Christmas break

Yep, I'm going on break. I'll be back sometime after New Year's Day. I'll use this time to listen to my music collection so I can figure out what to post when I come back. In the meantime, check out my other blog The Autistic Metalhead. This is where I post metal reviews, make fun of shitty fan fiction, and do other fun stuff.

Element of Chaos

Monumental Torment is a Brutal Death Metal band from Russia with an insane technical flair. Some people dismiss this band as a totally idiotic wankfest, but I like their weedly-weedly sound, so the naysayers mean nothing to me. This album even has weedly-weedly piano sections, and those give me a chubby for some reason.

Here

Der Einsiedler

This album. So peaceful. So soothing. So wondrous. So beautiful.

Here

Deep Mountains

I can't believe this went completely under my radar. Deep Mountains is an Atmospheric Black Metal band from China, and they released their self-titled debut EP just last year. Of all the Black Metal albums I've listened to, this is one of the most beautiful. They do play Black Metal, but this album is, at its heart, an acoustic affair that is reinforced by electric guitars, all of which are fantastic. Some of the riffs even remind me of metal from the 80s. I love this album, and I eagerly await whatever they have planned next.

Here

Nameless Coyote

I would like to thank Pervert the Church for recommending this one to me. This is one weird, trippy album. It's Atmospheric Black Metal with a lot of post rock elements and clean vocals. I would call this, for lack of a better word, magical. Like a mysterious wizard wearing a bear mask. Best of all, you can download it for free at their bandcamp.

Download for free at bandcamp

В Седьмом Кругу Безысходности

Khnuth was a Russian Depressive Black Metal band that was formed by a man named Alexandr Tantsyrev shortly after he served 8 years for murder. Oh yes, Varg ain't the only murderer who has produced Black Metal. However, Khnuth is far better than anything Varg has put out after he was released from prison. The band's final album, В Седьмом Кругу Безысходности, is quite similar to what Burzum was back in the good old days. It's cold, bleak, raw, and the distortion will tear you to shreds. All the brutalities of prison life are made manifest by this album. Dostoyevsky once wrote a short story called "The Priest and the Devil" on the walls of his cell in a cold Siberian prison. If you ask me, this album would be that story's soundtrack.

“Yes, this is hell. There can be no worse hell than this. Did you not know it? Did you not know that these men and women whom you are frightening with the picture of a hell hereafter—did you not know that they are in hell right here, before they die?”

I en Tidløs Høst

I en Tidløs Høst is the debut album from Norwegian Depressive Black Metal band Hinsidig. Just like their ancestors, Hinsidig's riffs are cold and grim and the vocals are bitter and nasty, but they also think outside the box by including clean vocals and more melodic guitar work, both of which can best be seen on the first song. After listening to this album a few times, I have come to the conclusion that Hinsidig sounds like a cross between Nyktalgia and Austere. I seriously cannot wait for what this band has planned down the road.

Here

Sombre

After making waves in the underground, Veil was discovered by Stellar Winter records and released Sombre in 2008. Yes, I'm fully aware that Stellar Winter is a haven for racist assholes. Does that lower my opinion of Veil? Not at all. As for the music, the guitars aren't as powerful as they were on the last album — mostly owing to the fact that they pulled back on the distortion — but they more than make up for it with improved musicianship. The production is cleaned up, the ambient elements are more prominent, and the bass line is audible. If Veil was Russian instead of American, he would be right at home with the Blazebirth Hall, not because of his ideology, but because of the beauty that resonates with his music. Also, fun fact: the cover you see here was painted by Sigrun Hammersdottir, the same person who painted the covers for several Branikald albums.

Rulers fall, empires end, change is eternal

Dolor

I can't believe I haven't listened to Veil until now! Veil is a Depressive Black Metal band from Minnesota, and in 2004, they released a little demo called Dolor. With its razor-like distortion and dissonant guitar melodies, this album is equal parts morose and beautiful. It even includes a fantastic cover of the classic Burzum song "Ea, Lord of the Depths". If you ask me, the best time to listen to this album would be during a cold, snowy night as the winds howl all around you.

I will follow

Social Disservices

This is quite easily the darkest album Panopticon has ever recorded. The main reason for this is that this album deals with a very personal subject: social services, or rather, social disservices, and how they have failed the people they are paid to help. I should know. I visited several psychiatrists in the hope that they would help me with my autism, and all they did was give me a bottle of pills, but this isn't about me. Lundr poured his heart and soul into this record. He wanted to make sure that everyone in the metal scene would hear him. This will NOT be an easy album to listen to, for it is both terrifying and heartbreaking, but this is all intentional. The music is dark because the subject it deals with is dark. Lundr's message resonates with each riff, each blast beat, each growl, each scream. The government has failed you. Society has failed you. They care not for your well-being. Your tears mean nothing to them. All they care about is your money.

Sob for your loss; The wolves will drink your tears.
Your misfortune will become their fortune.