Metal

Sunn 0))) aren't funeral doom, they're drone-doom, which is related and sometimes overlaps but quite distinct. Both use very slow tempos and tend to progress at a glacial pace, but drone-doom is more directly adjacent to dark ambient and noise in its sonic aesthetics (particularly ritual ambient and "isolationism") and has more of a sludge/stoner lineage with some splashes of black/doom rather than funeral doom's death/doom roots, which are reflected in their respective songwriting styles if you pay close attention; furthermore, vocally (where vocals even occur), drone-doom is generally more in line with certain strains of black or sludge metal, with a lot of raw shrieks or chanting, whereas most funeral doom emphasises gutturals; and, finally, funeral doom bands emphasise organ and other keyboard tones quite often in a way that drone-doom groups and projects rarely do. Now, again, there are funeral doom bands with drone aspects and vice-versa, and a lot of fans of one will be very into the other, but they are very different in some key ways.

(I say this as someone who generally really digs funeral doom—especially stuff that leans in a more death/doom direction or is just utterly bizarre—and loves some but not all drone-doom, so, uhhhh, I'm biased. Either way, you and SM make Lycus sound intriguing, to say the least.)

The closest I can think of to another band like Lycus would be Asunder. They're a lot more influenced by black metal than other funeral doom bands, which is probably down to John Gossard from Weakling being a founding member. They make similar use of clean vocals and cello to Lycus as well.

Pretty sure Asunder is just a stripped down Lycus tbh (vice versa actually).

Edited by StillbornMachine on Mar 30th 2019 at 8:27:08 AM

Apparently Lycus' guitarist was in Burmese, SIXES, Butthole Surfers, Sutekh Hexen and Crash Worship, which, like, just, fuck yes.

Edited by JHM on Mar 31st 2019 at 4:14:05 AM

Michiel Eikenaar, vocalist of Nihill and Dodecahedron, has died

Edited by SinNanna on Apr 13th 2019 at 6:31:49 AM

So is there a specific difference between Thrash Metal and Speed Metal, or was the latter just another way to say Thrash Metal?

I suppose Thrash is considered a heavier, less melodic version of Speed?

"Speed metal" is a sort of archaic term that was mostly used back when there wasn't much distinction between traditional metal genres. "Thrash" is essentially metal with some hardcore influence (simple riffs, fast tempo, rebellious lyrics, etc.), so it used to be a part of the speed metal bunch.

If the latter were true, I guess Dismember would be a thrash band now.

Anyways, speed metal is basically just a transition state genre that exists between earlier heavy metal and its immediate descendants (power and thrash specifically, maybe super early black metal if you're liberal enough with classification). Thrash specifically is what would happen if you took the most aggressive metal that existed at the time and injected a healthy dose of hardcore punk abrasiveness and aggression, crossing it with metallic riff architecture and structure.

Speed metal examples include bands like Voltax, ADX, debut era Helloween, Metal Grave, Acid (Belgium), and Raven.

Edited by StillbornMachine on Jan 8th 2020 at 8:54:53 AM

Looking around, I think a good example of contrast would be the debut albums by Metallica and Anthrax vs the Slayer and Megadeth debuts. You could argue that Kill Em All and Fistful of Metal are speed metal but there's no denying that Show No Mercy and Killing Is My Business is thrash (and by the time Killing came out, we also had some more first wave thrash with Overkill, Exodus, and the like).

True. Speed metal especially from the 80's is incredibly ambiguous but a good rule of thumb is when you started getting more "crunch" oriented palm mute happy riffing as well as more fragmented high speed shit like with the Teutonic Trio as well as proto death/black style tremolo stuff, it was probably thrash.

So, for some reason last year I've managed to miss Obsequiae's latest release, The Palms of Sorrowed Kings. I kinda haven't listened to their sophomore album as well, so I have only Suspended... to compare it to.

Well, it's still a Melodic Medieval Black Metal, alright, though it's not quite as intricate as their debut was. Nice listen nevertheless, though at times they sounded uncomfortably like a slower, more sophisticated version of Windir to these ears. I also couldn't help but notice that I enjoyed the instrumental acoustic tracks (they once again are employing an ancient string instrument for those intermissions. This time it's harp, though I'm not sure) a lot more than the actual metal material.

When I had Tanner added on facebook I don't remember him even mentioning Windir before. AFAIK stuff like early Dark Tranquility and Varathron is a much bigger influence on him along with classic metal like Solstice. Probably their best drumming since they got Eoghan from Vex on board and ever since I think 2013 he started listening to jazz a lot and it really shows on this album and Vex's Sky Exile.

Been learning proper technique in terms of producing harsh vocals of late, and it's interesting to see how convergent evolution initially led early metal singers and screamers to (usually) unknowingly rediscover the same techniques used in all sorts of traditional singing styles, which has in turn led modern vocalists with more access to that information to learn to scream more effectively by studying those older methods. One that particularly tickles me is how chylandyk, a fairly sophisticated style of Tuvan throat singing combining the disciplines of dag kargyraa (growling subharmonic bass) and sygyt (sharp, whistle-like overtones manipulated through tongue posture), when done with the right kind of air control and more emphasis on timbre over fixed pitch, becomes... the slam pig squeal. There is something poetic to me about that, the idea of attempting to channel a ferocity or a terror or a sorrow beyond language and tapping into something literally shamanistic.

In other words, this is metal.

There's a new Ulcerate song up from their upcoming album and thankfully it's a lot better than Shrines of Paralysis was if this song is anything to go by. It does feel slower as a whole even if they aren't afraid to vary up the tempo and there's more of this slow burning atmospheric, blackened ambience going on. I don't think the frenetic energy of their 2003 to 2009 material is ever coming back but at least they're settling into something workable.

@Millership: Same energy, honestly.

Thy Darkened Shade recently have released a track on Bandcamp. And it's a King Diamond cover/tribute, of all things. I didn't expect to hear power metal-ish vibes from them, though the track still has tinges of their "main" style. I found it enjoyable, though I'm not familiar with the original.

I see the guitarist for Thy Darkened Shade occasionally comment on my friends' profiles and while he is 101% an occult black metal dude, he apparently loves a lot of classic heavy metal and progressive rock. I remember him saying that he was a big Jethro Tull fan and honestly the more of TDS I hear, the more obvious that is to me. Plus, it's kind of the stereotype that Greeks are all sweaty Manowar/Manilla Road fans so I guess that's kinda par for the course haha.

Does anyone get the appeal of power metal? It smells like stilton.

The anthemic choruses perhaps?

I'm not the biggest power metal fan but it's fun. It's music to pump your fist in the air and sing along with your friends.

Alexi Laiho has died. RIP (Article in Finnish)

Not a COB fan by any means but that's very sad. Also had no idea he was my age, always thought he was older.

Does anyone know the specific cause? Alcoholism?