We’re here to burn up the night!
Yes… the Manowar virus is still infecting these crypts, but I’m finally “getting over it” and shall be retiring my loin cloth until the next Mano-marathon strikes. Thankfully, it hasn’t stopped progress at all, as Jim and myself have returned to plague your eye sockets with our opinionated digital scribblings once again! A decent chunk of reviews this time and we’re both working on Azaghal and Finsterforst interviews. Evoken will also be on the receiving end of one of these as we get everything sorted out. In other news…
Many of you should remember the infamous S. Craig Zahler from the Metal Maniacs days. Since he left that publication, the man has been insanely busy building a successful career as a screenwriter, but he has of course kept his head firmly in the metal realm and continues to write. He has surfaced and will be contributing some reviews here and there in the next week or so. We are honored to have our friend back on the front lines and sharing his point blank opinions with all of you! How long will this last? Like I said… he’s one of the most driven and busy individuals I have the pleasure of knowing, so don’t roll out the spare bed and put his toothbrush in the holder, for chances are this could just be a flyby. Either way… it’ll be a treat to have him around. So yes… we’re all looking forward to that!
OK… let your attention drift south and have a good read. Share those playlists. Tell us your dark desires. Listen to Manilla Road!
Marty Rytkonen
Forefather – Steadfast
Maveth – Coils of the Black Earth
Askival – Eternity
Graveland – Immortal Pride
Thulcandra – Fallen Angel’s Dominion
Trouble – S/T
Saturnus – Paradise Belongs to You
Tempestuous Fall – The Stars Would Not Awake You (Holy hell this album rules!)
Manilla Road – The Courts of Chaos
Fall of the Leafe – Evanescent, Everfading
Jim Clifton
Possessed – Seven Churches
Paysage D’Hiver – s/t
The Chasm – Conjuration of the Spectral Empire
Vastum – Carnal Law
Exodus – Pleasures of the Flesh / Fabulous Disaster
Mantas – Death by Metal
Abominant – Battlescarred
Hooded Menace – Effigies of Evil
Murder Construct – Results
Craft – Void
Related
~ by martyworm on November 13, 2012.
Posted in PLAYLIST
Tags: Manowar, Marty Rytkonen, Metal Maniacs, S. Craig Zahler, Worm Gear zine
Worm Gear 
Marty – Never heard Manilla Road before. Wow! It is great. Shit, great find tonight. Please tell me which album or two I should start with. Seems ‘Open the Gates’, ‘The Deluge’, and ‘Mystification’ all have high marks.
Playlist: this week has been a mellow one. Nice break
Budgie – Best of Budgie
Brand X – Unorthodox Behavior
Steve Wilson – Get all you Deserve
Virus – Carheart
Scorpions – Taken By Force, In Trance, Black Out
Ulver – Childhood End
Angel Witch – Screamin and Bleeding and 1st LP
Witchcraft – Witchcraft
You have made my day sir! If I got to turn 1 person on to the greatness of Manilla Road, then I have done something worthwhile. Of the older MR stuff, Crystal Logic and Mystification are my 2 favorites, but you really can’t go wrong with any of the titles you mentioned. All of them are solid. Of the newer stuff, Atlantis Rising and Gates of Fire are both completely killer. Shelton is an amazing guitar player and songwriter and it spills over into all his material. Also of the newer suff, Voyager and Playground of the Damned are also faves, though suffer ever so slightly from a muddy production. Still… both are worth the investment once you get into their unique sound and secure some of their classics first. Cheers!
I keep meaning to give Manilla Road a shot. Which one is their best?
Obscura – Omnivium
Hell – III
Baptism – As The Darkness Enters
The Crown – Crowned in Terror
Surturs Lohe – Nornewerk
Propagandhi – Failed States
Vader – De Profundis
Landmine Marathon – Gallows
Suffocation – Effigy of the Forgotten
It’hard to pick a best, but of the older stuff, you cannot go wrong with Crystal Logic, Mystification, and The Deluge. Of the newer stuff, Atlantis rising and Gates of Fire are also great. Enjoy!
Checking out a lot of Manilla’s stuff on youtube. So far I am really liking Spiral Castle. Vocals are easier to lean towards. I know I need to get used to his vocals and then all is good. That is the only thing hanging me right now, especially on Crystal Logic. Only a matter of time before I don’t even notice the bizarreness of it.
It took a bit for me to get used to as well first startling out with MR, but Mark’s delivery now is refreshing and part of this band’s greatness. Give it time. The rich music will win you over for sure.
So of all the DM you both reviewed this week, what strikes your fancy the most? Any consensus? I have heard the Hooded Menace. Didn’t find it refreshing or new enough to bother after one song.
I enjoyed Hooded Menace, but probably won’t spin it a lot. Of the other 2, I think the Maveth is the more accessible. Even though it’s not breaking any ground, it’s damn well written and benefits from a great tone. Desolate Shrine is nightmarish evil. A dense and challenging listen. But, also really great.
I listened to the youtube teaser for the Desolate Shine. I really dig that. I just got me one on Dark Descent on vinyl. Come to Dada!
Excellent question. I don’t think Marty and I have a consensus. However, I will say I ordered the Indesinence tonight (promo mp3s didn’t do it justice); and, though at first (of the Dark Descent duo) Maveth grabbed me the most, ultimately the originality and disturbing atmosphere of Desolate Shrine won me over. Conversely, the in-your-face attack of the new Nominon cannot be denied. As long as the Maintainer of the Budget allows, I’ll have physical copies of all three \m/
ps – f*ckin’ love Binah. Thanks for the suggestion! Did you know the two dudes in Binah are also in Indesinence, and one of them – Richard Brass – is also in Cruciamentum and Wodensthrone? No surprise I dig all four!
Samael – Blood Ritual (a lot)
Saint Vitus – Hallow’s Victim, Lillie: F-65
Grief – Come To Grief
Rush – Clockwork Angels
Todd Rundgren’s Utopia (love this album)
Xasthur – Suicide In Dark Serenity
Blut Aus Nord – The Work Which Transforms God
Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction
Sentenced – Down
Manilla Road is a killer band and one that I need to invest more in. I only have Crystal Logic and Atlantis Rising and I can vouch for both being excellent. I would recommend Crystal Logic as a good place to start. Classic album. The vocals are a little different but I think you will not only get used to them after a few listens but come to appreciate their uniqueness. I am glad this topic was brought up because it has motvated me to seek out more of there stuff and based and what I read above I think I will be looking to acquire Mystificatiom next.
Also glad to see S. Craig Zahler will be contributing to Worm Gear in some capacity. I always respected his opinions.
No shit on Binah and Indesinence? Speaking of UK collaborations Jim, check out Water Witch ‘The Heavens in Traction’. Music is by the previous guitarist of Forest of Stars, but the whole band helped him record it. It is a tad like FOS, but no folk, and darker, more atmospheric. It is an very good fresh black metal album.
Ha! Guess I deserve that / will do on the Water Witch, sounds interesting \m/
No change to my playlist; I’m trying to spend more time with albums these days to really absorb them, rather than constantly jumping from title to title. Thus, I’ll slowly keep sludging through the back catalogs of My Dying Bride, Sigh, and The Chasm for now.
Re: Zahler: never interacted with him much- maybe once or twice online. Seemed like a nice guy, though I never liked his reviews as much as others on the MM squad (Wagner, Marty, and Sue were the cream of the crop). Zahler’s reviews always felt a little too focused on tiny details, exemplified by his insistence on citing times down to the second when certain riffs, notes, etc would occur. On one hand his obsessive attention to detail (“check out the hi-hat hit at the 1:33 mark!”) showed a nice, geeky enthusiasm, but simultaneously it sometimes meant that he forgot to describe the forest while reporting the length of the individual pine needles on the trees. Still, good to know he’s doing well in his post-MM career.
Re: Manilla Road- ‘Crystal Logic’ has always been the clear-consensus Best MR album among fans. Personally I find the band’s overall catalog to be really, really overrated. While the early stuff was really good, they progressively got more and more thrashy through the 80s, and that more aggressive material, combined with the poor production they have almost always had, never worked for me. Just my opinion; they’re obviously adored by a large fan base, but personally I can do without most of their catalog (and yes, I’ve listened to almost every album many times over). For me they were a band that peaked early with 2 interesting albums (Invasion & Metal) and 2 all-time class albums (Crystal Logic and Open the Gates), but then faded pretty fast. Just my 2 cents; I’m sure some of the bands I love wouldn’t go over a storm with other folks. All shocked, bewildered, and indignant comments can be sent to me at justmyopinion@getoverit.com 🙂
Oh, Re: burzthrone- Hadn’t head ‘Karelian’ in years, so when it showed up used at the local store, I felt it was time to re-visit it (sold my orig copy years ago, probably during the great CD purge of ’06). Haven’t played SR yet; been a busy week. I also really dug the ‘massive’ sound of TotTG, so I hate to hear from you that they cut back on that element. The problem with the earlier AA albums I’ve heard is that they lack that extra ‘epic’ vibe (for lack of a better word) and sort of ran together in cookie-cutter fashion, but TotTG seemed to remedy much of that. Maybe I’ll get some time this weekend to play it.
i wasn’t being sarcastic. I didn’t know the two bands had a relationship. hehe
ONE THING I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO ASK:
DOES ANYONE OWN R.U. DEADS PROMOTAPE OR ANYTHING? I would like digital copies. I can’t find my old R.U.DEAD copied tapes anywhere. MUST HAVE!