Playlist: Winter Metal

Threw together a winter-themed playlist as the temps start dropping.

I’ve never been big on Spotify before, but as my library continues to exceed my laptop’s hard drive space, it has its uses. There were some unfortunate omissions, but what can you do.

We start off with “The Northern Cold,” lead track from Woods’ 3^rd album. Woods 5 is the crowning achievement, but the run of 3/4/5 is as good as any metal band has had in a long time.

Segue into “At the Heat of Winter” which shows off Immortal at their peak. Immortal I think is a great place to get started with black metal before getting into the rawer stuff (like later on in this playlist!).

Borknagar helps segue us into the power metal phase, and I’ll mention that Borknagar has been consistently solid over their last few releases, and don’t receive as much praise as their quality deserves. Pharaoh put out probably my favorite power metal release of the last few years in 2014 in Year of No Light, it captures the fun and energy of the genre but with a little less fluff than some bigger names. Yes, this song is about a father sacrificing himself to feed his son as they're trapped by a blizzard. It can't all be poetry, man.

Later on we see one of the glaring omissions, as Spotify doesn’t have Stratovarius’ classic Visions, preventing me from including “Before the Winter.” This track will do in a pinch.

We segue back out with Sculptured, a strange band that featured Jason Walton and Don Anderson from Agalloch (RIP). They’ve formed a new band, Khorada, from the ashes of Agalloch so hopefully we’ll hear new stuff soon. This song, “Snow Covers All” is a little strange (like all Sculptured) but I only get so many chances to rec songs with creamy sax solos so I take them when I get them.

That brings us to a triple header of black metal to close out. Two legends of the Norwegian 2^nd wave in Darkthrone and Mayhem, and then unsurprisingly Agalloch to close out. I’ll take a moment to strongly recommend every metal fan to check out Darkthrone’s commentary tracks, in which they (usually Fenriz) talk over and explain their songs. Fenriz is probably the coolest and truest guy in the metal community, and his comments are very interesting and often very funny. I know they’ve done A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Hate Them (my favorite Darkthrone album) and even Fenriz’ old solo project Isengard.

Back to the playlist, we finish with absolute classic “Freezing Moon”, from the Live in Leipzig album because we do not fuck around here, and then “Falling Snow” from Ashes Against the Grain, which hardly needs me to spill more digital ink on it.

Transition Radio: Music for Fall (Part 1)

A little late on this one so we're a few weeks into the season, but man this is the best time all year for listening. Here's a few to pick up as the temp drops.

Unsilence- Under a Torn Sky

A lost epic doom classic. The Warning comparisons are inevitable given the singer’s powerful voice and extreme Englishness. Unsilence picks up the pace a little bit more than Warning however, and the closest touchstone I can think of is Vast Oceans Lachrymose era While Heaven Wept (another excellent record, by the way).  This album could be a good way to dip into the waters of doom, as the clean vocals and medium tempo offer a more accessible entry point than the more extreme styles.

Tigers Jaw- s/t

I’ll admit this may only be a fall album to me, but that’s just where it feels right. A great album for evening walks as the temperature drops, trying to figure out where it all went wrong, and is it even all that bad? There isn’t much groundbreaking poetry in the lyrics, but it’s standard emo fare that hits you in the feels a few times. Combined with pleasantly intricate guitar work and a nice rumbling bass and you’ve got one of the best albums of the contemporary emo revival scene.

Hexvessel- No Holier Temple

I may have already repped this one, but it doesn’t matter this album is good enough for double treatment. Psychedelic folk from Finland (that sounds like it's from England) made for getting lost in the cold wet woods. The first half carries the album, but man what a first half it is."Woods to Conjure" (below) sets the stage well, but the 10 minute "His Portal Tomb" brings the house down.

In the Silence- A Fair Dream Gone Mad

“Can you show me what’s it’s liiike, to dream in black and whiiiiite”

Ok Breaking Benjamin references aside, that’s a pretty good description of the feel of this album. This often gets tagged as progressive metal, but that’s really for lack of a better term. Even without invoking the dreaded DT comparisons, this just doesn’t really have a lot in common with what we usually call prog. “Atmospheric” is an especially overused term at the moment, but it does a decent job conveying the feel of this album. This is a tightly written and well executed album with minimal waste. The track below, “Serenity”, has retained a place in my top 100 since its release and doesn’t figure to fall out any time soon.

Three for the Women

Some great 2016 stuff here. A couple of these songs will probably end up on my year-end lists.

case/lang/veirs- “Atomic Number”

The lead track from the self-titled collaborative effort from three talented singer-songwriters. While the album doesn’t hit enough high points to be truly “great,” it’s an enjoyable listen and features some stellar vocal performances.

Marissa Nadler- “Dissolve”

Delicate and beautiful, Marissa Nadler’s latest collection of songs closes with the stunning “Dissolve.” The Mazzy Star influence is heard more clearly on opener “Divers of the Dust,” but the same sense of fragile, melancholic beauty pervades throughout.

Mitski- “Your Best American Girl”

Now that’s how you use distortion. The chorus to the song is one of the top musical moments of 2016. There’s important themes at work here as well, but man that is how you kick a song into overdrive.

Bringing Summer to a Close

To get back in the swing of things, let’s run through a little of the stuff I’ve kept on rotation this summer.  As the weather gets colder I’ll be back in front of my computer more and should have more stuff to highlight.

Rilo Kiley- “Portions for Foxes”

Just a really excellent example of how to do indie rock right.  I’ll take Under the Blacklight as the most consistent Rilo Kiley album, this is for me by far their best track.  Jenny Lewis has excellent control over her voice, and injects the song with emotion without taking it to an extreme. Clever and incisive lyrics (“And the talking leads to touching/and the touching leads to sex/and then there is no mystery left”) complete the package.

Bruce Springsteen- “Lost in the Flood”

The monumental centerpiece to Springsteen’s underrated debut, Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. The two slow strummed ballads drag down the energy level of the album, and “Spirit in the Night”, despite it’s swinging riff, meanders off course lyrically.  But the cover of “Blinded By the Light” proved that Springsteen had the chops to write a hit, and “Lost in the Flood” showed the potential in his songwriting.  In some ways the precursor to “Jungleland,” on this track Springsteen displays his unparalleled ability to illustrate life on the rough underside of the city.

Jimmy Eat World- Bleed American

The zenith of pop-punk tinged emo.  Jimmy Eat World walk a fine line, remaining catchy enough for radio play without devolving into Sum 41-esque faux-angst. One of the pre-eminent summer road trip albums, this moves at whatever speed you’re driving. And the hooks- anthemic. Throw this on, remember how good “The Middle” actually is, and remember never to take Pitchfork without a grain of salt (a 3.5 in August 2001!).

Cryptopsy- None So Vile

An absolute behemoth of a death metal album, this record is more a textbook example of the form than anything else.  Flo Mounier’s drumming is well worth all the praise it gets, and the rest of the band is completely in sync.  The album breathes in a way that many death metal records do no’t.  Each instrument clearly contributes to band’s sound and there isn’t an off-note on the album.  This is a great place to start when looking to move from melodic death metal to a more pure death sound.

Against Me- “Thrash Unreal”

A pretty big hit for the band that I had missed as I started with White Crosses. Their most recent album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues is as good and important as anything released in the past few years. I may write more about it at some point, but that album is both a phenomenal punk rock record and extremely eye-opening for those of us who don't have a great understanding of the experiences of trangender people.  After seeing them at Governor’s Ball this summer I can also highly recommend catching their live show. “Thrash Unreal” is from earlier in their career but the reasons why it remains a live staple are hard to miss.

3 Heavy Ones

Tau Cross- Tau Cross

Debut album from a supergroup last year.  Found on a number of year-end top lists, but perhaps still a bit more under the radar than it deserves.  Their sound finds a lot of common ground with Primordial, featuring that same epic, sweeping, black-tinged metal.  The track below is my favorite because it showcases The Baron’s powerful clean vocals, but the majority of the album features his raggedy growls atop some heavy riffage.

Hail of Bullets- …Of Frost and War

Another supergroup! Vocals are from Martin Van Durunen, whom most death metal fans will instantly recognize.  That strained howl of his can be an acquired taste, but here it matches the music and subject matter well.  The album revolves around the Eastern front during World War II, and van Durunen’s frantic vocals conjure the wild, unhinged nature of combat. 

The song below features guest vocals from no less than Dan Swano, and the track is an all-timer.  This was one of the first death metal albums I really liked (which might just speak to my youth, but regardless), and you may find it to be a good starting place if most of the current well-regarded death metal bands like Sulphur Aeon are too dense to get into. 

Atlantean Kodex- The White Goddess

Well-blended heavy metal from Germany, drawing influence from both power metal and traditional doom.  Combining the best of both genres, the album hits considerably harder than most power metal, but keeps the pace up and courses with an energy not often found in trad doom.

This seems to be a concept album, but if there is a distinct narrative, I can’t make it out.  Although not necessarily cohesive, the lyrics are stirring, covering well-worn themes of the rise and fall of empires, and the clash of ideologies and religions, but with a deft touch and a dog-eared thesaurus at hand.   

With pure heavy metal feeling pretty stale over the past few years, there’s no reason this album should be so underappreciated.

Entries from the Top 100: Les Discrets- "Song for Mountains"

Les Discrets- “Song for Mountains”

From the album Septembre et ses dernières pensées

Location: 40ish

An excellent track from Les Discrets' also-excellent 2010 debut.  Operating in the same scene that produced Alcest, Amesouers and Lantlôs, this band fit rather nicely to that same gazey, semi-metal sound that has been the biggest development in modern black metal, for good or ill.  Les Discrets is headed by the multi-talented Fursy Tessier, who also provided the fantastic cover art for the album. 

Less “metal” than many other bands in this loose collective (for the other end of the spectrum, Glaciation and Old Silver Key may appeal as well), Les Discrets make more frequent use of acoustic guitar, and keep the shrieked vocals to an absolute minimum.  The result is a calmer, more contemplative feel to the album.

Despite its English title, “Song for Mountains,” like the rest of the album, is sung entirely in French.  I find that it is a great example of the benefits of allowing a singer to perform is his or her native language, as the comfort and ease with the language and its sounds allows to words to seamlessly complement the music.  My French was never particularly great and has only rusted in the years since college, but with a little outside help the translation proves to be as beautiful as expected.

A great track for walking on a cool spring night, but be sure there are enough trees around.

The Traditional- "My Brother is the Sea"

Local band here in Buffalo that I caught over the weekend.  A little off from my usual stuff, but I dug their live sound (very loud and very heavy). Grabbed their disc for 5 bucks; this is my favorite track from the show and the CD.  Ton of early Fall Out Boy influence, though with a little less knack for writing hooks. Worth a quick listen now if you're into it, and definitely one to keep an eye on.

Dunbarrow- Dunbarrow

Early Pentagram worship, and with better guitar work to boot.  Stoner metal feels like a super oversaturated genre right now, but a few stand outs like High on Fire, and a ton of mid-tier, untimately forgettable stuff in the middle.  Thick bluesy riffs, a great sense for pacing, and a solid occult-ish vocal performance sets this album apart. Norway strikes again.

Mineral- The Power of Failing

One of the acknowledged classics of golden era Emo for a reason. Old hat for the big emo fans I'm sure, but for the more causal fan, this can fly under the radar of bigger acts like Brand New and the like.  A one album wonder, featuring impossible dated album art too. Perhaps the most infamous use of Comic Sans until Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert went off like a jilted date on prom night. Aesthetics notwithstanding, this is grade A late-90's angst at its finest.