oh man if we did a secret santa album share that would be actually so damn cool

i like this idea a bunch

That sounds cool as f***

How would that even work tho

We could use the one anon account.

Just e-mail the anon account the album you suggest, then have that account e-mail the user you are the secret santa for.

#7: Heart In Hand - Only Memories
Hardcore



not even going to need a box for this one.
quite frankly, this was one of the most average album's i've listened to. not great, not bad, just average.
nothing sticks out as good or bad, honestly. just one big blur of hardcore. there's two instrumental tracks on this album which is kinda cool, i guess.

5/10. average. i recommend Only Memories because it stood out to me the most. probably because it was the first track. this whole thing is pretty samey.
but i mean, if hardcore's your thing there's probably something for you here.


i really wish i had something more to write about this. at least Funeral For A Friend did a few cool things i could write about.

yeah that sounds pretty average :/

Citadel by Ne Obliviscaris
Preview: Devour Me, Colossus I: Blackholes

NeO is an atmospheric progressive black/death ("blackened death", thanks wikipedia) metal group from Australia. Their music tends to jump between black metal and slower, prettier, less extreme music. They have a lot of classical influence, to the degree that it feels somewhat blasphemous to listen to them as background music. When I spin their debut, Portal of I, I have to spin all 70 minutes and give it the attention I feel like it deserves. I'll try not to talk about that album though since Nixter is doing it today and I'm certain he'll enjoy it.

Citadel is their new album, just released yesterday worldwide (and still not out in the states, oddly). It's comparatively fairly short at 50 minutes, but it only really has 3 songs (although some of those are split into different tracks). The whole album is a long journey filled with black metal, acoustic guitars, pianos, relentlessly aggressive bits, slow, brooding bits and quiet, calm, isolated bits. In this way, the album sounds basically like its predecessor - no drastic changes in sight. Not that that's a bad thing.

The album's got a handful of crazy cool moments, like the closing of Painters of the Tempest II or the part that starts a little before the 9 minute mark on the preview track Devour Me, Colossus (which by the way is a brilliant name for a metal track). Generally I'm not a big fan of black metal, but the way NeO weaves it around the rest of their sound is extremely enjoyable to me.

I could go into a lot of detail about each movement from each song but I don't feel like that's really necessary or desired. I'll just say if this sounds intriguing to you, take it from me (& Nix): It's good. Listen to it, dude man.

((I will say something about this album seems less grand than Portal of I, but that might just be my own preconceptions biasing me so I'll leave that up to you))

Rating: Good!

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Favorites this week: Mezzanine, Late Registration, Illinois(e)

Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

Hot DAMN! This record is AMAZING! Ne Obliviscaris is a Progressive Black Metal band, this is their debut album, and what a debut it is!
First track Tapestry Of The Starless Abstract welcomes you with blast beats, guitar and guttural vocals, then expands with soaring guitar solos and clean vocals, evolving into a violin, drum, and bass frenzy, only to stop and burst into an amazing acoustic solo, slowly welcoming back all the instruments back in, going into a climatic mix of clean vocals paralleling screamed vocals, blast beats, and emotional guitar work. Such an amazing opening track clocking in at 12 minutes. Xenoflux starts with some very good guitar riffs you'd hear on a very thoughtful instrumental progressive metal or even rock song, this song goes and weaves the violin, prog. elements, and black metal elements with amazing amounts of technicality, ferocity, and perfect musicianship. Of The Leper Butterflies is best described as a very powerful black metal song with duelling clean and guttural vocals with an almost jazzy intro, it's the shortest track, but still quite a powerful song on its own. Forget Not is the song with the best intro of them all, it progresses so well, such a beautiful track that doesn't just straight into chaos, it builds and builds and builds, it's done with such refinement, so soft and tugs on the heart strings, the metal only comes in on the waning minutes of the track, a great payoff to a great buildup, definitely one of my favourite tracks on the album. And Plague Flowers The Kaleidoscope is similar, with a flamenco flair, then diving into more black metal and again the power hits, this time adding some very cool solos and then goes into a very clean ending that invokes lots of happiness, leading into the best song on the album... As Icicles Fall. This song is unreal, it is so cathartic in both lyrics and instruments, these lyrics are very, very eye watering:
Can you remember the words of our dying Mother?
All winters' white...and wonderful
The third eye spies the greatest pain
In league with the cycle of life...feel the change

Her breath of frost upon the house of Man's beating heart
Sleep children sleep, such colours to be seen
Sanguine glaciers, the veins of our prelude
Fore this is where She lies. Mother, be our eyes...
Be our eyes...

The song even ends with the vocalist repeating "Mother...Mother...Mother...Mother..." The melodies reaching into you, pulling you down in such a way that you cannot help but feel the cries this song gives. Simply amazing. The last track Of Petrichor Weaves Black Noise brings it down with another acoustic intro, going into so many turns in each instrument shining their own part, riding off of the emotion of the last track and ramming it up ending on an elongated pad and violin with almost choir like vocals, an amazing end to an amazing album, I really couldn't ask for anything more.

This album is 10/10 for me, I rarely give a rating for 10/10, this masterpiece deserves such a rating, however.
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Fav's This Week: Portal Of I, Hospice

Korpiklaani - Spirit of the forest

Folk metal is my favvvvvvvvvvvvvv kind of metal easy. Korpliklaani is really awesome but I only own one of their albums before this one

This is their first album under Korpiklaani.

Easily identifiable as folk metal. I've always enjoyed folk & traditional instruments, and I love them best to some metal. Spirit of the Forest provides that. Feels very folky! A lot of the songs are pretty catchy and the voilin just sounds so great along with everything else. I enjoyed this album, all the tracks were pleasant to listen to. I don't really have a favourite song out of this album, all the tracks are great but none are more than great to me. Good album all the way through, I wouldn't skip any of the tracks ever. Points to Hittavainen for playing all the more folky instruments so well.

gotta get the rest of their stuff!
7/10

http://www.metalstorm.net/events/news_c ... s_id=20486
album rules

I love folk metal, I will listen to this for sure!


hell yeah!

sorry i dropped the ball on this, i'm down for a secret santa though

we could just designate someone as the one we send our albums to, and then that person will distribute them to the right user

That's what I was thinking. Problem in that is that whoever everyone sends the album to can't participate themselves.

we make a document that's open to the public and they edit it and add the names and the albums to it

or we can get someone who isn't participating, not everyone here is into music like us