[Album] The Metal Thread! (The Zombie Edition)

Some more recs

Månegarm - Nordstjärnans Tidsålder ( 1998, Displeased Records )



Track listing:

1. I Nordstjarnans sken
2. Fadernas Kall (Under Hödja Norbanér)
3. Drakeld
4. Den Dodes Drommar
5. Nordanblod
6. En Fallen Härskare
7. ymer
8. Vindir från glömda tider
9. Blod, Jord Och Stjärneglans
10. Det Sargade landet
11. Tiden Som Komma Skall

Overview:

A fantastic piano/acoustic guitar intro called "I Nordstjärnans Sken" starts off an album that for the rest is mostly fast Black Metal with a lot of folk elements. These not only come from the use of frequent acoustic passages and keyboards, but also the specific Folk rhythms and use of folk instruments. Never before have I heard such perfect integration of extreme music and folk as on "Nordstjärnans Tidsålder". Take for instance "Fädernas Kall (Under Hödja Norbanér)", which not only has Folk rhythms, but also slower, more melodic passages with flutes, atmospheric acoustic passages and also some samples of wind in the sails of a Viking ship.

"Ymer" is a track that also features these female vocals, as well as acoustic guitars and violins, and is actually just Folk (which gives a nice break on the album). On "Den Tödes Drömmer" and a few more tracks there are also violins and female vocals, and there are some clean male vocals on "Nordanblod" as well. The main vocals are high-pitched shrieks, and all lyrics are sung in the Swedish language, and they complete the music in the best way imaginable. Of course the main slice of the music is Black Metal, which is pretty melodic in nature, but over all is high-paced and very diverse. The production is not maybe the strongest point, but I've heard much worse. And who really cares about production when the musical content is this good? The production even gives the music an additional dark vibe, and sometimes the band even reminds of BATHORY (again "Nordanblood", also because of the clean vocals). The variety in musical arrangements, additional instruments and folk elements makes this album incredibly versatile, and a very pleasant listen from the first second till the last. Therefore my check-out tips are: all!

MÅNEGARM is the most underrated of the Swedish Metal bands that I ever heard, and by far the best Folk Black Metal band around. If you talk about massive debuts, then "Nordstjärnans Tidsålder" is a fantastic example! Folk lovers, run to your stores to get this!

Nordstjärnans Tidsålder

Mithotyn - King of the distant forest ( 1997, Invasion )




Track Listing:

1. King of the Distant Forst
2. Hail Me
3. From the Frozen Plains
4. On Misty Pathways
5.The Legacy
6. Trollusia
7. Under the Banner
8. We March
9. The Vengeance
10. Master of wilderness
11. In a Time of Tales

Overview:

Many young metal fans of today know the names Stefan Weinerhall and Karsten Larsson mainly from their current band Falconer but before this they spent time together in Mithotyn. With this band they released three albums through the now defunct label Invasion Records of which this is the second one. "King Of The Distant Forest" starts off with the wonderful title track, a song that displays all that Mithotyn was about - beautiful folk music influenced melodies, raspy black metal vocals, heavy distorted guitars and a mighty chorus. Mithotyn were one of the bands who founded the viking metal sound and they were quite unique and original at this time. As they are from my area their music is also very close to my heart. Mithotyn is the result of very hard work from dedicated individuals since it took them five years of rehearsing and demo recordings until they were able to release their debut album in 1997. Therefore this second album of their's shows a mature and tight band that has grown up together. If you are into melodic black metal with catchy vocals then Mithotyn is a band you should know of. Together with bands like Einherjer, Thyrfing and Falkenbach (RIP), Mithotyn were one of the leading bands of the genre in the late 90's and they do deserve to be remembered as such. Stand-out tracks: "King Of The Distant Forest", "Hail Me", "The Legacy" and the instrumental bonus track "Time Of Tales" (this was only included on the Hammerheart re-release of the album).

Mithotyn Rocks

Ragnarok - Domgeorn ( 1999, Neat Records )



Track Listing:

1. þe Him & Hrefnagod Gaelð
2. Wodnesuno
3. þonne Waeron We Haeleð
4. Sigorleoð
5. Ni Fuil An Sabras Aðragad Deað
6. To Wælhealle
7. I Hear The Mountain
8. Legion Of Death
9. Hliðescleof
10. Samhain
11. John Barleycorn
12. Aesctreow
13. Beloved Of The Raven God
14. Heart Of Steel

Overview:

A folk Metal record, basically.

Ragnarok

SIGH - Imaginary Sonicscapes ( 2001, Century Media )



Track Listing:

1. Corpsecry - Angelfall
2. Scarlet Dream
3. Nietzschean Conspiracy
4. a Sunset Song
5. Impromptu ( Allegro Maestoso )
6. Dreamsphere ( Return to the Chaos )
7. Ecstatic Transformation
8. Slaughtergarden Suite I. At Dawn, II. The Dead Are Born, III. Destiny
9. Bring Back the Dead
10. Requiem - nostalgia

Overview:

Ok. If you’re not familiar with SIGH’s work, try and think big keyboard tomfoolery improvisation, perhaps in the style DREAM THEATER, IRON MAIDEN style and traditional guitar work, Black Metal vocals, unpredictable songs structures, weird female choir orchestration and other random effects or sounds and that’s about as close as you’d ever get to describing the band. Of course this explanation does them no justice, as all truly progressive bands can only be heard, not expressed in words. I had not, upon listening to “Imaginary Sonicscape”, previously heard any of the occult Japanese threepiece’s work, but I’m really wondering why it took me so long to grab hold such a phenomenal band.



The mood and style of the music really does change dramatically from song to song. There are excellent melodies in each, especially in the tuneful choruses and it’s interesting to try and count just how many different synth sounds can be heard in each track – I can really see the band appealing to Progheads, for certain. From the “old-skool” riffing in “Scarlet Dream”, through the pure minimalist electro genius of “Nietzschean Conspiracy”, to the haunting magnificence of “Slaughtergarden Suite”, this album certainly experiments. In terms of musicianship, it’s quite amazing how versatile the three members are. One would think that there would have to be at least four band members to handle all the instruments. Mirai Kawashima deals with most of the vocals, bass guitar and keys, so there’s obviously some overdubbing in the studio and it would be interesting to see their live show, as SIGH have built up a reputation really rock on stage.



The production is fairly good, considering that good studio engineers are hard to come by in Japan, especially for a Metal band and the dated feel of the album is probably deliberate, as the band are huge fans of old Prog and black and white horror films – apparent from the extensive use of synth and dark, eerie piano playing.



To speak about the album song by song would probably be much easier than trying to sum it up in one paragraph, but seeing as that would take far too long to read, I’ll try the shorter version. “Imaginary Sonicscape” goes through a fair few styles and at first they really seem out-of-place and just delved into for the sake of it, but it has to be understood that Mirai and co know few boundaries and once you get familiar with a few songs, the whole album becomes much easy to digest and it slowly dawns that this is music that won’t be restrained. Classy, haunting, melancholy, jazzy, funky and just downright great songwriting, this is music for the open mind, but good music regardless

Let out another Sigh

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Oh my god Mithotyn AWESOME. I've been looking for this album for YEARS.

How ya doing, buddy?

oshi Månegarm. Man my dialup is being RAPED right now. Thanks iwata (time is all the time).

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Man, I haven't been in these forums forever, I'll update my music tastes at the moment.

Top 5 metal bands I listen to at the moment.

Opeth
Mastodon
Dream Theater
Trivium(ironic, as this whole page is about them)
3 inches of blood

I missed the chance to go to a Mastodon show in Montreal, that pissed me off, as I'd have loved to go to Montreal AND see Mastodon.

Anyone here bought Blood Mountain yet?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Well, I finally got my hands on Vo Slavu Velikim!. Thank you, Supernal Music.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I have been heavily getting into power metal again, that and some pretty heavy melodic music like Opeth.

Right now I have been listening to Dragonforce and Kamelot a hell of a lot, their music is jaw dropping. Their music is a great source to get energy from.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I want to grit my teeth everytime someone mentions Opeth or Dragonforce. Gah.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Morrigan

I want to grit my teeth everytime someone mentions Opeth or Dragonforce. Gah.

Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth. Opeth.

Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce. Dragonforce.

:biggrin:

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Morrigan

I want to grit my teeth everytime someone mentions Opeth or Dragonforce. Gah.

haha I like how we (almost) always agree ~

Also, call me noob, but I've just slipped from the psyche/prog rock phase I was in to rediscover the fathers of metal which, with the exception of Rainbow, I know relatively few about.

Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Dio, ... and all the gang, here I come ~

Listening to Black Sabbath debut now, and wow, is this really 1970?

Aaah, the seventies ... what an endless source of wonders you are ...

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

You should check out Sir Lord Baltimore.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

What's wrong with Opeth, incidentally? Just curious.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Morrigan

You should check out Sir Lord Baltimore.

Who's that?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Just last night I got back from a Mushroomhead concert, HOLY CRAP did it suck but was amazing at the same time.

Soil
Brand New Sin

and a few other bands played and they were absolutely dreadful, so bad that my friend got kicked by the singer because he didn't react to their music postively.

When Soil took stage, HOLY CRAP one of their guitarists or bassists looks almost exactly like the actor who played in...ahh some crappy disney movie called Brink!. Thats the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the dude. I can't find a good comparison picture, but oh well.

Mushroomhead, although not my favorite band kicked ass. They put on such an intense show at such a small venue. -The Boardwalk, Orangevale,CA-

So my concert list headliners
-Mindless Self Indulgence-
-Exodus-
-The 69 Eyes-
-The Sounds-
-Gwar-
-Mushroomhead-

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If you, whoever, is interested in fresh sounding melodic death metal (not that stale In Flames and co. crap), check out Insomnium's newest album Above the Weeping World.

Brilliantly deep stuff and a typically Finnish melancholic earthy mood.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Dalkaen

What's wrong with Opeth, incidentally? Just curious.

That's a good question. I'm not even a fan of death metal, but I really like Opeth...perhaps therein lies the problem. XD


Anyone grab the new Angra album yet? You can get the single here (as far as I'm aware the band released this on the Internet themselves). I'm in the process of downloading the full album. I'm hoping this doesn't end up being to Temple of Shadows what Fireworks was to Holy Land...Angra version 3, just in time for the breakup of Shaman. =D Yeah, Shaman broke up. Matos doesn't get along well with others I guess.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Wow, I've been banned/censored for the first time. I guess I should be flattered... oh well.

Opeth writes unmemorable, meandering, pointlessly long songs that go nowhere. They are pretentious and boring. I'd rant more, but I'm really too tired at the moment (just had the week-end from hell: paintball with the office at 6:30 AM + Testament concert Saturday, kendo competition this Sunday - great timing huh? well, it was awesome, only now I can barely move and hurt all over ). But, yeah, death metal has little to do with it. In fact, I wouldn't expect fans of old-school DM to like Opeth, since they obviously have better taste than that.

Testament was great. Killer setlist too, not a single bad or average song, and Chuck Billy and Alex Skolnick were in perfect shape. And because my brain was not fully functional after paintball, I forgot to bring my ticket and noticed when I was all but at the door, which meant I had to go back home to get them... and so I missed Dismember. Aaargh. And I had to stand through 45 minutes of shitty, linear grindcore (Brutal Truth) which seemed like 2 hours. Thankfully Testament put on an amazing show.

FELIPE NO

You're pretentious and boring. Ha!

I mean, it's cool if you don't like a particular band, but you're just so damn turgid about it. Incidentally, when did this become your personal metal op-ed column?



The new Angra album, "Aurora Consurgens", is a huge step backward. There's no...soul. The songwriting has evaporated. Even Rebirth and Fireworks had a few good tracks. There's just nothing new here.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Will

You're pretentious and boring. Ha!

I mean, it's cool if you don't like a particular band, but you're just so damn turgid about it. Incidentally, when did this become your personal metal op-ed column?

Man, you're the one that asked for her opinion ...

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Will

You're pretentious and boring. Ha!

I mean, it's cool if you don't like a particular band, but you're just so damn turgid about it. Incidentally, when did this become your personal metal op-ed column?



The new Angra album, "Aurora Consurgens", is a huge step backward. There's no...soul. The songwriting has evaporated. Even Rebirth and Fireworks had a few good tracks. There's just nothing new here.

When people like you stated coming into Metal threads and talking about Opeth like they are the freshest thing to hit the metal scene. remember, you're the same guy that tried to pull the whole " the mars volta " are metal act.


From my experiences in the Metal scene, the only people who generally like Opeth are the ones who aren't into metal music in the first place, Opeth is like the Blink 182 of Metal Music.

Hated by everyone in the genre they are accidently lumped into and loved by everyone who doesn't have a fucking clue to what good taste is in the said genre.

I Recommend all of you put down your Opeth records and check out Amorphis who shits all over what Opeth trys to do without having to resort to making 10 minute long tunes consisting soley of wankery borefests.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Amorphis is AWESOME. Tales and Elegy are two of the best albums I've ever bought in my whole life.

That said, I did like Opeth, too, until their last couple of albums. I do agree with Iwata though. For whatever reason if I'm trying to get someone to give metal a chance, they always seem to take a liking to Opeth first. I have no idea why. It seems like it would be less accessible, but people just dig it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

why is there so much gothenburg deathcore stuff going on on this page

current listening (ie the past week or so) includes:

The Agony Scene
Unearth
Every Time I Die
Bleeding Through

any thoughts? any fellow appreciators?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by RAZGRIZ-3

Amorphis is AWESOME. Tales and Elegy are two of the best albums I've ever bought in my whole life.

That said, I did like Opeth, too, until their last couple of albums. I do agree with Iwata though. For whatever reason if I'm trying to get someone to give metal a chance, they always seem to take a liking to Opeth first. I have no idea why. It seems like it would be less accessible, but people just dig it.

I liked Opeth's first three albums and do still enjoy them, but they are seriously more over-hyped then Slayer, when in the scheme of things. they are nothing more then an average metal band who adds some prog-wankery elements to their music.

I was speaking idiomatically.

The new Amorphis CD is made of GOD. "Brother Moon" is one of the most rockable-out songs I have ever heard. Ever.

Opeth's latest effort was pretty horrible. Then I learned what had gone wrong:



They signed to Roadrunner. ;_; Nothing of theirs will ever match up to Blackwater Park. Ever.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

So I've gone all the way from 1970 to 1980 with Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Rainbow so far. Loved Sabbath and Priest, and all Rainbow with Dio, but I knew that already.

Anything fantastic I'm missing? =p

FELIPE NO

Um, Iron Maiden? :P Deep Purple are worth a serious look-in, too.

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