2023
⏳ - In Progress
🎧 - Audiobook
books
articles
albums
I really jumped back into listening to music this year after becoming uninterested in keeping up and/or delving into old albums around 2020. Most of the time, I was listening to podcasts while commuting to work, doing chores, or walking.
I'm still working through the classics of all the metal subgenres, and I finally got around to this one. By the name, I honestly thought it would be another Norwegianesque blastfest, but I was so pleasantly surprised. This album was such a nice transition from my journey into NWOBHM and thrash back to BM. They perfectly mix groove, melody, and thrashing with black metal vocals and blast beats. This quickly became one of my top 10 BM albums.
After finally checking out TMC, I had to check out other classic Hellenic albums. This album is a fantastic companion to TMC, and I've heard members of RC play on this one (the riff on Lustful Father was a dead giveaway). It's just as fantastic as TMC and could overtake TMC as one of my favorites with more spins.
I wanted to chronicle this one so I can revisit it in the future. I'm rating it as meh because it doesn't stick with me, but I didn't hate what I heard. Quickly reading about them, I see the term "ecstatic black metal" and "joyful" descriptors. I'm not sure how I feel about the gimmick, but I want to keep up with them. I'm sure they're despised in the trad BM scene, similar to Deafheaven and other "hipster BM" bands (if that's even still a common derogative). Their logo rules though lol.
Wow. This album, man. I hopped on the shoegaze bandwagon in the early 2010s when numerous hardcore bands started aping the style. Most of the classics did nothing for me as I was still accustomed to breakdowns and blast beats. Hum were really the only band that stuck out. During the summer, I decided to delve into some classics again with a focus on "bands that inspired Nothing," and Catherine Wheel was at the top of that list. From track 1, I was hooked. There's plenty of heaviness that I don't hear in a lot of other Brit bands from that era, which I love. The only miss on the album for me is I Want To Touch You, a single off Ferment. It has the classic jangly Brit pop-rock sound that I absolutely despise. Luckily, that song is an outlier, and the rest of the album is a divine mix of heavy, ethereal, and overall super catchy rock. Highly recommend. Also listen to Nothing :)
I need more time with this one, but I like what I heard. It's lo-fi without sounding like shit. The aesthetics are great as well.
A whole lot of Doom
One day, I decided to listen to the entire Black Sabbath discography; I had never listened to a full BS album before. I don't remember the original motivation, but I'm glad I did. I always associated Sabbath with dad/butt rock since it was mixed in with Puddle of Mudd and Seether on the radio. As I eventually migrated to metal from hardcore, I always skipped over Doom and never thought to really check out Sabbath. Sabbath is incredible. The amount of hits on the first two albums is insane, and the later albums are obviously a major inspiration for not only modern doom but all metal. I honestly couldn't believe that those original Sabbath albums were released in the early 70s.
Sabbath was my entry point into the Doom rabbit hole. What I found were some incredible albums that I regret not looking into earlier. In the future, I'd like to analyze these albums more in depth.
All of these bands/albums are amazing in their own right, and all owe at least part of their sound to Sabbath.
Highly recommend
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