Blood Red Throne!!!!!!!

Priest and I were discussing the upcoming BRT album, "Souls of Damnation", due out 1st June and it got me all excited, so here is the trailer to the new album:

Finnish Black Metal Awesomeness

Ajattara are a Finnish Black\Dark Metal band who sing in nothing but Finnish (understandably!).

Pasi Koskinen (known as Ruoja in Ajattara) is the ex singer from another amazing Finnish band, Amorphis.

You could call Ajattara a Black Metal band but their music is hard to pinpoint, you need to listen for yourself. Their latest album, Noitumaa which came out 22nd April is an acousitc Bm album, it still has this amazing atmosphere. I'd post a video to it but I cant find anything, so this one here will have to do.



Check out the acoustic album Noitumaa, its brilliant.

1349

1349, Norwegian Black Metallers have a new album out on June 2nd called Revelations of the Black Flame, I know I am looking forward to this. Pretty sweet artwork as well:



2009 is turning out to be a bloody good year for metal, yet again.

This should get you all excited

The new album from Death Metal Gods, Suffocation, (please bow before them), is due out July 7th and is entitled Blood Oath. This will rule so mark the day on your calendar.

Some albums to start the week....

If you are like me and need a boost to start the working week here are some wicked Death Doom albums for you to check out:

Saturnus - Veronkia Decides To Die



A simply amazing album, this album just makes everything go away, it has some beautiful moments, an album for all Doom fans.

Katatonia - Brave Murder Day



Easiest the best Katatonia album by a long shot, Mikeal Åkerfeldt sings all the harsh vocals on this album. There is nothing overtly technical or astounding with regards to the musicianship but I think that's what makes Brave Murder Day so special, the simplicity.

Anathema - The Silent Enigma



Epic Death Doom by long running Pommie Doomers Anathema.

Daylight Dies - Lost To The Living



Latest album from American band Daylight Dies, these guys are quickly moving up the Doom Metal ranks, keep an eye on these guys. On each album Daylight Dies seem to get stronger and better.

Kill 'Em All

While listening to the epic classic Kill 'Em All by none other than Metallica, a thought struck me; would Kill 'Em All have had the same impact if the album was called Metal Up Your Ass, as Metallica intended it to be called?



OR:


I don't think so, what about you guys?

Ulcerate

Kings of the NZ Death Metal scene Ulcerate have a new album, Everything Is Fire, due out sometime very soon and it is going to be a killer album. Ulcerate have really stepped their game up after their last one Of Fracture and Failure, I'm not saying that was a bad album because it was actually quite the opposite. Anyway, hopefully the rest of the Kiwi Metal scene will sit up and realise you don't need to mimic the American Metalcore\Deathcore scene to make a killer album.

Of Fracture and Failure (2006):



Everything Is Fire (2009):



I'd post a youtube vid but Ulcerate don't seem to be on there, good excuse to catch them next time Ulcerate are in your town.

Drudkh

Blood In Our Wells (or Krov u nashykh Krynytsyakh as it is more commonly known….well not really) is an awe inspiring album from Ukraine Black Metal gods, Drudkh. They have some of the most emotive guitar solo’s in Black Metal, god they almost move me to tears (well again not really, but, you get my point). My personal favourite from Blood… is Furrows Of Gods, that solo is just ……I don’t have words for it.

The album as a whole creates this almost calm atmosphere, it is the most relaxing Black Metal album I own and one of my most listened to, go and get it today, it WILL float your boat, no doubt about it.

Candlemass – Lords of Doom

Ok Candlemass, Doom Legends from Sweden (well we all know that don’t we??) they have been a long time favourite of mine, in particular Tales of Creation, I am sure I could be one of the only people alive that rate Candlemass higher than Black Sabbath, or and other Doom band that walks this earth.

Their latest opus, Doom Magic Doom leaked the other day, much to my glee, as I had been hanging out for it for quite some time. Candlemass prove that they are still a force in the metal scene and in no way was the departure of Messiah a loss in anyway, Robert Lowe is so powerful and in your face he instantly makes you forget that Candlemass ever had anyone else singing for them.

As for the riffs, oh my fucking god, there is a moment in Hammer of Doom that is so reminiscent of Iron Man that I was instantly taken back to the day when I first heard Sabbath.

This album will be physically in my cd collection as soon as it hits the shelves. So I leave you with the vid to Emperor of the Void.

Brutal Truth

So the new Brutal Truth album, Evolution Through Revolution, has leaked. What a killer album, sort of a return to roots but still relatively experimental, every self respecting metalhead needs to have at least one Brutal Truth album in their collection, so , if it isn’t Sounds Of The Animal Kingdom make it this one. This is easily going to make the list for albums of the year.

Brutal Truth

Is anyone else looking forward to their new album due out 14.04.09??

Evolution Through Revolution will kick arse, no doubt about it.

Prepare yourselves.

Nothing Like A Bit Of….

……Top quality Grindcore to help the rainy afternoon pass by:

Fuck life is good.

Listen to me People

CLUTCH FUCKING RULE.

Sorry I had to get that out, if you like intelligent music that still kicks you arse into next week, well, Clutch are for you.

I particularly recommend The Elephant Riders, but any of their albums will do, they all are brilliant pieces of work. Neil Fallon is a vocal god, he also sings on the Mastodon song Blood and Thunder, that moment on the song makes the entire album worthwhile (and that doesn't mean I don't like the album because I love it).

Heed my words fuckers.

Rainbow

Check Rising out, Ritchie Blackmore, Dio, Cozy Powell, Jimmy Bain, Tony Carey bring us this killer album, somehow Ritchie was revitalised after leaving Purple and he came out with three kick arse albums, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Rising and Long Live Rock 'n' Roll.

Rising is an album you need to listen to before you die:

Classics Part Three: Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin are the third band of the big three who began it all. Compared to Sabbath and Purple, Zep were a bit more on the folky side of things, with lyrics ranging from LOTR to classic English folk songs. Led Zeppelin got their name from a line by John Entwistle the bassist from The Who (something to do with a possible formation of a super group involving Keith Moon, John Entwistle, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck going down like a lead zeppelin).

Led Zep aren’t as heavy as either Purple or Sabbath but they definitely hold their own, like being banned for life from the Tokyo Hilton, John Bonham riding motorcycles through hotel corridors etc etc, but along with the excess of rock they had a string of absolute classic albums:

It was around this time that tragedy struck Zep, Robert Plant was in a car accident and he broke his ankle, and his wife Maureen almost died and Jimmy Page’s heroin addiction was starting to become apparent.. Zep had a bit of time off and wrote Presence:

To me that’s when the magic began to dwindle and the shit really started to hit the fan, it was rumored that Jimmy Page was dabbling in the occult, he had even bought Aleister Crowleys castle in Scotland (I think) and weird shit started happening, well, crazy things, Robert Plants son Karac died of a stomach infection at age 7 (All My Love is dedicated to him) Jimmy Page broke is ring finger and couldn’t play guitar and there were more weird things that happened but I can’t quite remember them all .

John Bonham died September 25th 1980 and that effectively ended Led Zeppelin, they had one album post Bonham, CODA, but I am not even going to post that.

Out of the three, Led Zep, Sabbath and Purple they definitely my least favourite, they have some utterly brilliant songs but they just don’t do it for me the way the other do. Plant is easily my favourite vocalist and that scream of his on Immigrant Song gives me chills. Bonzo is a great drummer but for me both Bill Ward and Ian Paice do a better job. Jimmy Page is a genius on guitar some of the things he did on guitar blow my mind.

Those slight negatives aside, Led Zep still row my boat and Led Zeppelin III is an all time favourite for me as well.

Classics Part Two: Deep Purple

Well I thought since I posted about Black Sabbath I might as well post about another influential band that help start the monster that is metal, Deep Purple.

Deep Purple hold a special place in my heart as they are one of the earliest of my metal discoveries, thanks to my Dad. He bought me Machine Head for me on Christmas and I remember listening to Highway Star with him.

Deep Purple had some amazingly talented musicians, Jon Lord on keyboards, his solo’s sound like they are played on a guitar, Ritchie Blackmore, a legendary guitarist, Ian Paice, a brilliant drummer, Roger Glover, a godly bassist and Ian Gillian who sounds like some sort of absolute god on vocals, I love his voice.

Deep Purple went through a number of line up changes and Mark II is considered the classic line up, they put out the all the classic albums:

Child in Time is one of my all time favourite songs and Machine Head is easily my favourite album, every song is killer.

Deep Purple did the whole Symphonic Orchestra some 29 years before Metallica thought of the idea, I’ve never heard it but I do plan on buying a copy very soon:

To me Deep Purple are a bit more refined than Zep or Sabbath, a bit more gentlemanly if you catch my drift. Anyway no one should be without at least one Purple album even if it is a best of.

Classics Part One: Black Sabbath

Ahhhhhh Sabbath, the Godfathers of all things heavy and of course all things Metal \m/. It amazes me every time I play a Sabbath song or album how relevant they still are today, sure some of their songs sound dated but everything else sounds as if it could have been recorded yesterday.

Pretty much every Metal band in existence owes something to Black Sabbath, their influence can be felt every where.

I could hear Paranoid every single day and never tire of it. I remember the first time I heard Black Sabbath, it was coming home from a school trip and this guy put Self-Titled on the bus stereo, and skipped to The Wizard, I was spellbound and I have been a fan ever since.

I love the simplicity of the album covers and the fact that you put an album on you can seem to never want to turn it off:

I would post albums after Sabotage but they just don’t have the same magic.

Mannfall Demo complete!

I've decided I'd put a small demo together due to various requests and support.

So here it is guys, available for download at this link. Enjoy and feel free to leave feed back
at the MYSpace or email me at mannfall@hotmail.com.

Lyncht \m/

Dismember

Dismember, the greatest of all the Old School Swedish Death Metal bands, even Entombed. Reason I say that they are better than Entombed is that Dismember are just so damned consistent. Every album is Swedish DM played to perfection. Melodic like Maiden brutal like Morbid Angel, a perfect mix.

My favourite album is 'Death Metal', it kills from beginning to end as well as having one of the coolest album covers known to mankind:

I am actually considering getting that as a tattoo,

Anyway do yourself a favour and get Death Metal, no self respecting Metalhead should be with out it!!

Absu's Artwork

bsu have some of the coolest album covers in Metal, take a gander:

See what I mean?