Best In Heavy Metal – 2008

Yes, I do realize that it is April. Whatever.
Enjoy.

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1.) Skepticism - "Alloy"

Finnish funeral doom legends Skepticism return after five long years with six monolithic tour de force tracks that present the band at its absolute finest. For those familiar with the depressive dirge that Skepticism is renowned for expect no changes, no experimentation, and absolutely nothing contrived. While 2003’s Farmakon was a quality release, 2008’s Alloy seemed to capture the despondency and hopelessness found on records like Stormcrowfleet while sharing the same depressive ambiance as the Ethere EP. In essence,…

I could not bring myself to write proper reviews due to a lack of motivation and time constraints so I took the liberty of providing some indiscriminate reviews for fifteen of my faves in these genres. Feel free to post your thoughts and your own lists should the urge strike you.
Enjoy.

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1.) Corde Oblique - "Volonta d'Arte"

"Volonta d'Arte" was the single best record I heard in 2007, and it ranks with some of the best albums that I have ever heard in any genre, from any year. Prencipe is a rare and extraordinary virtuoso. With ever the…

Hello friends!

And so…here it is - finally. I could not bring myself to write proper reviews due to a lack of motivation and time constraints so I took the liberty of providing some of my favorite reviews for twenty of my favorite records from 2007. Feel free to post your thoughts and your own lists should the urge strike you.
Enjoy.

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1.) And Also The Trees – “(Listen For) The Rag And Bone Man”

How this swarthy band eluded my attentive ear for so long has me positively baffled. Having only recently discovered the brilliant music that AATT…

Yes, I realize this is months late but people have been pestering me about it incessantly and so I finally decided to relent and post it here. I had initially wanted to post a 2007 Best Of journal that encompassed all of the genres that I listen to, but the other section (neofolk/martial & indie/etc.) is not yet complete (yes, I do realize it's nearly May) and will be posted at a later date.

Personally I did not think that 2007 was a very good year for heavy metal music. As the months pass and the years go by innovative…

Here's a record that I had thought about sharing in my blog section quite awhile ago but never got around to it until I stumbled across this wonderful interview. Enjoy.

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Miranda Lehman's debut album, Shipwrecks & Russian Roulette, tells the simple story of life and longing. It is the music you hear at lonely jazz clubs late at night and the melodies that run through your head when its raining and you are curled up in bed. Composed of 10 tracks that utilize an eclectic array of instruments and sparse vocals, this music creates a dense and surreal…

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Bat for Lashes is a female band led by Natasha Khan (born 25 October 1979), a Brighton-based songwriter. Born to a Pakistani father, part of the eminent family of squash-playing Khans, and an English mother, her early childhood was spent traveling the world following her father who trained the Pakistani squash team, summers in Pakistan, and the rest of the time in Hertfordshire. She had a strict religious upbringing until her parents separated, when she was eleven years old.

Khan graduated in film and music; while at university her experimental work was influenced by artists such as Steve…

Wow.

What a tremendous year for music 2006 turned out to be. As tradition would dictate, since around 1998 I’ve always made the year end Best Of or Top whatever lists, usually for the heavy metal genre since that was the only variety of music I would exclusively write for whether in fanzine’s or e-zines, or wherever. Like most years, there were some great new bands that released brilliant records and shocking debut albums (four of which appear on my Top 20 HM list) in 2006, and outside of the heavy metal genre there were literally a flood of interesting…

Hmmm….boredom strikes.

I remember in the early/mid 90's, basically during my later middle-school years and especially my high school years, outside of the copius amounts of heavy metal and hard rock that I would listen to almost religiously, I also purchased, spun, and even loved a slew of 90's alternative/grunge/progressive/gothic/industrial/shoegaze/indie bands - most of which have either broken up or are releasing irrelevant records every four or so years. Grunge was at the time, as expected, a popular genre amongst my friends and I, and there was a slew of bands that we all enjoyed, ranging from the likely suspsects…

I've recently been attempting to broaden my musical palette by delving into the contemporary classical crossover genre as well as the genres of new age, neo-folk, and underground electronic music. So far it's been fairly hit and miss for my particular tastes and what types of sounds I'm looking for, especially when it comes to classical crossover artists that aren't reminiscent of the mainstream sounds coming from Charlotte Church, Bond or artists that are either marketed towards soccer Mom's or senior citizens. I've been searching for something more in the vein of Sarah Brightman's excellent "La Luna" and "Harem" releases,…

Rawk.

Those of you who are even remotely aware of my musical vices, especially when it comes to the genre of heavy metal, basically know that I listen to a wide-range of sub-genres ranging from black to death to thrash, etc. and so on. I've also been a fan of the sub-genre known as power metal ever since I heard the opening notes to 'Helloween's "Eagle Fly Free" and 'Crimson Glory's "Painted Skies".

However, over the years I've drifted further and further away from this once great sub-genre as it became more and more difficult to find interesting, innovative, and…