@@@ Abbath: Count the Dead ( Season of Mist, 2016). We got a boatload of snow up or down here in the BK so it seems like a good day to kick back in listen to some heavy metal. If only this was black snow falling. This tune features an extremely hard working drummer, spraying and drum fills with his double kick, and now some thrash. Sweet. The guitar work is pretty classic metal power chord work and the singer is a grumpy orc. Cheer up dude, go sledding and then have some hot chocolate! This is a mid tempo skull cracker with some guitar shred in the second half of the song. Solid B and props to the drummer.
@@@ The Lion’s Daughter: Nothing Lies Ahead (Season of Mis, 2015). Off the same Apple Music playlist. Opens up with a distorted guitar arpeggio and a tasty thrash wail unfolds underneath. They just segued into a punishing post-hardcore section. Sweet. They just kicked it up a notch into a more punishing vibe and back into that dirty goth arpeggio. These guys are pro, they’re really mixing it up and keeping it interesting. They’re taking it out on a noisy, squeaky tip with some epic waves of guitar distortion. I might have to check out this band more closely, they’re keepin’ it moving and not trafficking in cliches.
@@@ Ihsahn: Mass Darkness (Abstract Sounds, 2015). Opens up with an epic classic metal guitar melody and I’m expecting a full on operatic theater queen singer, but no we get a sort of grumpy caveman. A nice transition to a sort of bouncy, thrash-y section and now into a sort of a post hardcore thing with some opera sauce over the top. They’re not spanking it as hard as the tune above but this is some pro shit. I gotta stop for a second, big dueling guitar solos and I wanna air guitar right along. Feeeeeeeling it! Joking.
YTD recordings listened to: 77
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 45
Not good music: 29
Honorable Mentions: 2
Buys: 1
Possibles: Chris McGregor, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Dave Arner Trio, MAKU Soundsystem, Zomby, Retox, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Bone Dance, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Debruit, Slidhr, The Whammies, The Chewers, Alexander Hawkins, Toxic Holocaust, Equal Stones, Comeback Kid, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Fofoulah, Lozen, Erase Errata, Dawn Richard, Mastery, Leviathan, Xibalba, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Akitsa, Janelle Monae, Luther Dickinson, Destruction Unit, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Gentleman Surfer, Satoko Fuji, Mystic Braves, Reverend Peyton, James McMurtry, Living in Hell
Deep In the Music 