Live and breathe, only cease, old and grey
The reviews keep coming and so do the new releases! It’s hard to believe that 2013 is creeping into it’s coffin, for there is no sign of the labels letting up on their assault of our senses. This is a good thing. Even though the metal world ebbs and flows, it seems the overall outlook is strong with many great releases happening this year. As I spun the latest Entrails CD on the way home from work, I got to thinking about the passing of time and oddly enough, the thrash explosion, overpopulation and eventual death of the genre during the early 90’s as death metal arrived to finish it off. In 2013, death metal has endured the distraction fans have had with black metal and seems to be reaching a level of popularity and boiling point akin to the rise and fall of thrash. Thankfully I still enjoy the sound and style, but am beginning to hear cracks in artists wells of creativity. Do you think death metal, no matter how redundant or rehashed it can or will turn out to be, can survive another 20 years with so many of the classic bands either retiring, or being unable to deliver material as strong as their timeless classics? Hmm…
As you ponder the life expectancy of a beloved genre, don’t hesitate to offer your playlists and by all means… share with the class! -Marty
Marty Rytkonen Playlist
Burzum – Umskiptar
Vex – Memorious 2LP Test Pressing
Seidr – Ginnungagap
Ashes of Ares – S/T
Tempestuous Fall – The Stars Would Not Awake You
Subhumans – EPLP
Summoning – Old Mournings Dawn
Entrails – Raging Death
Clandestine Blaze – Harmony of Struggle
General Surgery – Corpus in Extremis
Jim Clifton Playlist
Inquisition – Obscure Verses for the Multiverse
Vex – Memorious 2LP Test Pressing
Seidr – Ginnungagap
Long Distance Calling – Avoid the Light
Wolves In The Throne Room – Celestial Lineage
Darkthrone – Hate Them
Drudkh – Autumn Aurora
Jakob – Solace
Decrepit Soul – The Summoning
Latitudes – Individuation
Weapon – From the Devil’s Tomb
Jake Moran Playlist
Sangre de Muerdago – Sangre de Muerdago
Plinth – Music for Small’s Lighthouse
Heathen Harvest – Samhain Work I (I’m anticipating this year’s Samhain compilation with gleaming eyes and ghostly gratitudes)
The Glorious Dead – The Burdensome Ceremony Of Interment
Richard Moult – Aonoran
Richard Moult – Yclpt
Richard Moult – Rodorlihtung
Biosphere – Substrata
Dark Britannica III – Hail Be You Sovereigns, Lief And Dear
The Cloisters – The Cloisters
Worm Gear 
I think there are some amazing death metal bands right now. I don’t think it will die off, more likely it will have a resurgence in some sort of “retro” way similar to what happened with thrash not to long ago.
The Creephshow – Life After Death
Skeletonwitch – Serpents Unleashed
Castevet – Obsian
Nocturnal Graves – …From the Bloodline of Cain
Necrophobic – Womb of Lilithu
Manzer – Light of the Wreckers
Manzer – Pictavian Bastards
Watain – Sworn to the Dark
Watain – The Wild Hunt
Manowar – Louder Than Hell
Absu – The Sun of Tiphareth
Hail of Bullets – III Rommel Chronicles
Watain – Rabid Death’s Curse
Manowar – Fighting the World
Fleshgod Apocalypse – Labyrinth
Sentenced – Amok
Motorhead – Aftershock
Vinterland – Welcome My Last Chapter
Absu – Tara
Posthum – Lights Out
Eïs – Wetterkreuz
Inquisition – Obscure Verses for the Multiverse
The ‘resurgence’ is happening now. Marty, listen to better Death Metal (not Entrails) and ya might feel like there is more ‘new’ fresh ideas than you think.
I do typically listen to better death metal. Typically a lot of the old classic stuff. I was recently given a load of CDs (thanks Zahler) and Entrails was in the pile. As it was mixed and mastered by Swano, I had to throw it in the car player and give it a chance. I bet he, the genius behind Crimson, hears this new stuff and just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. Entrails, like a lot of the Swedeath influenced stuff coming out, is largely boring and tired sounding, enveloped by a killer tone thanks to studio trickery.
I know the genre is in the middle of the resurgence and I do like a lot of the new stuff. But part of the modern trend is to sound so convoluted by darkness that the music becomes very alienating to the listener, unless you’re in the mood for a bottomless decent into hell. I do get in that mood, and like where bands are pushing the boundaries, but I often find that songwriting was just better during the formative years of the genre AND the sound was great/more legitimate.
There’s still plenty of life left in death metal as far as I’m concerned. Death metal never left (like thrash did). Sure there’s crap but there has always been crap. The number of releases these days is just a lot higher than in the old days, so more crap is inevitable. There’s still a lot of the old bands going strong in my opinion; Immolation, Incantation and Suffocation all showed they’re still relevant this year, Gorguts is back with a bang, Cannibal Corpse has yet to make a subpar album and even if their latest is a crying shame Morbid Angel has a great track record as well. Autopsy, Convulse and Purtenance are back from the dead and succesfully so. And then there’s relative newcomers Graveyard, Oniricous, Morbus Chron, Morbid Blood, Disma, Beyond, Cruciamentum, Horrendous, Ataraxy, Rattenfänger and Undergang providing classy songwriting with fresh variations on rotten old school riffing (as opposed to the oppressive nightmarish stuff that Marty refers to which is cool too by the way; Mitochondrion, Portal, Antediluvian, Aevangelist etc…).
So yeah, as far as I’m concerned: what is dead may never die! \m/
Gotta go, playlist later.
Playlist:
Seidr – Ginnungagap
Seidr – For Winter Fire
Blood of the Black Owl – Light the Fires!
Blood of the Black Owl – A Feral Spirit
Blood of the Black Owl – A Banishing Ritual
Purtenance – Awaken from Slumber
Necropsy – Tomb of the Forgotten: The Complete Demo Recordings (I’m usually not one for demos but this is quality; from old school Kreator worship to death/thrash to blunt and heavy findeath over the course of three discs filled with nostalgic atmospheres)
Mystic Charm – Shadows of the Unknown (finally got my hands on this one, truly a gem!)
Motörhead – Aftershock
Pearl Jam – Lightning Bolt
Arcade Fire – Reflektor
Genres ebb and flow, come and go. I don’t follow the death scene close enough to know what it stands today or where it will go. Nothing lasts forever, and nothing really ends.
Found a used NOVEMBRE cd in the local store today. That’s kinda like finding a satellite dish in Amish country.
Q: The Seider stream on The Gauntlet site seems really short but was advertised as the full album. Was it only the first 10 minutes, was it shortened after the intial posting, or is my computer just not playing the entire thing?
Playlist:
Soundgarden- badmotorfinger
Viper- evolution. Old Brazilian power metal favorite (post-Andre Matos)
Agalloch- Pale Folklore. ‘Cause it’s that time of year
Badmotorfinger!!! \m/ 🙂