Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Primordial - To The Nameless Dead



Primordial is a folk/black metal band from Skerries, Ireland, formed in 1987 but not really active until 1991.
They play a rather distinct form of music... it's not the sound that comes to mind when one reads/hears something like a "combination of folk and black metal." That sounds like cliché black metal with the folk influence here and there... I could name a hundred bands. Not necessarily bad, but I find Primordial's take on that set of words very refreshing indeed.
This band creates special atmospheres. I cannot describe them obectively, or by anything resembling objectivity. I won't make an attempt at ranting about it, because I don't feel like it today; but I'll just say, this is music I can get lost in, let my mind wander off...
In conclusion; if I had to describe this band and album in a few words, I'd go with: epic (overused at as it may nowadays), somber, atmospheric, sincere, intelligent, persistent. Great lyrics and amazing musical atmosphere that flows underterred.

Primordial - To The Nameless Dead

Tracklist:

1. Empire Falls
2. Gallows Hymn
3. As Rome Burns
4. Failures Burden
5. Heathen Tribes
6. The Rising Tide
7. Traitors Gate
8. No Nation On This Earth

Macabre - Dahmer



Macabre is one my favorite death metal bands. They started playing together in 1985, in Chicago, Illinois. Notably, they've never had a line-up change.

This long-lived group seems to have used two main different styles throughout the years.
The first is more 80s-like: fast, thrashy, somewhat low-fi, like many other bands in the genre at the time.
The second, newer sound is more of a "modern" sound, with cleaner production, but also slower, groovier, crunchier.
I really enjoy both styles. This band has always features a signature black humor in their lyrics almost exclusively dealing with serial killers and mass murderers, which combined with the afore-mentioned playings styles - which always feature amazing performances from each musician in their respective field - makes for a great, fresh sound, that despite being perfectly able to define the genre as an exmaple, is far from generic.

In this particular album, released in 2000, they only talk about one particular serial killer. As you might've guessed, that's Wisconsin's most (in)famous killer of all time, Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, The Milwaukee Monster.
The album is a biography of the killer, and is therefore in chronological order.
I believe one of the bandmembers attended to Dahmer's trial, where he was found guilty of 15 of the 17 murders he was initially indicted with.

Macabre - Dahmer

Tracklist:

1. Dog Guts
2. Hitchhiker
3. In The Army Now
4. Grandmother's House
5. Blood Bank
6. Exposure
7. Ambassador Hotel
8. How 'Bout Some Coffee
9. Bath House
10. Jeffrey Dahmer And The Chocolate Factory
11. Apartment 213
12. Drill Bit Lobotomy
13. Jeffrey Dahmer Blues
14. McDahmers
15. Into The Toilet With You
16. Coming To Chicago
17. Scrub A Dub Dub
18. Konerak
19. Media Circus
20. Temple of Bones
21. Trial
22. Do The Dahmer
23. Baptized
24. Christopher Scarver
25. Dahmer's Dead
26. The Brain

Ihsahn - angL



The second of three solo albums so far released by Norwegian musician Ihsahn, better known as the frontman, guitarist and singer of black metal band Emperor. Released in 2008 and notoriously featuring Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth in one song, this is a pretty good album for those who like Emperor's late days, or somewhat unconventional black and prog metal in general; though in my opinion, the previous effort was even better.

Standout tracks include Misanthrope and Scarab.

Ihsahn - angL

Tracklist:

1. Misanthrope
2. Scarab
3. Unhealer
4. Emancipation
5. Malediction
6. Alchemist
7. Elevator
8. Threnody
9. Monolith

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Revolutionary Road OST



This cold morning I want to share the score to a pretty good and relatively recent movie. Anyone who knows me well will know that I place Leonardo DiCaprio among my favorite actors. While this isn't one of my favorite movies or anything, I thought it was a rather enjoyable drama. DiCaprio is great here, but Kate Winslet is even better. And to further enhance the experience, we have Thomas Newman's great music in this film.
Mr. Newman is quite an accomplished composer, and quite possibly my favorite movie score composer in general. Some of you might know him, others might not know who he is, but he has done many great works, some of which I'll be posting in the future, including Road To Perdition, White Oleander, Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, Jarhead and The Green Mile.
There's also a couple of 40s doo-wop songs as well.

So, if you're into scores, particularly those which are soft, beautiful, haunting and even pensive, then you're gonna like this!

Revolutionary Road OST

Composer: Thomas Newman

Featured artists: The Ink Spots, The Orioles, The Ravens.

Tracklist:

1. Route 12
2. Picture Window
3. The Bright Young Man
4. Hopeless Emptiness
5. Unrealistic
6. Count Every Star [The Ravens]
7. Simple Clean Lines
8. Speaking of Production Control
9. Golden People
10. Night Woods
11. Crying In The Chapel [The Orioles]
12. April
13. A Bit Whimsical
14. Revolutionary Road (End Title)
15. The Gypsy [The Ink Spots]

Friday, October 1, 2010

Gorelord - Zombie Suicide Part 666




Today I bring you my favorite album from one of my favorite death metal bands. Well, actually, it's a one-man project, but still...
This man is Frediablo. Some of you might recognize him... he's the guitar player who stepped in around the time when Anton Crowley (Pantera's Phil Anselmo) was in Necrophagia.
He also played with his brother Fug on Killjoy's other more black metal-ish project, Wurdulak, a prominent band as Mayhem's Maniac formed part of the line-up; Gorelord would release two splits with Wurdulak in 2001 and the following year.

In September 2005, Frediablo issued a statement, announcing that he was quitting all of his numerous bands, except Grimfist, so he could focus on this solo project.

This is the second of three albums released so far, with another one supposedly in the way since 2007.
Groovy death metal, with solid instrumentation and memorable riffs... that's how I can describe this album, briefly.
Check out for yourself:

Gorelord - Zombie Suicide Part 666

Tracklist:

1. Stench of Flesh Decomposing
2. Screams Choked To Silence
3. Dreams Of The Macabre
4. Horror Gore & Unreligion
5. Outback
6. Shrieks Of The Undead
7. Cumfucked Face Of Death
8. Four Ways To Heaven One Way To Hell
9. I Am Master Here
10. Alive When Fucking The Dead (Demo)
11. Necrophilic Orgy In Entrails & Cum (Demo)