Palace of Worms: Lifting the Veil (2010)

Review

If there is any label currently vying for the Profound Lore throne at the top of forward-thinking metal, it's The Flenser. They recently offered the sophomore album of San Francisco one-man black metal project Palace of Worms free through Bandcamp.

The label describes Lifting the Veil as a black metal "inversion". I'm not sure inversion is the right term. That implies it's taking black metal and turning the whole thing on its head. But what is black metal? Today, you could boil it down to two very different camps (at least, if you don't count the French, who are most definitely doing their own thing). First, there is the old-school, Transilvanian Hunger camp, more or less content to ape the 90's golden era of Norwegian black metal. Then, there's the new camp, your Wolves in the Throne Room, Altar of Plagues, and, indeed, Liturgy, who approach the black metal aesthetic obliquely, using its sounds to wholly different ends. The two sides malign one another as stubborn asses stuck in the past or as hipsters, as the case may be.

Korn: The Path of Totality (2011)

Review

I thought I'd start the new year off right, by addressing trve kvlt metal legends Korn. I've made fun of them lately. They seem to think their album title is so brilliant, deep, and God-damned clever, when they're not even the first band of 2011 to use it.

It's still no secret that I grew up as a fan of the band. Even their more recent work has been a guilty pleasure of mine--up until their last two albums. The untitled one simply left no impression on me, and I gave Remember Who You Are a better score than it deserved, a 3 out of 5, noting that with only one guitarist, they needed the electronic elements to prop up their sound. For The Path of Totality, they've taken the electronic elements to a new level.

Other Best-of-2011 Lists

No new material from me today, due to the holiday. Instead, take a look at some other notable best-of lists for 2011.

- Decibel

- That's How Kids Die

- Beards, etc.

- Monkey Defies Gravity

- Šawtooth Ŵave

- Invisible Oranges

- NPR

- No Clean Singing (especially check out the Metal Bandcamp Doom Favorites

If you know of any other good ones (which obviously does not include MetalSucks) please link in the comments.

Tamut Amen: Demo (2011)

Review

I'm not quite sure why it is that I've talked about Israeli metal so many times in the past year, but I've run across some very good bands from the holy land. Tamut Amen (Hebrew for "May you die") is no exception.

This 2010 demo is five songs of high-speed, no-bullshit black metal. Perhaps owing to various members' tenure in grind-related bands Whorecore and Tea with Satan, the songs are all short and blistering, with no extra fat.

Their sound should be familiar enough. The guitar tone is warmer than your typical BM, and the production is top-notch for a demo, but otherwise it's pretty standard. Musically, what stands out is the excellent drumming, which is more fill than blast but no less violent for it.

The Verdict: The world is just starting to discover Israeli metal, and Tamut Amen is good enough to be among the vanguard for their home country. I give the demo 4 out of 5 stars.

Download the demo from Mediafire

Tamut Amen on Soundcloud

Tamut Amen on Facebook

A Transylvanian Funeral: The Outsider (2010)

Review

Forbidden Records recently provided me access to a couple of promo records via their Bandcamp page. One of those I passed up because of my own personal reasons, but I dug into The Outsider by A Transylvanian Funeral. As it turns out, it's the one-man black metal band of label owner Sleepwalker.

The project is based out of Tucson, Arizona, proving once and for all that Arizona is more than just a haven for deathcore. The desert has quite a bit in common with the frozen North, both forbidding wastelands that harbor dangerous wildlife in deceptive abundance.

New Polls

For those of you on a feed-reader, you may not be able to tell that I have added two new polls. I want to know how you feel about cassettes on the cusp of 2012. I also want to know what formats of music you listen to (although I have left off streaming and radio options, as well as more obscure and limited options like reel-to-reel). Let me know what you think.

Giant Squid: Cenotes (2011)

Review

As you may already know, Grayceon's latest album made my list of the Top 25 Metal Albums of 2011. After getting into that band, and learning more about cellist/vocalist Jackie Perez Gratz, I decided to check out her other current band, Giant Squid.

The first thing you might notice about the album cover, graced as it is by two fish-headed fertility goddesses. (As Phillip J. Fry once lamented, "Why couldn't you be the other kind of mermaid--the kind with the fish part on top and the lady part on the bottom?") Listening to it, I picked up bits and pieces that sounded like they were talking about marine biology. The lyric sheet shows it's marine biology as metaphor describing a woman, a child, or other things . . . . Yeah, I don't get it either.

Return Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will resume my normal posting schedule. For now, check out http://theasheaters.blogspot.com/, where you can find out any new information on one of black metal's most underappreciated bands, including free music like the new cover of "Children of the Grave", and some Misfits covers.

Christmas Break

I hope you've enjoyed List Week. I will be taking a break from blogging until after Christmas. I'll see you then.

The Top Ten Metal Albums of 2011

Top 25 List

See the introduction and the first 15 albums of the top 25 by clicking here.

[Note: the links below will send you to my original articles on the albums. The album picture will send you to an Amazon link to preview/purchase the album.]

10. Vreid: V

When you're talking about extreme metal, adding 'n' roll to the end of a genre tag is usually a deal-breaker. Does anyone actually like Entombed's Wolverine Blues? Does anyone care about Six Feet Under? But sometimes, a mix of black metal and good old rock 'n' roll can be a beautiful thing. Case in point: Vreid's V. This record keeps all the important parts of black metal--the ugly sound, the energy, the riffing style--but gives it a boost with some more accessible bounce to the writing. The occasional clean singing and synths are never enough to over-polish the sound, and the production is just raw enough while allowing you to hear everything that's going on. And, oh yeah, the songs are catchy.

9. Amebix: Sonic Mass

The crust legends reunited and took a risk by doing something entirely different. The risk paid off. There are a wide variety of styles on the record, from dark folk, to crust, to metal, to alt-rock. To be quite honest, it's not all perfectly successful. I reviewed Sonic Mass just last month, noting its imperfections and quirky nature. But quirky, imperfect albums are the ones that grow on you and get under your skin. Their imperfections serve to make them more memorable, more unusual, and simply better. (The first four Metallica albums are widely regarded as some of the best metal albums of all time, but can you honestly say that any of them is perfect?) This one has already dug further under my skin, and will likely get many more listens over the coming months. And years. Few comeback albums can compare.