Vote for Worm Gear!
While being hunkered down and waiting to see how this miserable election year is going to pan out, Jim and I are currently enjoying several beers and thrilled to be bringing you another weekly update. The Weapon interview is in and we’re so proud of how it turned out. Our thanks go out to Vetis Monarch for his dedication to his music and taking the time to give all of you a glimpse inside the workings of his band and metal/world outlook. 5 new reviews this time around and it seems that DOOM is in our hearts, and in our players. Still working on the Azaghal and Finsterforst interviews, and searching for other interesting artists to throw our interrogations at. We are of course open to suggestions here folks. Who would you like to learn more about? We do have some ideas…
Keep the playlists and communication rolling! We love to hear from you. If you like what you see, don’t hesitate to share our info with your friends and media outlets. The daily views are steady and growing. Perhaps we’re on the right track. Enjoy the material for this week and remember… if your candidate doesn’t win, you can still read Worm Gear in Canada, or wherever you decide to hide out for the next 4 years. At least Worm Gear won’t lie to you, outsource your job, prevent you from obtaining an abortion or marrying the person you love. We’re kinda cool like that. -Marty
Marty Rytkonen
More Manowar than I should maybe admit to!
Nagelfar – Srontgorrth
Unholy – The Second Ring of Power
Magnum Itiner Interius – Departure at the Betrayal of Life
Evoken – Atra Mors
Tempestuous Fall – The Stars Would Not Awake You
Divine Eve – Vengeful and Obstinate MCD
Marduk – Serpent Sermon
Symphony X – Iconoclast
Pitch Shifter – Submit LP
On deck: My Dying Bride – A Map of All Our Failures
Jim Clifton
Ares Kingdom – Incendiary
Bathory – Blood Fire Death
Bolt Thrower – In Battle There Is No Law
Destroyer 666 – Unchain the Wolves
Loss – Despond
Manowar – Battle Hymns
Megadeth – Killing Is My Business … And Busines Is Good
Necros Christos – Doom of the Occult
Neurosis – Souls at Zero
Order From Chaos – And I Saw Eternity
Worm Gear 
Bloodbath – Nightmares Made Flesh
Death Angel – Relentless Retribution
INFESTUS – E X I S T
Kampfar – Mare
Vektor – Black Future
Nekromantheon – Rise, Vulcan Spectre
Fukpig – 3
Entrails – The Tomb Awaits
Asphyx – Death the Brutal Way
Dark Throne – Hate Them
Paradise Lost – Gothic
Desultory – Into Eternity
High On Fire – The Art Of Self Defense
Control Denied – The Fragile Art of Existence
Demolition Hammer – Tortured Existence
Anacrusis – Manic Impression
Omen – Battle Cry
Angel Corpse – Wolflust 7″
Overkill – Ironbound
No shame in admitting to heavy Manowar rotation in your playlist. Their first four albums are absolute metal classics. I even like Fighting The World, Kings of Metal, and Triumph of Steel even though they are cheesey as hell and the albums were they really became caricatures of themselves. Anything after that is pretty tough to listen to with any sort of straight face. Hey, even Quorthon liked old Manowar.
I haven’t heard anything past Warriors of the World, an album that my wife once referred to as “Disney metal”, but I’m eventually going to get everything. I’m not ashamed really, I just tend to go in brief skirmishes with Manowar, but the past 2 weeks have been pretty solid. I have to say that they are rising the ranks as being one of my heavy metal favorites. Such a pure sound. Some albums are so majestic and memorable. Damn good stuff. So are there any of the newer albums that you would recommend? Thanks!
Some classics on your list for sure! Anacrusis are one of my faves, as are Omen (RIP JD!!). High on Fire – The Art of Self Defense… Talk about a massive sonic wall of awesome. I have the Man’s Ruin pressing of that and I gotta say that they never recaptured the magic on that album. So dense and punishing.
I know what you mean about Manowar streaks…I remember about 5-6 years ago I went on a streak of a couple months were I was listening to Manowar almost exclusively. My friends were all making fun of me. They have a unique and memorable sound for sure, especially when you consider they came from the US in the early 80’s. They sound much more like something that would come out of Europe. I always thought that was cool. Actually I do not own anything past Warriors of the World either. I like a few songs on that album, but a lot of it is pretty cheesey and I don’t spend a lot of time with it. I have been passing on their albums since then just because I wasn’t sure how much time I would actually spend with them and based on some of the tracks I heard it sounded like they were really playing up the whole Manowar shtick.. I should buy everything though, at the very least just to be able to tell everyone I own all of the Manowar albums. I’m sure each album has at least a couple memorable tracks on them. Maybe someone else can shed some light.
High on Fire’s “The Art of Self Defense” is both the best material and best sounding album they released IMO. So big and organic sounding. I too have the Man’s Ruin release. I specifically remember buying it shortly after it came out because I purchased it in a record store in a different town that I don’t normally shop at. “Surrounded By Thieves” is great too. Most of their stuff after that is pretty solid, but just doesn’t have the sound of the first album or have the same impact while listening.
This Week’s Play List:
My Dying Bride- The Angel & the Dark River
The Chasm- From the Lost Years
Sigh- Ghastly Funeral Theater
Just In:
Amon Amarth- Sutur Rising
Naglfar- Harvest
Amorphis- Karelian Isthmus
Re: Manowar- they run the spectrum from incredible to awful. Personally I think the first 2 albums (BH+IGR) are good but get overhyped. The next pair (HtE+SotH) are classic, the pair after that (FtW+KoM) are great despite the overt cheesiness, the 2 90s albums (ToS+LtH) are progressive steps downward, ‘Warriors of the World’ I actually like though I’m in the minority (they at least mixed things up more on that album), and the last 2 (GoW+the newest one) are practically unlistenable. Just my 2 cents.
Hails on Karelian Isthmus! Such great stuff. What do you think of Surtur Rising? I really missed the huge sound AA had acquired on ‘Twilight of the Thunder God’, but SR still has its strengths …