New Stuff We Dig

The feeling one gets when one discovers something new is a unique experience...

After discovering Daylight Dies here I immediately got hold of their latest album and set about drowning myself in their unique brand of melancholy death/doom. Having never heard them before I was genuinely impressed and enraptured at the same time. Step two, secure their entire back-catalogue with the intent to immerse myself even further in the Daylight Dies experience. Having done this and having been thoroughly converted to Daylight Dies at the same time, the next logical step for me was to share the experience with the rest of the world. more

Welcome To My World

Tonight is lazy entry night.

I'm exhausted from the 12 hour shift I just finished, all the family has gone to bed and the only thing I actually feel like doing is sleeping for a month. Unfortunately I suffer from a complex disorder which distorts a great deal of my social interaction, and never really gives me any rest. The name of this complex disorder, which appears to be absent from the majority of most people I do have some kind of social interaction with, on one level or another.....guilt. more

New Stuff We Dig

When I was younger I was never a fan of melodic death metal.

I was entirely engrossed in the death/grind sound bands like Napalm Death and Carcass were churning out by the bucket-load. I wasn't interested in anything but absolute brutality in music. That young man's need for the guitars to rip your head off your shoulders is still entrenched in my brain. As with all things, when one reaches a certain age ones needs change.

And so I found myself searching the metal scene more and more for that something special, that awesome blend of head-smashing brutality and my new, more mature musical need to hear awesome music. And so we come to the album at hand, Before The Dawn's latest masterpiece "Rise Of The Phoenix". This album is actually a few months old (released April this year) but as I've said before I have a pile of recent albums I would like to review. more

Welcome To My World

Wednesday 3rd October

Tonight I can't be bothered.

I get out of the shower after my weekly basketball game, and sit down with my humble blog, fully intending to review some masterpiece I have stashed away on my hard drive since the beginning of the year. As soon as I get comfortable, I have to decide what album to review. Before I even open up the media player, the thought comes to my mind, most of the albums on said hard drive have been listened to a billion times in the past few months, and I really couldn't be bothered listening to them again.

So what do I do? I turn on the internet radio on my humble laptop and hope and pray that some decent metal comes out the other end. This is the problem I have with modern metal, and to a large extent music in general. Of the 90 minutes I've been listening, I've heard one song from a band I've never heard of which merited a search for their material on facebook or youtube, just to ensure I actually did heard a good song. the remaining 85 minutes have been a frustrating glimpse into the current state of our beloved metal scene.

I have some bad news.....more

New Stuff We Dig

Tuesday 2nd October

It is a very rare occasion I am really impressed.

I either suffer from a ridiculous superiority complex, or I have really high standards when it comes to music. I guess it has a lot to do with my history, a family immersed in classical music, where everyone learned an instrument. Coming from that background it's very hard to accept rubbish which is in no way musical whatsoever.

The first time I heard Swallow The Sun I was impressed with their peculiar, yet familiar, take on the death/doom sound. That album was their 2007 effort "Hope". The melodic yet brutish urgency of this work surprised me, and I became a fan instantly. I was equally awe struck with their follow up album "New Moon" of 2009, having come to the predetermined assumption that, like all bands who release really good albums, the next effort would be a waste of time. more

Welcome To My World

1 Oct

I've decided to turn this section into my gripes page. This is where I get to yell at the top of my lungs a variety of contemplative pronouncements which will, in all likelihood polarize people away from or possibly closer to my side of the fence. I'm not fully convinced the latter is a good idea, but on we go....

To start off, as much as it really does hurt me to say this, My Dying Bride have become the epitome of cheese.

This is a term I quite commonly use for bands/music that, although well put together and obviously derived from talented musicians, has the consistency and flavor of aforementioned dairy product. You may have guessed I am not a fan of cheese. I enjoy it liberally with my pasta and salad, but by itself it is bland, hard to chew and sits very heavily on my stomach. more

New Stuff We Dig

I'm in the middle of wading through all the new stuff I want to share with the world, and right now I'm at a loss as to which album is more worthy of praise. The solution then springs to mind, I'll prattle on about the album I'm currently torturing my aged eardrums with, which turns out to be Inborn Suffering's "Regression To Nothingness".

I must firstly admit that I hadn't heard about Inborn Suffering prior to listening to this album. This French band has been around since 2002, and only managed to release 1 demo and 1 album prior to "Regression To Nothingness". I am currently wondering about the sanity of the recording industry if for all this time this band has managed to slip beneath the notice of every label on the planet! more

New Stuff We Dig

If there's one thing that totally drives me crazy when discovering new music its having to wait until the band finishes their album. The tasters that are becoming the norm for pre-promotion of an album are a great idea, but they leave me with such a sick feeling in my gut.

I want so much more than the one song.

Such is the case with Enshine.

This from their youtube page:
Enshine, Jari Lindholm (ex-Slumber/Atoma) project with vocals of Sébastien Pierre (Inborn Suffering, Fractal Gates, Cold Insight). This track is taken from our upcoming first album, mixed and mastered, just searching for some label soon. We'll compose together by the first days of september a new album. The logo is temporary.

Ignore the fact that there is precious little information that the band has released, I am completely overwhelmed by the two tracks they have showcased. The guitar sound is totally original, very similar to Burzum in its trance-like quality, with the haunting layered sound which Anathema do very well. the structures are straightforward, but that is a good thing. The simplicity of the overall work is engaging and enthralling. Words are not enough to describe the sonic masterpiece these two awesome musicians have created.

Enjoy

J

From The Archives

Saturday 29th September

Thought I would share this with everyone.

This was the result of many years of frustration as a musician in the metal scene. I was completely unable to find any like-minded artists to create the music I wanted to hear, so I decided to write my own music and get some of my mates to help me out.

The recordings never really saw the light of day, but I am proud of what I tried to do. I still have a couple of songs kicking around my head, and maybe I'll find the time to record them. When I do I'll post them here for posterity.

Enjoy

J