissonance that makes Paaracletus a unique album. Deathspell have never been a band to repeat themselves, always building, always evolving. It's this evolution that led to this albums creation, and in doing so created another one of the most important black metal albums in the post second wave era.

Written July 28th 2024

Entry 887 - Darkspace - III

Style: Cosmic black metal steeped in ambience

Primary Emotions/Themes: Complete darkness all around, there is nothing tangible within any sense... yet something is lurking in this deep cold dark

Thoughts: Darkspace is a band that wields a unique sound. Many bands have tried the "black metal in space" style, but none of them have created such a complete sound such as Darkspace has. 

While the debut album and demo have a bit of hit and miss and lack dynamics, the band figured things out with their second album. The idea that space is dark and lonely is shown so effectively through the sound honed on that album that it's difficult to find a better album in the style. That said, III does it's very best to improve on the foundation laid by II in every way.

The music found on the Darkspace albums can be summed up as thus: deeply atmospheric, keyboard driven, obscure black metal. The "wall of sound" concept is embraced by the band on this release, and pushed to its logical extremes. It's more than just a wall of sound, it's a tidal wave of sound, noise, and chaos all wrapped into seven monolithic tracks.

Unlike the debut album, III has a mastery of dynamics. The band knows when to pull back and let the emptiness of space wash over the listener. They know when to fill every crevice with the violence of a star going super nova. They know when to use their hellish vocals, they know when to pull in samples from astrophysicists speaking. They know when to use typical black metal riffing, they know when to chug. They know when to blast, they know when to slow down. They simply know.

Darkspace III may take some time to get into, I know it took me quite a few listens. While I still prefer II, III may be the best representation of their sound. If there is only one Darkspace album to have in a collection, this is likely it.

Entry 886 - Deathspell Omega - Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeterum

Style: Dissonant black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Being dropped into an unknown place. Everything is foreign, you understand nothing... and everything has a deep malevolent hatred towards your very existence.

Thoughts: Deathspell Omega is quite possibly one of the most important bands in metal. Not just black metal, but metal in general. With this album they expanded the definition of black metal and challenged the ears of many listeners with sounds that had never crossed their ears before. 

The albums that came before this could not have prepared me for the chaotic storm that is Fas... The first moments of Obombration show the slightest glimmer of the insanity that this album contains. A slight off kilter note, a hint of dissonance is observed but mostly it's merely an incredibly ominous introduction. It has the liking to a caged beast, testing the bounds of it's confines from time to time. It has not let on to it's captors that it has found a way to shatter it's bonds.

For the final moments of peace on the album a short chant is heard, similar to the peace that is found on Si Monvmentvm... It is a moment of reflection, the fleeting moments of sanity.... for the beast is now uncaged.

The Shrine of Mad Laughter is as aptly titled a song as I've ever heard in my life. The madness that is contained within even the first few seconds of the song has been created to obliterate any shreds of sanity that the listener has left. 

The first time I heard these riffs I had never heard anything like it before. I had heard dissonant music in the past such as Blut Aus Nord, but this was something different. This was more primal... more focused. Despite all of the conflicting notes happening at once the music has a cohesion to it that tells me that every. single. note. played is with the utmost intent. 

There is a section towards the end of the ten minute run time of The Shrine of Mad Laughter where it sounds like the guitars are playing random notes. For the life of me I could not wrap my head around this part for years and years, and even when I could start to it still would lose me. It wasn't until I focused in on the drums playing with the guitars that I realized how incredibly intentional and intricate this section was. Everything matches with the utmost perfection... there is no randomness to this... this is all with the most malicious of intents. It was at that moment that I realized the genius of Deathspell Omega.

Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aternum is one of the single most important black metal albums to be released outside of the inception of the genre. The band has created something... a beast, a golem, a masterwork. The band uses both their instruments and silence as weapons to assault the listener with notes that I recognize but I do not understand their relation to each other in the context provided. I've gotten used to it over the years, but I still feel a deep unease when I listen to this album. This is the true spirit of black metal.

Written July 24th 2024

Entry 885 - White Rune - Dawn of the White Rune

Style: Keyboard driven black metal 

Primary Emotions/Themes: Pretty standard black metal with keyboards mixed in.

Thoughts: What happened? What happened in the year between this bands outstanding demo's and the full length? 

Dawn of the White Rune is the debut album for White Rune. It has all of the same elements that made the demo's so good: keyboards, fun beats, uncomplicated riffs. It's just missing the two main things from the previous releases: the fun and the quality.

These songs somehow sound more serious than anything on the demos, and that's a damn shame. By having the music be more serious the band lost the one thing that made me love them so much. The music still has the same basic ingredients but it's lost the soul of the music that I enjoyed so much.

That's not to say that this is bad per see... it's just ordinary. I miss the moments in the songs where everything comes together and makes me go "hell yeah!" Instead the songs meander about, simply content to exist. 

The band showed so much promise with the two demos, and here it seems like all of that potential is squandered. It's not the production, that seems almost identical. It's not the keyboards, they are almost identical to the demos. No, the fault lies in the song writing and the execution... the band is taking this too seriously, at least from what I can tell. 

Dawn of the White Rune is a bit of a disappointment based on the excellent demos that came before it. Hopefully with the follow up the band will realize what made those two demos so incredible and embrace it more. Until then, this full length will likely not get nearly as much play as the demos.

Written July 22nd 2024

Entry 884 - White Rune - The Spell of Eternal Fire

Style: Keyboard driven black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Expertly created black metal with a fun edge

Thoughts: The Spell of Eternal Fire kicks ass. It has no business being as good as it is. These 26 minutes have some of the most fun, high intensity black metal I've heard in quite some time. It's a phenomenal addition to the collection. 

So what makes this so good? I'm glad you asked! White Rune's demo has this thing called riffs, and boy do they kick ass! Starting with a great dungeon synth esque intro, the album explodes into one of the best songs on here: Pestilence Upon Us. 

This short song has riff after riff pummeling the listener over and over again. Mix this with some punk inspired beats and vocals that hearken back to the early days of the genre you have a winning combination. Take a moment and listen to the part where Ruttokieli screams "We have returned to where we came from!" That mixed with the pipe organ keyboards, blast beats and d-beats... god damn its good. 

Contrast this with the intense blast beat driven The Sinister Force of the Moon where the band goes full speed at all points. The album is quite varied from song to song, yet the quality remains. 

The whole album it sounds like the band is having fun. They don't take themselves too seriously as evidenced by the music's light hearted feel. The whole affair is simply excellent. 

I wish that I had more black metal like this. Not too serious, yet not so loose that it ends up sounding like a parody of the genre (see Old Nick). For now though, I have this excellent record and I'm proud to call myself the owner of a copy of The Spell of Eternal Fire.

Written July 22nd 2024

Entry 883 - Shinji - In Colour

Style: Instrumental hip hop with funk influences

Primary Emotions/Themes: A quirky collection of songs that explores the sounds of the 60's and 70's in a modern hip hop way

Thoughts: Ever wondered what a hip hop album from the late 60's would sound like? What would it sample? What would the beats sound like? Shinji is here to answer all of those questions with In Colour.

First off, the sampling that is done on here is excellent. The music sounds like it belongs together, even if it has obviously been chopped up and stitched back together. It's not so much a function of the music sounding disjointed as it sounds like the music fades in and out with strategic cuts. 

The vocals in For Some Reason are a prime example. They come in full force and then end abruptly with the changing of the beat. Despite the way it sounds, it's not jarring in any sense. Rather it sounds like the natural flow of the album as the music has much of the same cadence to it. 

The remainder of the album has a decidedly retro feel to it. From the production screaming 60's and 70's disco and Motown, to the instruments mimicking that used in the early rock and roll and funk scenes, it all comes together nicely to form a surprisingly cohesive album. 

In execution this is a pretty standard hip hop album, but the source of the samples used is what sets this one apart. The addition of funky bass and disco sections puts this album into its own unique realm. 

Written July 22nd 2024

Entry 882 - Death Mark

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: Channeling of psychological horror into audio form

Thoughts: Death Mark is a visual novel based around psychological horror and what happens to people in desperate situations. Characters will get inflicted with a mark that predicts their exact moment of death, and only by engaging in life threatening challenges in the supernatural realm are they able to rid themselves of the mark.

Through your actions and investigations you can either end up saving the people you work with or watch them suffer horrific fates. The art for the game is horrific in many ways and absolutely gruesome in some circumstances. It's especially horrifying when a person you have been trying to save the entire time blows up in a fine red mist right in front of you because you failed to make the correct decisions. It's very effective about making you care about those afflicted with the mark.

Equally effective is the music. While the soundtrack is short, it contains atmospheric pieces for each phase of the game. A reflective piano piece for the mansion - the main hub of the game. A horrific noise driven piece for when the ghosts are in direct conflict with the player characters. Suspenseful music that drives home an direct sense of urgency for when the investigation is starting to really get involved. Silence for when the evidence is in the process of being gathered.

Death Mark is a great visual novel that took me about twenty hours to complete. The game is challenging and highly traumatizing for many reasons. Even with the best ending there is loss and horror woven throughout. It's a game that emphasizes embracing the little time we have left, and the music echoes that perfectly.

Written July 22nd 2024

Entry 881 - Death's Door

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: A solemn collection of dirges that capture life after death

Thoughts: I've often heard this game compared to a Zelda game. I couldn't confirm or deny those allegations as I've never played it. What I do know is that the music for the game is quite good.

Death's Door is a 3LP set that focuses on the peaceful side of the VGM genre. Many of these tracks are piano driven, and almost all of them have an ethereal feel to them thanks to the excellent production. 

Seeing as this is an album focused around death, almost all of the tracks have a mournful tone to them. Even an upbeat waltz, or a dramatic boss fight will have an underlying tone of somberness. It's a wonderful little detail that helps tie all the music together in ways that a normal soundtrack does not. 

Death's door is a wonderful little listen. Even though its nearly two hours in length it does not feel like it. It feels more like three small albums that come together to create a beautiful collection of songs that celebrate the necessity of death in the world. It's not a tragedy, but rather the ending of a cycle so that a new one can begin.

Entry 880 - Modest by Default and Mabisyo - 死​​​ぬ​​​こ​​​と​​​を​​​学​​​ふ​゙​​​た​​​め​​​の​​​戦​​​略

Style: Ambient, vaporwave

Primary Emotions/Themes: Peace... pure, unadulterated peace

Thoughts: I own very few albums like this. Albums that tap into a specific emotion and expand on it to the point of perfection. That's not to say that the album is perfect, but rather the embodiment of the theme or emotion that the album puts forward is perfectly executed.

I've been following both Modest by Default and Mabisyo for a little while at this point, but this is the first album I have in physical form from either of them. While I enjoy both of their solo works immensely, this collab between them is some next level stuff.

The music on this album is subtle, gentle, and gives me the feeling of wrapping myself up in a warm blanket after a long day at work. In short, it's fantastic. It's the kind of music I can listen to at any point and find myself fully immersed. It's the kind of music that calls out to me, the type of album that I have a craving to listen to. 

The music itself is based on dreamy ambient. There is sounds washing in and out like wave after wave on a beach. With these sounds you have melodies sprinkled in, sometimes overt, other times buried deep in the mix. I love it when artists do that, it rewards the active listener yet also makes the passive listener content. 

There is no point during the entire run time of this record where the music feels hollow. There is always some layer of ambience that is filling the void. Even points where it is near quiet, it does not feel hollow. Rather it feels more like the music is taking a quick respite, only to return stronger and more calm than ever. 

This album is one of the better ambient albums I've heard in the past few months. I love that both Modest by Default and Mabisyo have gone out of their comfort zone with this release to create something truly wonderful. I hope that this is not the last collab we see between these two artists, but if it is then they certainly have left a lasting impression.

Written July 22nd 2024

Entry 879 - Syrup - Rosy Lee

Style: Jazz influenced hip hop

Primary Emotions/Themes: Sitting in a smokey lounge on a lazy Saturday night, listening to a jazz band that is accompanied by a DJ

Thoughts: I normally prefer my hip hop instrumental with a sparkling of vocals here and there. Every now and then though I find an album that is filled with vocals that hits my mood just right. Rosy Lee is just one such album. 

The instrumental portion of Rosy Lee is fueled with influences from jazz and lounge music... to call this smooth jazz wouldn't be too far removed. It's primarily based around piano and sometimes a trumpet. They will play passages like you would find at a jazz lounge in a smoke filled room in the early hours of the morning. 

The beats are well constructed, and compliment the music well. There isn't anything that stands out about them in either a positive or negative way, they are simply content to exist. They back up the instrumentals to near perfection, and will often accent the rhythm set by the vocals.

The vocals themselves are straight forward in the best way possible. They vary between soft spoken and more conversational. They have a good amount of emotion to them and work well for the release. Nothing exceptional, but again it works perfectly for the album as a whole.

Rosy Lee isn't a groundbreaking album, but it is an album that I enjoy to an immense degree. I don't have nearly enough hip hop in my collection, less so that is jazz influenced. This hits both of those points with one release. For that alone this is more than worth a spot in my collection.

Written July 22nd 2024

Entry 878 - Bialywilk - Zmora

Style: Atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: I am formless, I am without body our mind, I am one with the void, I am nothingness

Thoughts: Bialywilk is a band that I'm new to. I picked up a few of their albums recently because I liked what I heard. The combination of dark ambient with spacy black metal is always a win in my book, and a style that is not explored enough in black metal.

Zmora starts out with a minimalistic dark ambient intro that is the audio equivalent of floating in a void. There is something around me, but I have no idea what it is. It is formless, it is beyond what my senses can grasp... but  it is s o m e t h i n g. I love this start. It welcomes in the deep nothingness that brings peace while still having that ever present fear of the unknown mixed in.

When the metal finally does come in it's a slow transition. The music goes from formless and directionless to focused. The guitars have a vast and spacious feel to them, there are subtle keyboards in the background adding to the atmosphere as well. The drums never seek to overpower the music, but rather add an important backing to the melodies and riffs provided by the guitars.The vocals are a bit of a low roar with a lot of reverb on them. This, again, adds to the feeling of the music expanding beyond the original scope of the instruments. 

The songs bleed into each other without a break, leading to the album to sound more like one thirty minute long song rather than a collection of tracks. I love this effect, it helps keep the album cohesive and brings the immersion level up even higher. 

Zmora is a great find for my collection. It's the perfect length for a short visit into the stars right before having to deal with the troubles of this earth once again. 

Written July 22nd 2024

Entry 877 - Death - Symbolic

Style: Technical death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Casually setting the standard for an entire genre.

Thoughts: Some albums redefine what good music is. They reach a height that I had never even comprehended before. It's a rare, strange occurance when this happens... one that I remember for the rest of my life. Death's Symbolic is one such album.

I had heard Spiritual Healing before this and while the album was ok, it really did nothing for me. It introduced me to some of Death's sound at the time, but it left no lasting impact. I heard from one of my friends at the time that Symbolic was vastly different and that I should give it a listen. While I don't remember who told me that, I am eternally indebted to them for this recommendation.

From the first moments of the title track it had my attention. The slow intro that built itself up slowly by repeating the same riff, it was unlike anything I had heard before. Then when it explodes and Gene is allowed to show his full prowess on the drum kit... I was hooked. 

The interplay of absolute technicality paired with perfect execution and a keen sense of melody permeates every single minute of this album. Every single song has a moment that makes my jaw drop. The breakdown/chorus of Zero Tolerance and it's incredibly ominous atmosphere, the bridge in Sacred Serenity where Chuck says "observing spirits on the wall, what are they telling you?", every single note of 1000 Eyes... there are endless moments on this album that give me goosebumps.

Symbolic is one of the finest entries into the death metal genre... no scratch that, it's one of the best metal albums ever created. I don't listen to it nearly enough, but when I do listen to it I'm consistently blown away. RIP Chuck, you left us too soon.

Written July 22nd 2024

Entry 876 - Dead Can Dance - Anastasis

Style: Keyboard driven folk music

Primary Emotions/Themes: Bliss, pure bliss

Thoughts: To say that I was excited about Anastasis was a bit of an understatement. Dead Can Dance is one of my favorite artistic endeavors that I've been exposed to in my life. They disbanded on one of my least favorite albums from them (Spiritchaser) and the thought of having a proper follow up excited me to no end.

Anastasis picks up right where Enter the Labyrinth left off. The songs are longer and more vocal driven than the early works. They have a more hypnotic feeling to them, driven primarily by Lisa and Brendan's tremendous vocals mixed with slow repeating rhythms. It almost has a ritualistic feel to the entire album. 

One of the things that made the previous Dead Can Dance albums so majestic is that they all had a distinct feel to them. While sometimes that led to some missteps, overall it was a key part of their sound from one album to the next. If there is one knock on Anastasis it's that this key element is missing to some degree.

This is unmistakably a Dead Can Dance album, but it feels like a compilation of best of music rather than something new. Don't get me wrong, I love this album... it just feels like the band is re-finding their sound before venturing off into new terriotory with this one.

The territory that is explored on Anastasis however is sacred ground. Every song on here feels like it's pulled straight from the sultans quarters, fueled by an Opium haze as we the onlookers observe the exotic dances of the kings court. Welcome back Lisa and Brendan, you were sorely missed.

Written July 22nd 2024

Entry 875 - DDob - Date of Birth

Style: Instrumental hip hop

Primary Emotions/Themes: The kind of music I want to wind down with after a hard weeks work, nursing a glass of whisky on the rocks while decompressing from life

Thoughts: DDob is an artist I know next to nothing about. I know that they released Date of Birth and I know that it's an excellent hip hop album... but that's it. And that's all I need.

Date of Birth is a collection of piano driven hip hop songs. Most of the songs follow a simple formula: the piano takes the lead, accompanying instruments back it up, and the beats bring it all together. Sometimes the piano is replaced with a guitar, but really that's the essence of the entire album. 

The resulting album is an ultra chill collection of songs that is perfect for a quiet morning, a peaceful evening, or any time when the world is getting to be too much. There is a peace about these songs that keeps me coming back to this album moreso than almost any of the other instrumental hip hop albums in my collection.

The way the songs groove and sway, it's second to none. The way that the atmosphere slowly builds in the songs is hypnotic. The way that the instruments play with each other is majestic. These fourteen songs are quite simply the peak of the genre, nothing more to be said.

Written July 22nd 2024

Entry 874 - Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky

Style: Black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: This is the true face of evil

Thoughts: I don't know if I'm going to be able to find the right words for this one... how do you describe one of the pinnacles of your favorite genre without sounding like a gushing fanboy? I don't know. I'm torn between making this an incredibly long or an incredibly short summary. Let's just see what happens shall we?

Six songs. Six hymns. Six odes to the best genre on the planet. A Blaze in the Northern Sky is simply perfection. There is nothing on any of these tracks that I would change. The production is perfect. The riffs are perfect. The drums are perfect. The vocals... perfect. It's all perfect. 

Is this the best black metal album of all? No... but it is certainly among those for consideration. All of these songs showcase the very best of the genre... and this album was instrumental in getting me into the darkness and mayhem that is black metal. 

There isn't much else to say. This embodies everything that black metal is. I don't care if it's become more popular in recent years... in fact that's all the better. More people listening to true black metal is a good thing. This is the very essence of black metal distilled into six songs.

Written July 21st 2024

Entry 873 - Dark Tranquillity - Fiction

Style: Melodic death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: A phenomenal mix of aggression, melody, atmosphere, and excellent pacing

Thoughts: I was skeptical of Dark Tranquillity after they added a keyboard player to the mix. I thought that they would lose a bit of the edge they had on the early albums. Projector and Haven only reinforced my fears. While Projector had decent songs, they were no where near the quality that I had come to expect from the band. Haven showed some improvement in the song writing, but the intensity was gone... for good it seemed. 

Damage Done brought me back into having some hope for the band. I did not like Mikael's vocal shift on the album, but the song writing was a huge step up... even with a keyboard player. Then came Character... and I was happy.

Fiction is the direct continuation of Character. It has the incredibly intensity, the severe emotional impact on me, and most importantly the songwriting is incredible. Mikael's vocals have also returned to his trademark growl from The Gallery and The Mind's I. In short this and Character are a huge return to form. 

Fiction in particular seems more like a refinement of the sound that the band found on Character. Somehow the band has managed to capture the magic of the early albums but with an updated and modern sound. I can't stress how much I love this album, it's right up there with the first three. It has the same level of song writing, but with a whole new instrument added into the mix.

The guitars often venture into true death metal territory with the intensity (listen to the main riff of Blind at Heart and tell me that's not death metal), and the keyboards add that extra layer to the music that gives it the extra little touch to bring it from excellent to masterful. 

The band has truly learned how to play together on this album. The melody will dance between the guitars, the keyboards and even the vocals from time to time. Each one of them treat it with the utmost respect and the results are obvious. There is emotion here that has not been heard since Hedon, and there is intensity that hasn't been heard since The Gallery. Other bands need to take note, this is how you return to form.

Written July 21st 2024

Entry 872 - Dark Tranquillity - The Mind's I

Style: Melodic death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: The perfect balance of emotion, aggression, and melody

Thoughts: I can't begin to tell you how many times I've listened to this album. This was my true introduction to extreme music. Sure I had heard Fear Factory before this, but this album is the one that converted me. Without The Mind's I, my musical taste would be incredibly different.

I'll be honest, the first time I heard the album I thought it sucked. I was used to listening to thrash and nu metal at the time. This sounded nothing like either of those, this was so incredibly different that my brain couldn't quite comprehend what was going on.

I almost sold it several times, because well... I never listened to it. It was so different than most of my taste that I just shelved it. I am so glad that I didn't.

The Mind's I is a masterpiece. Is it a bit samey in the riff and drum department? Sure, you could criticize it for that. Do I care? Not one bit. 

Where someone may see simplistic riffs, I see melodic death metal riffs played with the intensity of the height of thrash. Mix in strong melodic tendencies and you get some of the most unforgettable moments in all of my musical collection.

Let's take a moment and dissect my favorite Dark Tranquillity song: Hedon. This song has everything. Not one note is out of place. Not one moment is wasted. It is a perfect song. One of the finest ever written in any genre. 

Form the opening words of "Enter Suicidal Angels" to the increidibly emotive accompanying riff... I challenge anyone who thinks that extreme music cannot channel emotions outside of rage to listen to this. This is dripping with sorrow, loss, and all manner of melancholy. The riffs slowly build in intensity until they eventually break into a full thrash type beat that the album is littered with.

These riffs showcase both the bands incredibly songwriting prowess as well as the incredible vocal range of Mikael. The final lines of the song where he wails "We look at you afraid! To see what we really are!" are some of the most painful I've heard in music. God I love this song.

While the rest of the album does not reach those heights, it still is one of the finest melodic death metal albums I've ever heard. Is it a bit samey? If I'm honest, I have to concede that point. But I don't care... I truly don't. This is an album that I slowly got into over the course of six months, and it remains a favorite to this day. Many albums that I've revisited from my childhood have disappointed me, but not The Mind's I... This one continues to impress all these years later.

Written July 21st 2024