Metal Reviews

The new Terrorizer is a black metal special, with Ihsahn, Gaahl and Dani Filth on the front. Remind me why I stopped buying it, again?

Because Dani Filth isn't black metal? And Ihsahn, honestly, kinda stopped doing black metal.

Exactly. Even Gaahl is quiet at the moment, no? Don't think he's had anything black metal out for a while...

Heard Hit Me Baby One More Time and Toxic for the first time in years yesterday and I like them

I like Toxic video.

Also really dig Circus.

I stopped buying cause the writing style turned to shit and they got too trend orientated.

I especially hated the stupid 1970s retro trend - fuck that was a crap trend.

As for mislabelling the genres, they had a Death Metal special and then talked about a lot of non-Death Metal ala Sepultura "Arise" and Entomed "Wolverine Blues" whilst ignoring a lot Death Metal.

It's been too long since I've heard something new (to me ) and amazing :- (

Haven't checked out new metal in a few months. Albums that I am stoked to listen to today.

Gorguts' newest
Fell Voices Regnum Saturni
iwrestledabearonce - Late For Nothing
Stomach Earth's s/t (dude from Red Chord doing evil doom)

http://vimeo.com/71168323

pth studio update i am excite

So going by Wikipedia's list, there are apparently 51 subgenres of Metal, is there a reason for this or is just natural evolution of a medium?

Natural progression, but I also think there is a desire to create distinctions in such a way that separate bands from one another. Bands actively pushing certain genres away, like early BM trying to distinguish itself from Sweden DM, but also the other way of genres pushing certain bands away to maintain norms, like many resisting newer black metal bands from being labeled black metal like Liturgy or Deafheaven.

And why are they being resisted?

This article and how pretentious it is: http://www.lacan.com/lacinkXXXV7.html

But also how they dress like hipsters and make evil black metal sound happy and positive.

Ooooooohhhh so would they count as unblackened metal or they're just trying to parody black metal but no one's laughing?

Unblack or whatever that label is usually refers to Christian acts doesn't it? One of those moments in which they don't want to be associated with the Satanism of bm and bm doesn't want their Stryper content.

It's not really a parody insofar as the bands seem to really think they're on to something. The dude from Liturgy takes himself super serious. I think the problem stems from how sites like Pitchfork or even NPR have taken these bands up and given them air time. By removing the content that is so crucial to black metal, they seem to be appropriating the sound to seem radical in hip circles. Kinda like when Urban Outfitters sells $100 chopped up Anthrax shirts.

Yes, unblack refers to Christian acts as far as I know. And yes, I think you get to a key element of the matter when you mentioned Pitchfork and NPR, but maybe not all of it.

The elements I like in Deafheaven (the shoe-gazing guitar breaks) and Liturgy (the Tool worship tracks) have little to do with the black metal I've listened to over the past dozen years. If I can't draw a line from earlier bands I've liked to this stuff I find it hard to put into the black metal category, but the whole argument has a lot of gray area.

What content do you mean exactly?

Black metal isn't just about the music. It's an ideology. Nihilism, individualism/antagonism as represented in its satanism, the relation to nature, all of that stuff you hear about in the classic albums.