Lycus - Tempest (2013)

Epic, mournful funeral doom. Happy holidays and may the new decade bring us more doom.

and may our planet be more peaceful

King Diamond - The Eye (1990)

Wishing I had more time to share more albums, but time and life getting in the way. Here's my favourite Kind Diamond record. Like most of his albums, each track is solid, especially on this one.

From Wikipedia:
His two prior concept albums had been told from the perspective of the protagonists; this one is told from the view of a narrator. The themes of Christian atrocity with the persecution of alleged witches and sexual abuse against nuns are present. The story starts off with an unnamed character finding a necklace called "The Eye", that allows him/her to see the events the necklace was witness for in the past. They see an accused witch named Jeanne Dibasson being tortured and burned at the stake. Next they see two little girls finding the necklace in the ashes at a stake, and what they see when they look in the eye kills them. Finally there is the story of Madeleine Bavent, a nun working in the Louviers convent, who finds the necklace and decides to put it on. After being raped by Father David, she uses the necklace to kill him by making him look into it. Shortly after, the new Chaplain, Father Picard, arrives and starts bringing everyone to communion. He winds up lacing their communion wine with some substance that lets him control their minds, and uses a group of nuns including Madeleine to ritually torture and kill children. In 1642 all are arrested and imprisoned.

The main parts of the stories told on this album are true, and took place during the French Inquisition, 1450-1670. All of the following characters are real and from that period of time:

Nicolas de la Reynie (spelled "Nicholas de La Reymie" in the lyrics): Head investigator of the Christian Burning Court (Chambre Ardente), in Paris, France.
Jeanne Dibasson: Supposed witch.
Madeleine Bavent: 18-year-old French nun who entered the convent at Louviers in 1625, after having been seduced by a priest. Died in 1647 in prison.
Father Pierre David: Chaplain of the convent at Louviers till his death in 1628.
Father Mathurin Picard: Chaplain of the convent at Louviers from 1628 to his death in 1642. [See also Louviers possessions.]
This marked the first King Diamond album without Mikkey Dee recording the drums. The drummer on this album was Snowy Shaw (despite popular belief, King said that no drum machine was used on the album, Snowy actually played on drum pads instead of proper drums). Falcao wrote "Two Little Girls" with King Diamond, but wasn't credited.

In the dungeon blood is everywhere

Domains - Sinister Ceremonies (2014)

Spanish death metal in the vein of Morbid Angel and Immolation. One of my favourite death metal records of the decade.

RIFFS

מזמור (Mizmor) - Yodh (2016)

A blackened doom metal behemoth. Mizmor is a one-man project executed by the drummer of Hell (US sludge/doom). I love how representative the artwork is of the music. Heavy, gloomy, MASSIVE. This is shared in high anticipation for the upcoming record.

To be human is to hurt 

Pain, a condition for life

Merciless - The Awakening (1990)

One of Sweden's finest death metal outputs. Evil, fast, vicious, thrashy rifffest. This was released through Euronymous' Deathlike Silence Productions.

Don't let the bastards grind you down

██████ - Demo (2013)

██████, or NIC, or NOTHING, is a post-black metal from Pilsen, Czech Republic. Great blend of black metal with emotional post-rock and hardcore influences.

Too much water can kill you

Garden of Shadows - Oracle Moon (2000)

Atmospheric melodic death metal. FFO early Opeth.

ˁ˚ᴥ˚ˀ

Moenen of Xezbeth - Ancient Spells of Darkness... (2018)

Came across this on a black metal end-list on opium hum aka probably the greatest music blog ever. Been constantly coming back to it, one of my favourite releases of 2018. "Raw occult worship. Slightly out-of-tune guitars, ghostly keyboards, hoarse vocals, and grainy production.

I fucking love this shit

Black Sabbath - Dehumanizer (1992)

I was surprised to see relatively a lot of traffic going through this page since I hadn't come on here or posted anything since last year, so I thought I'd get back to sharing some more music on here. Going with this one today. Nothing too obscure but been binging a lot of Sabbath and have been coming to the realization that this is my favourite Dio-era Sabbath record. Heavy, doomy, dark and a lot of badass tracks. Praise Iommi. RIP Dio.

There's another side of heaven
This way, to technical paradise

Behexen - By the Blessing of Satan (2004)

Excellent raging trve Finnish black metal.

 

The sign of black pentagram 
burned deep in my heart

Invincible Force - Satan Rebellion Metal (2015)

Satan worshiping, poseur-bashing, riff-fueled blackened thrash metal of the highest order.

There is no fucking hope.

If you like this, check out:
Nuclear Devastation - Inferno (2016)

Earth - Extra-Capsular Extraction (1991)

Colossal crushing drones from pioneers Earth. This EP features the prolific Joe Preston on bass and drums, Dave Harwell on another bass, and of course Dylan Carlson on guitar and magick. Get absorbed, if you're ready.

I did not hate God or Christ, but merely the God and Christ of the people whom I hated.

Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway (2006)

Holy shit, what can I say about this? In 2006 Cult of Luna released this monumental post-metal/atmospheric sludge metal album. This might very well be my favourite post-metal album, let alone being among the best metal albums of all time in my book. It's the kind of album that when I feel like listening to a particular song off it, I can't help but continue all of it, though I usually always start it from the start. A deep, self-contemplative emotional trip parallel to a religious experience which I highly recommend to everyone to experience, whether you like metal or not.

I was spoiled enough to witness them resurrect this masterpiece to life at Roadburn 2016. It was the very first band at the four-day festival - after finishing the set, I was so shaken, and thinking "Now what? I could go home happy now." It was life-shattering to say the least.

According to guitarist Erik Olofsson, SATH is about "Male loneliness - I was very inspired by a book by J.M. Coetzee [Life & Times of Michael K] about a man in South Africa with a hare lip. [The character] escapes from everything and lives off the earth eating only pumpkings. Johannes Persson [guitar, vocals, lyrics] had similar ideas for the lyrics about loneliness, it has a countryside vibe to it." The latter is further highlighted by banjo in some moments. If you missed it in the first paragraph, I highly recommend this.

Let me dream if only for tonight, that we leave together in the first morning light. 
 Alone and forgotten. I bow my head in shame. 
 Before you all answers reveal. So I sink my sorrows in the sea.

Drudkh - Anti-Urban (2007)

This little EP by Ukrainian black metal cult leaders Drudkh consists of two tracks. The first being Fallen Into Oblivion, a slow-paced instrumental. The second, which highlights this release for me is riff-laden Ashes. It's more upbeat compared to the former. Atmospheric, simple, sorrowful and raw.

People think that talking is a sign of thinking. It isn't, for the most part' on the contrary, it's a mechanical dodge of the body to relieve oneself of the strain of thinking, just as exercising the muscles helps the body to become temporarily unconscious of its weight, its pain, its weariness, and the foreknowledge of its doom.

Demilich - Nespithe (1993)

As weird as Finnish death metal gets. Warped riffs, angry toad vocals, schizophrenic lyrics and overall atmosphere that'll turn you into one of the blokes on the album art. Essential. One of the best metal albums. Highly recommended.

All christians and satanists you see must be crucified before they flee. You're allowed to eat every soul. You avoid it, they are too foul. You know there's no God or Belial. You mission's to show the only way is denial.

Nuclear Devastation - Inferno (2016)

Amsterdam-based motorcharged thrash/death/black metal crust. Relentless riffing, shreds and remorseless drumming that'll obliterate your ass to oblivion, with occasional sludgy/doom moments. May be my favourite band from the Netherlands, at least among the currently active ones. Fans of Black Breath would dig. Fucking great live too.

THRASH

If you like this, check out:
Invincible Force - Satan Rebellion Metal (2015)

The Bug vs Earth - Concrete Desert (2017)

One of the best albums of the year, and might possibly be my favourite. This album's gotten so many listens from me. Amazing collaboration between Dylan Carlson and Kevin Martin aka The Bug (who's been involved with projects with Justin Broadrick like Techno Animal, Ice, God, among others such as King Midas Sound, etc.). Broken dub and occasionally industrial beats emerging from haunted guitar riffs from the drone metal pioneer himself. Also contains two mean versions of tracks mixed with Justin Broadrick's vocals. I got the privilege to see these guys twice this year. Addictive album, also great to immerse into when you're traveling through crowded public transport, bumping into all those people yet everyone's feeling disconnected from everyone, everything. Highly recommended.

Don't walk these streets

Pilgrim - II: Void Worship (2014)

Sad news, sad day. Jon 'The Wizard' Rossi - guitarist, singer and songwriter of Pilgrim - died and this totally sucks. He died at 26 (didn't even make it to the 27 club). For this, I'm listening to Pilgrim today in memory, and sharing a DLable for their latest/last album, which in my opinion was one of the best albums to be released in 2014.

Pilgrim is a young doom metal band that plays in the style of the mighty Reverend Bizarre, and they do it well. They've only been around since 2010/2011, and I've always wished for more material from these guys. A successor contender for the Reverend Bizarre, but with their own twist to the sound. This would also appeal to fans of Hammers of Misfortune.

Rest in Power Jon Rossi, your doom will live on.

Apr 1991 - Oct 2017

Was the master real or was he a dream?

Sunn O))) - Agharti Live 09-10 (2011)

Hallucinatory live take on Sunn O)))'s Monoliths and Dimensions. It works as a different album though, it's not a copycat. Accompanied by voidfucking vocals of Attila Csihar, Aghartha is broken into two tracks. The first half is sweet droning drones, the second one features some of Attila's best recorded moments. Hunting and Gathering (here H&G Foraging) is crushingly heavy, and of course it's played slower! If you like Monoliths and Dimensions, drone or you are an admirer of adventurous vocals, you should listen to this.

Where tunnels open into the great nothing and the giant spaces that rent gravity unto the depths of the earth. Alight becomes the riddle of the labyrinth where the channels of the junction reform the ethos and forget everything

Bathory - The Return...... (1985)

Fuck yeah Bathory's second full-length is full of bangers. Venom, blasphemy, black metal, goat worship, (bestial) lust and sleeze. Absolutely essential.

Get it poser