Sworn……criminally unknown

Sworn, from Bergen, Norway (where else??) play some of the most melodic, brutal, crushing Black Metal to ever grace my ears…aside from that they have one of the coolest logo known to mankind:

Now, Sworn have two albums and one ep, I haven’t heard the ep so I can’t comment on that but I have heard numerous times their two albums The Alleviation and Bastards and Conquerors.
The Alleviation absolutely stunned me when I first heard it and to be honest I was not expecting anything great at all.  Was I glad I gave them a listen, the opening song “Alleviation” just floored me, I had to play it again just to believe what I was hearing, so Melodic yet a nice atmosphere coming out as well.  Sworn aren’t like your normal Black Metal band, rather than creating this frosty, grim atmosphere it is quite the opposite, very warm and relaxing.  Saying that though the brutality is just below the surface.

Here is a couple of videos of my favourite song from The Alleviation “The Beauty of My Funeral” the live video is a bit crap as far as quality goes but what can you expect from a camera phone video?



The second one is just of the artwork playing the studio version




Sworn’s second album “Conquerors and Bastards” continues the Melodic Black Metal Goodness but has upped the brutality and the band have added a few spoken word or should I say yelled word passages.
I need a few more listens to the new one and I will post more on it later, undoubtedly. I suggest everyone who reads this to purchase at least one Sworn album, you won’t be disappointed.

Phantasm's Black Metal Nightmares: Countess

The purpose of this series of posts is to make black metal bands that aren't as readily known as some of the more legendary counterparts within the genre, made more prevalent in your own personal realms of black metal. So, why not start with a band that has remained one of my favorites throughout the years: the Dutch legends, Countess.  Orlok has been spawning his own unique style of black metal, dubbed Orthodox Black Metal, since the early '90s.  The band quickly became the project of Orlok as he was the only consistent member throughout the years, and now remains the sole member of Countess. Reasons for Countess being overlooked could be due to many different factors; the relative obscurity of their albums due to their ultimate lack of distribution, the fact that a drum machine is used on all albums beyond the debut (with the exception of the Hell's Rock n Roll EP), or maybe just the fact that Orlok's music is just downright goofy sometimes. Regardless of the bands undeniable obscurity, the music remains strong and speaks for itself.  Do yourself a favor and check out some of the mp3s that can be found at the bands site by clicking on the link below and let your ears fall victim to the Return of the Horned One ! I think you'll be pleased. 

http://www.barbarianwrath.org/Countess/

Could there be a better DVD release than this next year???

At The Gates....do I really need to explain who they are?  No? I didn't think so, are releasing a 3 dvd strong box set next year.  "The Flames of the End" as it will be called will involve the following:

Disc 1:
Under a Serpent Sun: The Story of At The Gates, a two hour doco on, obviously, the beginings and demise of ATG.

Disc 2:
Purgatory Unleashed: Live At Wacken , 75 mins of ATG awesomeness from W.O.A 2008.

Disc 3:
Only the Dead are Smiling: A number of rare and unreleased live shows and videos.

I only have one complaint, they do have other albums other than Slaughter of the Soul, could they have not used lines from songs and song titles from them somewhere as well???

All in all I would like to think that this will rule my DVD player for the majority of next year, as it is released on Feb 22nd 2010.  I must say I am incredibly excited for this and I will be buying it as soon as I possibly can.

Death's Death Metal Distribution Center

I go by the name of Icipher here but at my forum I am known as Death so hence the name.  Every Thursday (New Zealand Time) I will be posting about something that precludes to Death Metal or the like (or whatever takes my fancy at the time).

Today, Desultory are a little known Swedish Death Metal band from Stockholm.  They are from the same period as the classic Dismember and Entombed and released their debut Into Eternity at the same time.  Even though it made nowhere near as much impact as Left Hand Path and Like An Ever Flowing Stream I still consider it a classic, a lost classic if you will.

Desultory were a bit more American Death Metal than their counterparts but in no way is that a bad thing.  If you are interested check out Into Eternity.  Even though theses guys are still around and together they haven't put out an album since 1996.  They are worthy of praise so here is a vid and the album cover:

Priest's Power Metal Church

Alright metalheads, Priest reporting in here from chilly ol' England. It's been a while since the blog had some activity that was due to the main posters here working on a forum which means a great deal to us. A

Anyway, plan from now is each Wednesday evening I will be posting a weekly dose of power metal/melodic metal for you guys to check out and headbang to \m/

This week I thought I'd start with a power metal gem not everyone knows about but should... SAVAGE CIRCUS!!!
This band were formed by Thomen Stauch after he left Blind Guardian because he didn't like the direction their music was going in. He grouped together with Piet Sielck (Iron Savior, ex-Gamma Ray), Jens Carlsson (Persuader) and Emil Norberg (Persuader) to form a band on par with early Blind Guardian. Fast, furious and melodic as hell. Savage Circus is a MUST for anyone digging the old Blind Guardian material such as Imaginations, Battalions of Fear, Nightfall etc.

Recently just released their new album Of Doom and Death, their second after debut album Dreamland Manor was released 4 years ago. Both are equally brilliant and worth checking out.

Here is a sample of what Savage Circus are like:



This is my tip for this week. Await next week's recommendation!

Mandatory Metallica Saturday....uhhh Sunday

Easy Listening Sunday

When I'm not in the mood for some Metal, Pink Floyd fills the gap perfectly. Animals is something special, a very dark rather angry album (well as angry as four long time stoners can get). I never tire of Animals ever.

This is the closest I could find to Floyd playing Dogs, so enjoy.

Insomnium

To Celebrate the leakof the new upcoming album: Insomnium Live :) I love the in unison headbanging.

Mandatory Metallica Saturday

Some Naglfar Goodness