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Sunday, July 31, 2016

Brian: Ten Extreme Metal Albums

I've wanted to do a diverse metal post for a long time. This was originally gonna have some more well known names: there was gonna be some Death, or Slayer, or Nile, or some well known Scandinavians. But I decided to head right for the ditch - in all the best ways - with the onlyREQUIREMENT for inclusion being fucking intensity! I'm not a subgenre purist, so anything goes.


Here at Growing Bored, we've got the whole stoner metal end of things being held up well, but I've long felt we could use a bit more extremity. And take it from the guy who went through all the posts...nothing like this has been here before. And I'm not a sub genre purist: if it feels metal and kicks my ass, then it qualifies. 

While I'll try to describe the albums well and entertainingly, I wanted to tip my hat to Dear Spirit at the Opium Hum blog. Not only have his posts turned me on to a lot of great music - some of which is here - but his way of describing things in one paragraph, with serious wit, have long been an inspiration to me. So, with no further ado....

Shining - Blackjazz
This band is a recent find. When I did that Alice Cooper covers comp, I came across a band called Shining. Turns out, there a several of them. This Norwegian group started as a avant-jazz band, but slowly moved into a more proggy, jagged metal sound. This album, Blackjazz, marked a sea change for them. Complicated time signatures, Meshuggah-like tempo breaks, ferocious tech-y screams....all with the occasional saxophone shronking over it. Imagine Mudvayne hanging with the Knitting Factory crowd. And the whole nutty disc ends with their explosive, demonic cover of KC's "21st Century Schiz...". And I love the CD booklet's tag line: "Made by will alone, throughDEPRESSION, aggression, and caffeine."

EyeHateGod - Take As Needed For Pain
This album has much harder drugs on it's mind. Tortured, misanthropic, groove-heavy doom/sludge. EHG are one of my favorite groups. I posted their mighty album Dopesick a long time ago. This is the album before that, and it's just as fucked up! 

Deathspell Omega - Sí MonumentumREQUIRES, Circumspice
Holding a rarified place in the flooded Black Metal landscape, Deathspell are a French group who take their beliefs very seriously. And avoiding a lot of the straight slash 'n burn methods of their contemporaries, DO's albums are intensely structured, varied works. If K.C. was a black metal band, they'd be Deathspell Omega.
Chalice of Doom - Immemorial Nightfall
Chalice or a Jordanian doom band I found on the Old Oak blog. (Definitely check him out; a lot of international metal there). Not as feedback-drenched as other doom bands, but pretty good.

Projekt Misanthropia
This was one of the albums I found on Opium Hum. According to legend, the vocals for this were tracked by abducting several mental patients and recording them in an abandoned chapel. And it's interspersed with white noise, synth shronk, feedback, and some black metal atmosphere. More of a noise album than a metal album, but the spirit is evil enough. Imagine the cast of Tod Browning's Freaks being raped by a Wolf Eyes album! Apparently done with the intent of evoking the Holocaust, this thing makes John Zorn's Kristallnacht sound like Lawrence Welk.


Waking The Cadaver - Beyond Cops, Beyond God
Another recent find that I'm obsessed with. This group is an interesting mix: there's a meaty, thrashing guitar sound, death metal breakdowns, almost grindcore style vocals at times. I think they fucking nail it! And I love that cover....it's like a Paul Verhoeven movie on meth, even down to the Robocop font. Balls to the wall stuff, to be sure.


The Ravenous - Assembled In Blasphemy + Three On A Meathook
Don't be taken in by the cover - this is not a gore metal album. These guys incorporate several kinds of styles, with their only priorities are being SICK and heavy! Good head banging stuff.

Urgehal - Goatcraft Torment
When you want your Black Metal pure and unfiltered, you gotta go to the Scandinavians. Just rips from beginning to end! Good production, and just a savage tone. Best opening line of a metal album ever, maybe.


Lurker Of Chalice - self titled
Only album by a side project of Leviathan's Wrest. Amazingly diverse, with a black metal feel, but incorporating doom elements, dark ambient, and MBV-like post rock touches. Really, really good....and nobody talks about it. Great Halloween album.

Vomitoma - A Liquid Harvest Of PutrefiedSTOMACH
 Contents
Heh heh heh. Oh, what will you guys think of me now? Vomitoma is a one man goregrind project. I think he's from Ohio, but all his stuff comes out rare on tiny Mexican labels. A wall of blistered guitar chug, a drum machine having a seizure, the occasional fucked up dialogue sample (the one opening the album is particularly effective), and vocals that sound like ground up hamburger going down a sewer pipe. Imagine if someone ate a few early Napalm Death and Cannibal Corpse albums and threw them back up on tape. Something about it is compelling to me; give it a listen when you want to obliterate everything. Pardon the pun, but it's got more meatier production than these kind of bands usually do. And the titles....oh, man. Guaranteed to be one of the sickest things on your hard drive.

With a nod to Darkthrone, My Dying Bride, Masakari, Nile, Disinterested Handjob, and many other metal albums I wanna get out there in future posts.  While I won't make it the main focus - too many other blogs do a better job at that - it'll be something I indulge in now and again. 

And some of these come from long-archives CD rips, and are in m4a. I hope that's not a problem. They sound great....Oh, and do I have some cool covers projects coming up, kids. Some of my best work!!! Stay tuned for it.

And since I kinda started the contention about this blog's banner image (and I still kinda like Iggy), I'd like to contribute my idea of a hot gal to replace it....


New punk from John N: The Wilful Boys

(scott) Listened to this one last night too, this fucker is a badass shot of pure punk rock. I'm getting terribly lazy, I guess, but I'm gonna attach a review to this one rather than write one, which is getting to be more and more of a habit, but, so it goes......good album, don't miss, and remember it's a NEW release 92016) and you know what that means, just in case, be quick, and be discreet....thanks John N!
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Rock 'n' roll is ugly. If not, it's not rock 'n' roll. Hell, even when rock 'n' roll is pretty, it's ugly. For The Wilful Boys, rock 'n' roll is slammin' 40s in front of a righteous garbage fire. The New York band's debut album, Rough AsGUTS, lives up to its name, with one mud-crusted boot in '70s hard rock and another in punk-splattered '90s noise-rock. For all its twin-guitar riff grit, "621" sure does swing, courtesy of drummer Steven Fisher, who pulls double duty as a howler with an Australian drawl.

From John N: Monarch

(scott) this is a good one from John N, psych fans take note.....I listened to it last night, a good one and the review here says it all, pretty much. Thanks to link-messiah John N for another good one!
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Here’s one for you 1970s “Classic Rock” aficionados!!..........if a blend of late 60s sweet California jams and a fusion of tricksy guitar rock is your thing then you are really going dig Two Isles, the debut album from West Coast laid back sonic voyagers Monarch.INFORMED by sun kissed psychedelia and inspired by the more Jazz Fusion influenced Prog Rock bands of the 1970s, Monarch are a throwback to the heady days of the post-psychedelic era where the blurring of boundaries was common and cornucopia of musical styles were up for grabs. Hailing from the fertile Southern California Psych scene, Monarch connect the dots between classic California rock, sweeping Prog Rock soundscapes, languid pastoral Psychedelic jams, explosive Jazz Rock fusion and the vivid, expansiveness of early 1990s British Shoegaze. With Brian Ellis from SoCal Prog Rock titans Astra on board as producer, Two Isles is the sound of a band conjuring new magic from styles of bygone years. It's full of breezy Allman Brothers guitar leads gliding effortlessly on top of subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, Prog-Rock structures. Even when it gets squally and heavy there's still an airy, inviting quality to Monarch's music that makes more than anything Two Isles the perfect head trip for easy summer days…………and all the other days you wish it felt like a balmy July afternoon.

Monarch’s line-up features three guitarists with powerful, supple drumming and lithe bass playing holding down the bottom end……………..guitars twist and intertwine, soaring and spiralling in a mad dance with the players swapping lead lines, executing jazzy runs and soloing like a demon, all with an air of supreme musicianship, while the tight as you like rhythm section underpin the whole thing with verve and precision. It’s music from an era where complex time signatures, intricate song structures and virtuoso playing was celebrated and not frowned at. Kicking off with a flurry of Prog Jazz before easing into a blissed out swirl of guitars, the album’s title track encompasses what Monarch are about……there are elements of the classic West Coast vibe of Quicksilver Messenger Service mixed with the newer sounds of bands like the Allah Las, all intermingling with a 70s style display of breath-taking musical dexterity. This combination of the old merging with newCONTINUES with other tunes such as the hazy, mellow ‘Hundreds, Thousands, Millions’ and ‘Dancers of The Sun’ with the truly brilliant ‘Assent’ not sounding out of place next to the best Sleepy Sun songs. Monarch seriously get their Prog on with the final two tracks on the album………’Sedna’s Fervor’ and the epic ‘Shady Maiden’ are a riot of sparkling guitars, tempo changes, Moog washes, jazzy bass lines and powerful, intricate drumming which has the feel of Neil Young & Crazy Horse jamming with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It’s Prog Rock alright…………………but with a warmth that you would not normally associate with the genre and it's about mood and texture as much as it's about anything else. Blending classic genres with a modern sensibility, Two Isles is an imperious debut from a thrilling new band and well worth checking out for both suburban Prog Heads and bedroom Psychedelicists alike.

Two Isles is another quality release from El Paraiso Records and is due to hit the shops and usual outlets at the end of July. Available on Red/Green blended vinyl and CD, pre-orders are being taken now at the El Paraiso web store now.

Jon S with Echo & the Bunnymen

(scott)- What can you say? It's the great Echo & the Bunnymen......would be worth it for the classic
"Crocodiles" album alone, but, well, EVERYTHING else is here too......if by some miracle you've never heard "Crocodiles", THAT needs correction ("Rescue", "Do It Clean", etc....), and THEN you will need to see how great the rest of this stuff is. Thanks Jon S for this great collection!
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Crocodiles (1980)

01 Going Up/02 Stars Are Stars/03 Pride/04 Monkeys/05 Crocodiles/06 Rescue/07 Villiers Terrace/08 Pictures On My Wall/09 All That Jazz/10 Happy Death Men/11 Do It Clean/12 Read It In Books/13 Simple Stuff/14 Villiers Terrace (Early Version)/15 Pride (Early Version)/16 Simple Stuff (Early Version)/17 Crocodiles (Live)/18 Zimbo (Live)/19 All That Jazz (Live)/20 Over The Wall (Live)



Heaven Up Here (1981)

01 Show Of Strength/02 With A Hip/03 Over The Wall/04 It Was A Pleasure/05 A Promise/06 Heaven Up Here/07 TheDISEASE/08 All My Colours/09 No Dark Things/10 Turquoise Days/11 All I Want/12 Broke My Neck (Long Version)/13 Show Of Strength (Previously Unissued Live Version)/14 The Disease (Previously Unissued Live Version)/15 All I Want (Previously Unissued Live Version)/16 Zimbo (Previously Unissued Live Version)



Porcupine (1983)

01 The Cutter/02 The Back Of Love/03 My White Devil/04 Clay/05 Porcupine/06 Heads Will Roll/07 Ripeness/08 Higher Hell/09 Gods Will Be Gods/10 In Bluer Skies/11 Fuel/12 The Cutter (Alternate Version)/13 My White Devil (Alternate Version)/14 Porcupine (Alternate Version)/15 Ripeness (Alternate Version)/16 Gods Will Be Gods (Alternate Version)/17 Never Stop (Discotheque)



Zeche Bochum, Germany 3/5/83                                                                               

01 Going Up/02 With a Hip/03 Gods will be Gods/04 Show of Strength/05 Zimbo/06 The Cutter/07 Rescue/08 My White Devil/09 Porcupine/10 Crocodiles/11 All that Jazz/12 Back Of Love/13 Heads will Roll/14 Heaven up Here/15 Over the Wall/16 Do it Clean/17 Villiers Terrace



Ocean Rain (1984)

01 Silver/02 Nocturnal Me/03 Crystal Days/04 The Yo-Yo Man/05 Thorn Of Crowns/06 The Killing Moon/07 Seven Seas/08 My Kingdom/09 Ocean Rain/10 Angels And Devils/11 All You Need Is Love (Life At Brian's Sessions)/12 The Killing Moon (Life At Brian's Sessions)/13 Stars Are Stars (Life At Brian's Sessions)/14 Villiers Terrace (Life At Brian's Sessions)/15 Silver (Life At Brian's Sessions)/16 My Kingdom (Live)/17 Ocean Rain (Live)



Sun Plaza Hall, Tokyo 1/17/84

01 Over The Wall/02 The Back Of Love/03 Star Are Stars/04 The Killing Moon/05 All That Jazz/06 The Cutter/07 Never Stop/08 Thorn Of Crowns/09 Crocodiles/10 All My Colours/11 Do It Clean



Toronto 8/23/84

01 Rescue/02 My Kingdom/03 Heads Will Roll/04 Crocodiles/05 Ocean Rain/06 Nocturnal Me/07 Killing Moon/08 All That Jazz/09 The Cutter/10 Thorn Of Crowns/11 Do It Clean



The Savoy, NYC 1984

01 Heads Will Roll/02 The Back of Love/03 Gods Will be Gods/04 All That Jazz/05 Stars Are Stars/06 The Killing Moon/07 Rescue/08 A Promise/09 All My Colours (Zimbo)/10 Thorn of Crowns/11 Never Stop/12 The Cutter/13 No Dark Things/14 Heaven up Here/15 Crocodiles/16 Do It Clean/17 Over the Wall



Echo & The Bunnymen (1987)

01 The Game/02 Over You/03 Bedbugs And Ballyhoo/04 All In Your Mind/05 Bombers Bay/06 Lips Like Sugar/07LOST AND FOUND/08 New Direction/09 Blue Blue Ocean/10 Satellite/11 All My Life/12 Jimmy Brown (Early Version Of Bring On The Dancing Horses)/13 Hole In The Holy/14 Soul Kitchen/15 The Game (Acoustic Demo)/16 Bedbugs And Ballyhoo (Original Version)/17 Over Your Shoulder/18 Bring On The Dancing Horses (Extended Mix)



Empire Theatre, Liverpool 1/11/88

01 Rescue/02 Heaven Up Here/03 With a Hip/04 Bombers Bay/05 All I Want/06 Back of Love/07 Crocodiles (The Doors _Light My Fire_ snippet)/08 All My Colours (Zimbo)/09 Seven Seas/10 Bedbugs and Ballyhoo/11 The Cutter/12 Show of Strength/13 Lips Like Sugar/14 Thorn of Crowns



Evergreen (1997)

01 Don't Let It Get You Down/02 In My Time/03 I Want To Be There (When You Come)/04 Evergreen/05 I'll Fly Tonight/06 Nothing Lasts Forever/07 Baseball Bill/08 Altamont/09 Just A Touch Away/10 Empire State Halo/11 Too Young To Kneel/12 Forgiven/13 People Are Strange/14 Villiers Terrace (22-08-79)/15 Read It In Books (22-08-79)/16 All That Jazz (22-05-80)/17OVER THE WALL (22-05-80)/18 All My Colours (12-11-80)/19 The Back Of Love (08-02-82)/20 Seven Seas (20-06-83)/21 Ocean Rain (24-10-83)/22 Nocturnal Me (24-10-83)/23 Rescue (16-09-97)



What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? (1999)

01 What Are You Going To Do With Your Life?/02 Rust/03 Get In The Car/04 Baby Rain/05 History Chimes/06 Lost On You/07 Morning Sun/08 When It All Blows Over/09 Fools Like Us



Flowers (2001)

01 King of Kings/02 SuperMellowMan/03 Hide and Seek/04 Make Me Shine/05 It's Alright/06 Buried Alive/07 Flowers/08 Everybody Knows/09 Life Goes On/10 An Eternity Turns/11 Burn for Me



Siberia (2005)

01 Stormy Weather/02 All Because of You Days/03 Parthenon Drive/04 In the Margins/05 Of a Life/06 Make Us Blind/07 Everything Kills You/08 Siberia/09 Sideways Eight/10 Scissors in the Hand/11 What If We Are?



The Fountain (2009)

01 Think I Need It Too/02 Forgotten Fields/03 Do You Know Who I Am?/04 Shroud Of Turin/05 Life Of 1,000 Crimes/06 The Fountain/07 Everlasting Neverendless/08 Proxy/09 Drivetime/10 The Idolness Of Gods



Meteorites (2014)

01 Meteorites/02 Holy Moses/03 Constantinople/04 Is This A Breakdown?/05 Grapes Upon The Vine/06 Lovers On The Run/07 Burn It Down/08 Explosions/09 Market Town/10 New Horizons



Killing Moon (2007 Compilation)

01 Pictures On My Wall/02 The Puppet/03 Do It Clean/04 Crocodiles/05 Rescue/06 All That Jazz/07 Villiers Terrace/08 Show of Strength/09 Over the Wall/10 A Promise/11 With a Hip/12 All My Colours/13 The Cutter/14 The Back of Love/15 Higher Hell/16 Gods Will Be Gods/17 Never Stop/18 Heads Will Roll/19 The Killing Moon/20 Silver/21 Angel and Devils/22 Ocean Rain/23 My Kingdom/24 Seven Seas/25 Crystal Days/26 Bring On the Dancing Horses/27 People Are Strange/28 Bed Bugs and Ballyhoo/29 The Game/30LOST AND FOUND/31 Thorn of Crowns/32 Lips LikeSUGAR/33 Zimbo [Live]/34 Do It Clean [Live]/35 Ocean Rain [Live]/36 The Killing Moon [Live]


Crystal Days 1979  -1999

01 Monkeys [Original Version]/02 The Pictures on My Wall [Original Single Version]/03 Read It in Books [Original Single Version]/04 Villiers Terrace [John Peel Session][Live]/05 Rescue/06 Simple Stuff [#]/07 Stars Are Stars/08 All That Jazz/09 Crocodiles/10 The Puppet/11 Do It Clean/12 Show of Strength/13 Over the Wall/14 A Promise/15 Heaven Up Here/16 All My Colours/17 Broke My Neck [Long Version]/18 No Hands [John Peel Session][Live][#]/19 Fuel [#]/20 The Subject [#]/21 The Back of Love/22 The Cutter/23 Way Out and Up We Go [#]/24 Clay/25 Heads Will Roll/26 Gods Will Be Gods [Alternate Version][#]/27 Never Stop [Discotheque][Version]/28 Watch Out Below [John Peel Session][Live][#]/29 The Killing Moon [All Night Version][#]/30 Silver (Tidal Wave) [#]/31 Angels and Devils [#]/32 Crystal Days/33 Seven Seas/34 My Kingdom/35 Ocean Rain/36 All You Need Is Love [#]/37 Bring on the Dancing Horses/38 Over Your Shoulder [#]/39 Lover, I Love You [#]40 Satisfaction [#]/41 New Direction [Original Version][#]/42 Ship of Fools [#]/43 All My Life/44 The Game/45BEDBUGS and Ballyhoo/46 Lips Like Sugar [Single Version]/47 People Are Strange/48 Rollercoaster [#]/49 Don't Let It Get You Down/50 I Want to Be There (When You Come)/51 Nothing Lasts Forever/52 Hurracaine [#]/53 Rust/54 What Are You Going to Do With Your Life_/55 The In the Midnight Hour [#]/56 Start Again [Live 1987][#]/57 The Original Cutter (A Drop in the Ocean) [#]/58 Heads Will Roll [Summer Version][#]/59 Bedbugs and Ballyhoo [Original Single Version][#]/60 Zimbo [Live, 1982]/61 Angels and Devils [Live, 1985][#]/62 She Cracked [Live, 1985][#]/63 It's All over Now, Baby Blue [Live, 1985][#]/64 Soul Kitchen [Live, 1985][#]/65 Action Woman [Live, 1985][#]/66 Paint It Black [Live, 1985][#]/67 Run Run Run [Live, 1985][#]/68 Friction [Live, 1985][#]/69 Crocodiles [Live, 1985][#]/70 Heroin [Live, 1983][#]/71 Do It Clean [Live, 1983][#]/72 Cutter [Alternate Version][#]




Ian McCulloch Solo Albums

Candleland (1989)

01 The Flickering Wall/02 The White Hotel/03 Proud To Fall/04 The Cape/05 Candleland/06 Horses's Head/07 Faith And Healing/08 I Know You Well/09 In Bloom/10 Start Again/11 Pots Of Gold/12 The Dead End/13 Toad/14 Fear Of The Known/15 Rocket Ship/16 Candleland (The Second Coming)/17 The World Is Flat



Mysterio (1992)

01 Magical World/02 Close Your Eyes/03 Dug For Love/04 Honeydrip/05 Damnation/06 Lover, Lover, Lover/07 Webbed/08 Pomegranate/09 Vibor Blue/10 Heaven's Gate/11 In My Head/12 White Hotel (Acoustic Version)/13 The Ground Below/14 Lover, Lover, Lover (Indian Dawn Remix)/15 Vibor Blue (Acoustic Version)/16 Pomegranate (Live)/17 Damnation (Live)



Slideling (2003)

01 Love in Veins/02 Playgrounds and City Parks/03 Sliding/04 Baby Hold On/05 Arthur/06 Seasons/07 Another Train/08 High Wires/09 She Sings (All My Life)/10 Kansas/11 Stake Your Claim



Pro Patria Mori (2012)


01 Different Trees/02 Empty As A House/03 Lift Me Up/04 Pro Patria Mori/05 Raindrop On The Sun/06 Fiery Flame/07 The Party's Over/08 Watch Me Land/09 Me And David Bowie/10 Somewhere In My Dreams



Holy Ghosts (2013)

01 Bring On The Dancing Horses/02 Rescue/03 The Idolness Of Gods/04 Bedbugs And Ballyhoo/05 Pro Patria Mori/06 Angels And Devils/07 Nothing Lasts Forever/08 Arthur/09 Candleland/10 The Killing Moon/11 All My Colours (Zimbo)/12 Watch Me Land/13 The Fountain/14 Somewhere In My Dreams/15 Lips LikeSUGAR



Live at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral (2013)

01 Candeland/02 Rescue/03 Bring On The Dancing Horses/04 The Idolness Of Gods/05 The Fountain/06 Proud To Fall/07 Think I Need It Too/08 Fools Like Us/09 Start Again/10 Rust/11 All My Colours (Zimbo)/12 The Flickering Wall/13 Arthur/14 The Killing Moon/15 Nothing Lasts Forever/16 History Chimes/17 Somewhere/18 I'm Waiting For The Man/19 Lips LikeSUGAR