Saturday, March 13, 2010

Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales + Emperor's Return



1984, Noise Records

1. Human Intro (0:41)
2. Into the Crypts of Rays (3:39)
3. Visions of Mortality (4:48)
4. Dethroned Emperor (4:38)
5. Morbid Tales (3:28)
6. Procreation of the Wicked (4:04)
7. Return to the Eve (4:07)
8. Danse Macabre (3:51)
9. Nocturnal Fear (3:38)
10. Circle of the Tyrants (4:28)
11. Visual Aggression (4:13)
12. Suicidal Winds (4:36)

Anyone who is searching for the roots of extreme metal has surely come across this release by Swiss legends Celtic Frost. What we have here primitive riffs, punk d-beats, all contained within a very morbid sounding atmosphere. This is an album that anyone into metal, hardcore, or punk should listen to, as it has elements that should appeal to all. Originally, this release was just an miniLP, but with the addition of "Emperor's Return" and some additional tracks from the "Morbid Tales" session, it becomes a full length. Don't miss this classic!

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Voivod - Killing Technology



1987, FAD/Noise Records

1. Killing Technology (7:35)
2. Overreaction (4:46)
3. Tornado (6:05)
4. Too Scared To Scream (4:19)
5. Forgotten in Space (6:13)
6. Ravenous Medicine (4:23)
7. Order of The Blackguards (4:29)
8. This Is Not An Exercise (6:21)
9. Cockroaches (3:46)

The third album by Canadian chaos mongers Voivod is quite a gem, considering how they've gone beyond their previous Venom framework into something that transcends hardcore punk, metal, and the signature odd chords Voivod is so well known for. Each song here consists of a couple motifs interacting, before breaking down into a counterpoint, and building back up again. The core punk sounds remains in tact, so even when this album gets chaotic, you can still catch the rhythm and get into it. This album not only influenced death metal bands in the 90's like Gorguts and Martyr, but also hardcore bands looking to add more to their palette.

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Saturday, March 6, 2010

Grief - Miserably Ever After



1996, Theologian Records

1. One Of Those Days (3:23)
2. Low Life (7:24)
3. Nuisance (5:54)
4. Angry Man (4:53)
5. Miserably Ever After (9:23)
6. Straight Edge - Closed Mind (6:20)
7. Why Should I Care (6:38)
8. I Hate The Human Race (2:30)
9. Trust (10:55)

Grief was founded in 1991 by Terry Savastano and drummer Randy Odierno of Disrupt. Grief’s sludgy doom metal brought extremely slow riffs to the metal underground. The band was heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, Eyehategod and doom warriors Saint Vitus. Grief’s music was jagged, noisy, harsh and brutally dissonant. Lead singer Jeff Hayward favored the sort of tortured, throat-shredding, screaming vocals that were quite common in death metal/black metal and grindcore, and that risk-taking combination of torturous vocals and slow, Sabbath-influenced riffs made Grief one of the more influential Sludge/Doom metal bands to emerge in the early ‘90s.

They broke up in 2001 mainly due to drummer problems - something that was an ongoing problem for the band from the start. They also cited what they called a “hostile environment for doom metal bands”. They reunited briefly in July 2005 to play a cluster of reunion shows.

The band had several 7”s including one with Dystopia and Corrupted each. A compilation album called Turbulent Times appeared in 2002 through Southern Lord. The group reunited for one show at the first annual New England Grind And Doom Fest on July 17, 2005 at The Middle East Cafe in Cambridge, MA. They were so excited by the response to this show that they began booking others, and they toured intermittently throughout 2005 and 2006.

In 2005, the band played shows through in venues including The Ace of Clubs and The Knitting Factory in New York, The Khyber in Philadelphia, O’Brien’s in Allston/Brighton, MA, The Living Room in Providence, RI, and Cherry St. Station in CT.

In 2006 Southern Lord Records released a full length live album called Alive which featured their performance at the Middle East in November 2005. The album features artwork by Eric C. Harrison, who did much of the band’s painted cover artwork.

Grief’s final appearance was at Emissions from the Monolith 8, a sludge/doom festival that took place in Ohio, May 2006.

The band reformed in 2008 and toured the United States and Europe, but they soon disbanded again in March 2009.

-Last.fm

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Om - Pilgrimage



2007, Southern Lord Records

1. Pilgrimage (10:33)
2. Unitive Knowledge of the Godhead (5:51)
3. Bhima's Theme (11:41)
4. Pilgrimage Reprise (4:15)

Pilgrimage is the third studio album by stoner doom band, Om. Lyrical themes address the processes of mind, psychic reality, astral and causal planes of being, and the nature of the soul. Pilgrimage was recorded and engineered by Steve Albini at his Electrial Audio studios in Chicago and produced by the band. Mastering was handled by Bob Weston (also of Shellac). Motifs that were initiated on the band’s previous album are continued here unabated. Of particular note is how much the song-writing has developed and in turn makes the dynamics of the songs much more intensely powerful. The present journey finds the band expanding their vision into new territories.

-Southernlord.com

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Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark



1987, Black Mark Productions

1. Nocturnal Obeisance (1:28)
2. Massacre (2:39)
3. Woman of Dark Desires (4:06)
4. Call from the Grave (4:53)
5. Equimanthorn (3:42)
6. Enter the Eternal Fire (6:58)
7. Chariots of Fire (2:47)
8. 13 Candles (5:17)
9. Of Doom (3:45)
10. Outro (0:25)

Bathory was a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by Quorthon in 1983. They are regarded as pioneers of both black metal and Viking metal. The band is named after the infamous Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory.

Under the Sign of the Black Mark is the third album by Bathory. It had a major influence on the black metal genre, specifically the Norwegian black metal scene that emerged in the early 1990s. The song "Woman of Dark Desires" is a tribute to the band's namesake, Elizabeth Báthory, and has become one of their most recognized early tracks. "Enter the Eternal Fire" was the band's first epic, reaching nearly seven minutes in length, and presaged the turn towards what would become known as Viking metal which Bathory would take on their next three records.

-Wikipedia

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Earth - Extra-Capsular Extraction



1991, Sub Pop Records

1. A Bureaucratic Desire For Revenge Part 1 (7:23)
2. A Bureaucratic Desire For Revenge Part 2 (6:38)
3. Ouroboros Is Broken (18:19)

Extra-Capsular Extraction is the first official release by drone doom band Earth. Despite the length, it is an EP release. The 12" release puts both tracks of "A Bureaucratic Desire for Revenge" together.

This is the only Earth release to feature Joe Preston (melvins, sunn o))), thrones) on bass.

-Wikipedia

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Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me



1987, SST Records

1. Little Fury Things (3:07)
2. Kracked (2:51)
3. Sludgefest (5:17)
4. The Lung (3:51)
5. Raisans (3:51)
6. Tarpit (4:36)
7. In a Jar (3:29)
8. Lose (3:11)
9. Poledo (5:44)
10. Just Like Heaven (Bonus Track) (2:54)

Dinosaur Jr. is an American alternative rock, stoner rock, sludge band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur prior to legal issues that forced the group to change their name, the band disbanded in 1997 until reuniting in 2005. Guitarist J Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph were the band's founding and current members; Mascis has been the group's sole continuous member.

Their distinct sound, characterized by high gain, extensive use of feedback and distortion, and frontman J Mascis's melodic guitar solos, was highly influential in the alternative rock movement of the 1990s.

You're Living All Over Me is the second album by the American indie rock band Dinosaur Jr., released in 1987 on SST Records. The album was named after a line uttered by frontman J. Mascis while on tour with the band.

In 2005, it was ranked 31 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005". "Poledo" is unique from the rest of the album in that half of it is a lo-fi recording of Lou Barlow singing and playing ukulele, much like his own group Sebadoh, while the other half is a collection of sound collages and abstract noise pieces.

The album was originally issued when the band were still known as Dinosaur, before a lawsuit forced the name change to Dinosaur Jr. The album was recalled by SST a few months after release, and new copies were printed crediting the band as Dinosaur Jr.

-Wikipedia

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