Black cosmic sea, I sing to thee …
When holidays end and the grind threatens to crush your blackened soul in the wake of its return, what else can you do but bleed your ears with the recent developments in the extreme scene? Luckily Worm Gein-sers will always be here to give you the tools to purge reality from your human refuse-filled day. This week, Marty takes the reigns (heh) and waxes analytical on the German Black Metal of Vyre, the sweet Swede death metal of Diabolical, the death/doom of the oddly named The Gardnerz, and the stunningly disturbing/bizarre/night-terror-inducing DM of the latest from Ævangelist, which has made its way on a few writers’ EOY list. Decide for yourself! Wait, there’s one more here… what’s this … a new Profanatica album? Run for your lives! The penultimate purveyors of Black Metal perversion have returned with
body fluids in tow. Listen/read/tremble/avert your eyes in disgust, just make sure you post your comments and playlists because, well, you know …
Marty Rytkonen Playlist
Panopticon – Roads to the North pre-master
Waldgeflüster – Meine Fesseln
Vex – Memorious 2LP
The Gathering – Mandylion
Blodsrit – Hinterland
Enslaved – Eld (This is hands down my favorite Enslaved album. Granted, theirs is a mostly impressive catalog, but Eld is pure magic)
Forefather – Steadfast
Forefather – Last of the Line
Forefather – Ours is the Kingdom
Fyrnask – Eldir Nótt
Jim Clifton Playlist
Seidr – Ginunngagap
Moon – The Nine Gates
Denouncement Pyre – Almighty Arcanum
Demilich – Nespithe
Deceased – Supernatural Addiction
Nocturnal Graves – …From the Bloodline of Cain
Incantation – Mortal Throne of Nazarene
Dark Funeral – Secrets of the Black Arts
Danzig – I-IV
Carcass: Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious
Worm Gear 
Metal is slowly finding its way back to the menu:
Negura Bunget – Om
Negura Bunget – ‘N Crugu Bradului
Wyrd – Vargtimmen Pt. I
Agalloch – Pale Folklore
Agalloch – The Mantle
Altar of Plagues – Teethed Glory & Injury
Revelation – Inner Harbour
Dio – Holy Diver
Iron Maiden – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Orange Goblin – Frequencies from Planet Ten
Orange Goblin – Time Traveling Blues
Conan vs. Slomatics – Split
Slomatics – A Hocht
White Hills – Frying on this Rock
White Hills – Live at Roadburn 2011
White Hills – So You Are… So You’ll Be
Monomyth – s/t
Atlantis – Omens
Clutch – s/t
Karma to Burn – Almost Heathen
Queens of the Sone Age – …Like Clockwork
Surprised to find Mandylion mentioned here, do you like it? If so, why?
Now let’s see if I’m in the right state of mind to wrap my head around that new Ævangelist…
Damn I’m jealous of you listening to that new Panopticon. I have a feeling that is going to be the record of they year in 2014. Been going through my favorite 2013 releases and finding some I missed.
Germ – Grief
Sombres Forêts – La Mort du Soleil
Ævangelist – Omen Ex Simulacra
Kawir – Isotheos
Gris – A l’ame Enflammee, l’ame Constellee
Deicide – In the Minds of Evil
Craven Idol – Towards Eschaton
Orator – Kapalegnosis
Glorior Belli – Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls
Artillery – Legions
Tyrants Blood – Into the Kingdom of Graves
Occultist – Death Sigils
Ayreon – The Theory of Everything
Cannibal Corpse – The Bleeding
Cannibal Corpse – Kill
Ghost – If You Have
Stratovarius – Nemesis
Hammerforce – Access Denied
Agrimonia – Rites of Separation
Atlantean Kodex – The White Goddess
Goreguts – Colored Sand
Vhol – Vhol
Inquisition – Obscure Verses for the Multiverse
Tribulation – Formulas of Death
Djevel – Besatt av Maane Og Natt
Witherscape – The Inheritance
Twilight of the Gods – Fire on the Mountain
Progenie Terrestre Pura – U.M.A.
Kacey Musgraves – Same Trailer Different Park
Voices – From Human Forest Create a Fuge of Imaginary Rain
Power Trip – Manifest Decimation
Saor – Roots
Battlesoul – Tir Na Nog
Caladan Brood – Echoes of Battle
Mandylion… i loce Anneke’s voice, her power and choixe of harmony over the riffs. Nighttime birds and how to measure a planet are probably my 2 fave albums by them, but yeah… there is a depresive element to The Gathering that appeals to me. Saw them live once…. she was purely angelic!
Good damn, that is a long play list Kevin. Sounds like you are having fun!
The ‘best album’ of any year doesn’t exist IMO. Perhaps what one most enjoys is more aptly put. And hence, a segue request:
To Wormgear – if you do a ‘Top’ anything this year, don’t do it just by full lengths. EPs, demos, MLPs too please. And fuck genre separation. Just want you most enjoyed in Metal. I know you guys struggle with the concept of lists, but I suppose cause everyone else does them, it is hard not to do it yourselves. Release thyself from TEMPTATION Fine Sirs! Rather, why not just SHIT on lists all together. They are awfully juvenile and teenagerish anyways, yes?
Playlist – Lots of Black Metal for the colder weather in San Francisco (yeah low of 30’s and high of 50, that is cold for us pussies over here you cunty ice cubes! hehe)
Midnight Oyssey/Tempestuous Fall/Crevices Below ‘Converge, Rivers of Hell’
AnXpm / Symphonia Saacrosancta Split
Forest of Stars – A Shadow Play for Yesterdays
Dodecahedron – S/T
Dark Sonority – Kaosrekviem
Convulse – World Without God (Voicesfromthedarkside review is wrong. This is a great comeback album!)
Lvcifyre – Svn Eater (hell yes, heavy, sick evil and dark crushing Morbid Angel influenced Bliss)
Sartegos – As Fontes Do negrume
Scolex – Torn from Beyond
White Darkness – Tokage
Thorns/Emperor Split (just the Thorns for me please! )
It’s was actually a culmination of the past two weeks lol. I love those year end lists because I find so much great stuff and my lists are only in the spirit of spreading the metal around. I don’t pick a #1 or rank them in any way other than these are awesome albums I heard this year.
oh, i didn’t mean playlists. haha. that would be funny if i did, because i would be king hypocrite there.
Glad you brought the ‘end-of-year’/’best of’ list topic up; you’re right, it is a struggle for me whether or not we should do them, as it seem to be a bit of a played-out trope on review sites nowadays. But Kevin has a valid point too – it certainly can be a good way for one to get informed about something he or she may have missed amongst the multitude of annual releases, so Patrick your thoughts about doing something without any genre or album length/type limitations would be the way I’d like to approach it. Ultimately it’s just ‘what we think is cool’ anyway. Frankly I’d be just as interested in what albums received the most spins in our readers’ players of choice as I would sharing my own, so maybe that’s reason enough to stoke the fires with a WG contribution 🙂 What do you think, Marty?
yeah, exactly. I would be happy to share what i enjoyed the most this year. that is kinda of how i like to frame things. a lot of it will be of no surprise to you guys. haha. and likewise, i want to know everyone else’s too! Always looking for new stuff i missed!
Marty> I should give Mandylion a re-evaluation… I was a big fan (they were/are hometown heroes) and I wanted to like the new album with the new singer but at the time Anneke (her hippie goth stage persona more so than her voice I must add) really fucking annoyed me. Do you know their debut Always? If not, do yourself a favor and check it out, it’s one of the most beautiful doom (beautiful doom? yes, beautiful doom!) albums ever in my humble opinion…
Patrick> totally agree on that new Convulse! What do you think of that Converge, Rivers of Hell split?
End of year lists? Yeah, bring ‘m on, I like lists. I’m a nerd!
Converge, Rivers of Hell is fantastic. I have been listening to it at least once a day. The 3way split marks the end of Tempestuous Fall and Crevices Below. The art and layout inside the booklet is outstanding. A must get.
who has the new ruins of beverast? best one? recommended?
Have it. Best one? Mmm difficult… Haven’t given it enough spins. Recommended in any case.
Re: Lists, As a typical metalhead the more lists the better. I’ve never been bothered by year end, middle of year, best songs by…, best songs with a moog solo, best genrea lists. The more the better. I Always looked forward to the year end lists from Metal Maniacs, so bring forth the year end lists!
Marty I have to second Enslaved’s Eld, my favorite from them as well as one of my favorite albums period! I also am a big supporter of year end lists and would love to see the WormGear crews’ top picks.
Atrocity – Todessehnsucht
Death In June – But What Ends When the Symbols Shatter?
NONONO – Pumpin Blood EP (some of the best pop I’ve heard in ages)
Melt Banana – Fetch
Soror Dolorosa – No More Heroes
MUTation – Error 500 (a supergroup of sorts with Napalm Death, Cardiacs, The Fall, one of the coolest, weirdest albums I’ve heard this year)
Beastmilk – Climax
Guardian Alien – See the World Given to a One Love Entity
Carrier Flux – In Waste
Timeghoul – everything
Psychopath – everything
Ophthalamia – Dominion
Starkweather – This Sheltering Night
No one is saying lists are bad ya cunts. Lists are okay. Its just the way they are sold and packaged at most of your favorites local metal sites, i.e. top 10 albums, as if there are actually 10 albums that really are the best for all metalheads. Ya see, understand? no? ah, fuck it…
Drinking again, Patrick?
naah.
Re: Enslaved – Eld is the first Enslaved album I heard and the one that got me into the band. Definitely one of my favorites, but it was Mardraum that probably had the most impact on me and is still my favorite today. I really liked how the progressive elements they added to their sound on that album. At the time Mardraum sounded so unique, but now that they have released many albums since incorporating progressive metal sounds into their albums, it makes Eld sound like a more unique album in their catalog. Either way they have a fairly impressive catalog.