Thantifaxath - Thantifaxath

Good, promising debut EP from this Canadian black metal band. They should make an album.

I need to listen to Ibliss again as I was not sure what to think of it at first.

Iblis is nice and promising... I guess id change a pair of things though.
Hail Spirit Noir is very nice, too, thanks for the heads up!

Yer welcome! Think another good reference to HSN would be SARKE, they have kind of the same sound, very clear and airy. HSN just hasn't as much of ZZ TOP in them.


np: AMON DÜÜL II - Wolf City. Completely outstanding album. A lot of "kraut" can get on my nerves with being a bit too... absurdist, perhaps? Wonky. But this here is some great stuff (I guess this was a bit of a sell-out album, I mean, 7 songs in less than 40 minutes, what are they, Chuck Berry?). Especially Jail-house Frog, the main riff is spectacular.

VOIVOD - The Outer Limits + Angel Rat.
Great and underrated albums - only classic 80's thrash metal band that successfully adapted to the alt.rock/grunge overtake in the early 90's? Piggy was always in his own universe.

SISTERS OF MERCY - Floodland.
Listened to this so much 10-15 years ago when I got it, then forgot about it for several years. Such a bombastic and dramatic album. Andrew Eldritch is one hell of a song writer. Or was, at least - Vision Thing is only half good. And then what? Saw them on their 25 year anniversary tour in 2006, it was good but way too much metal in the guitars. Not very interested in seeing them do the same songs, five years older when they passed by here last October. Total nostalgia-feast I suppose, even though he hardly does any of the pre-Floodland tracks (Alice perhaps?).

CELTIC FROST - Cold Lake (tape version)
I understand why Tom G Warrior is embarrassed by this honestly pretty good heavy/thrash metal album; it's his horrible vocals that ruins the more party-focused cuts (Petty Obsessions!). Honestly, I find it a bit immature to show that disrespect towards something that you obviously put a lot of work into. Yes, it's commercial, yes Tom was probably not into it but he let it happen, and some of the tracks are good. Not on level with classic CELTIC FROST, but TRIPTYKON isn't either so what's obviously lacking is Martin Eric Ain. What's he doing these days anyway?

and of course, he's a goth now. you can't accept glam if you're goth, not to mention RAP! too bad they didn't hit big with this in the US, would probably have led them in a completely different trajectory! appearing as anecdotal has-beens at nostalgia-metalfests after more disastrous crossover flirts with rappers?

I am just glad they ended up making Monotheist, which is a monumental piece of metal. Frankly, it is their only release I like, although I am aware that we are all supposed to love their genre defining albums. And yes, I have heard them many times.

I still enjoy from Morbid Tales up to Into the Pandemonium a lot. Maybe it's because I didn't always listen to those albums a lot, but in good days and good measures, and still do. Monotheist is über-cool, but it's definitely not Circle of the Tyrants kind of cool. The Tryptikon album is good too, but hasn't hooked me up yet. I'm still getting into Monotheist yet, yes I'm THAT slow with everything Fischer. And I like it that way.

FYI (worthless info though ) I own a vinyl copy of Vanity/Nemesis. And I enjoyed it moderately back in the day, when I could listen to it in my parent's home, but then I got Morbid Tales on cd and it was just another kind of band.

BTW, now playing a new Fleurety song that Einar just dropped by Virus' fecesbook group (he's on drums, too):

http://soundcloud.com/zweizz/final-mix- ... -at-124409

As I said, Fleurety coming back was and still is a good thing.

Worm Ouroboros - Come the Thaw

I like the kind of music WO are playing - quiet, minimalistic, atmospheric ambient/guitar something, but what ruins the album is that they are only doing this one thing thoughout. This would have been really good with some sort of variation, with occasional peaks of activity but there are no dynamics. It is a shame their music is so one dimensional.

LIK - Lekamen Illusionen Kallet. Third and last album before resuscitating the band some year ago. Never got this album, and unfortunately the copy I borrowed is from the first press with a completely fucked up master (tracks in wrong order as well, but that doesn't stand out as clearly). It sounds bit-crushed. But Stefan Graav's art shines through as well - all his work, from Armagedda to Lönndom via Lik is all beyond. He has the same kind of sensibility that you hear in Burzum for example, just a feeling for haunted, sad atmospheres. Tastes different from Vikernes of course. "Röd Puls" might be one of the darkest tracks recorded, next to "Hate to be human" from his first album.

Summer warmth came over us quickly this weekend, have been spinning these today to chill out while finishing my thesis:
LIK - The Second Wind
LÖNNDOM - Fälen från norr
ARMAGEDDA - Ond Spiritism
GRABNEBELFURSTEN - Dynastie (only got 4 songs into this before it bored me though)
and now DEATHSPELL OMEGA - Si Monumentum..., which of course is more of a sulfurous warmth than a grave-like winter-forest cold. But it's a wonderful album still.

Decibel are streaming a new song off the upcoming Deathspell Omega ep Drought:
http://www.decibelmagazine.com/featured ... ling-murk/

Yep, still good.

1½ hour of ARCTURUS live from Romania (I think), early May 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... dheCKh2_M#!

SWEEEEEEEEET

Ulver - Childhood's End

Quite an interesting album. Initially I feared a lack of consistency but all the songs have been converted into Ulver to a degree that makes this sound like a normal album. I am actually enjoying this much more than Wars of the Roses. And Magic Hollow is such a great song.