[eyeteeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cousin Patty /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now, Diabolical is pretty cool. It's very stripped down and not overproduced at all. Very different from Satyricon's older stuff like The Shadowthrone or Nemesis Divina as far as the overall feel of the music... but still a quality release for fans of the band.

What do you mean by "overproduced"?
I listened to it twice and there was some fun but no single song reached out and grabbed me into repeated listens. It almost leans in the direction of a NIN or older Cure which is interesting to hear. The most notable aspect is the sound quality, which is really pretty good, and I turned it up loud; that was fun.

 

[Enverxis]

Got my Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain vinyls today, very impressed with the packaging, Unfortunately I don't have a turntable but I also got a copy for a few friends so I am going round to one's place on Thursday to listen

 

[asmox]

Stopped by a little shop in Singapore today... wasn't expecting to spend much time there, but ended up being surprised by their stock. They had a metal section with everything including Morbid Angel and Decapitated, Darkthrone and Xasthur, Electric Wizard and Sunn O))), and lots of stuff inbetween.

Walked out with a bunch of albums and an angry wallet -

Sikth - Death of a Dead Day
Ihsahn - The Adversary
Intronaut - Void
Mouth of the Architect / Kenoma - Split
Esoteric - Subconscious Dissolution into the Continuum
Isis - Oceanic
Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
Discordance Axis - Our Last Day (was REALLY surprised to see this there)

...and some other non-metal stuff.

 

[Enverxis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by asmox /img/forum/go_quote.gif Walked out with a bunch of albums and an angry wallet - Esoteric - Subconscious Dissolution into the Continuum Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

Some good doom there

 

[Nacher]

I finally bought some albums. Initial impressions :

Orne - The Conjuration By Fire

Not really dark metal, but a really cool album. It doesn't sound like a cheap try to mimic the 70s prog sound, it actually almost nails it. The instrumentation, vocals, fuzzy and organic sound & production, the psychedelia.. It's all there. The tracks 2-4 are god-like, though the rest of the album is good as well. I actually like Orne more than Reverend Bizarre, even though Orne is kind of their side project...

Nest - Trail of the Unwary

Acoustic mood. Synths, kantele and some distant vocals. A bit like Tenhi, but more ambient like. This is really emotional and dark. One of the greatest semi-ambient albums I have heard in ages. Much better than previous Nest albums, which were good as well. To get an idea how dark this stuff is at times, keep in mind that A.Tolonen, whose one mand band Nest is, also played kantele in Shape of Despair.

Dark Sanctuary - Les Memoires Blessees

Another dark but non metal album. I wouldn't compare this to Elend, like Enverxis did (?). This is more like Dargaar. Hypnotic, simple gothic darkwave. Not like it would be a bad thing though. I have already listened this album through a dozen times, and nothing can stop me from aquiring more albums from this group.

Alabama Thunder***** - Open Fire

I was in a mood for some sludge/stoner metal. And this fits the bill perfectly. Heavy southern rock mixed with metal. Crunchy riffs, raspy vocals, bluesy guitar solos. Great music to listen to in the car.

Maudlin of the Wel - Leaving Your Body Map

I'm not entirely sure of what I think of this. I had some fears that it would sound metalcorish like Dillinger Escape Plan. Fortunately it doesn't. This stuff sounds good and interesting, but I still haven't really gotten into it. Maybe one year from now, I'll listen to this album in the right mood and it will rock my world. So far it hasn't reached even nearly as much playtime as the previously mentioned albums.

Hanging Garden - Inherit The Eden

Finally a real dark metal album in this list, hehe. Hanging Garden got signed to Spikefarm at the same time as Swallow the Sun did, and they do indeed sound quite similar. Hanging Garden is really good gloomy death/doom. Not as good as Swallow the Sun - Hope, but how could it be? Still a very worthy doom album. Lots of melodic parts, acoustic inderludes, guitar harmonies, hypnotic parts... It's all there. If you're into melodic doom, you have to check this out.

Edit : LOL, Alabama Thunder*bleep* got censored.

 

[asmox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverxis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Some good doom there

I've just heard way too much about those albums... and while my general dislike of heavily droning doom has kept me from actively ordering them from some webshop, I just couldn't resist when they were right there at my fingertips, lol.

Have you heard Mouth of the Architect, by chance? I haven't listened to this split disc yet, but they alone are sort of like a mix between the best of Isis and some as yet unheard of doom band. Might be worth checking out, if you get the opportunity.

That Disillusion disc has also received some unnaturally positive reviews.

 

[Cousin Patty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeteeth /img/forum/go_quote.gif What do you mean by "overproduced"? I listened to it twice and there was some fun but no single song reached out and grabbed me into repeated listens. It almost leans in the direction of a NIN or older Cure which is interesting to hear. The most notable aspect is the sound quality, which is really pretty good, and I turned it up loud; that was fun.

I just meant that it's a pretty simple mix. They weren't doing anything fancy with the recording. Its pretty stripped down. Not good or bad, just an observations I made. A recording that I would consider to be heavily produced would be Deathcult Armageddon by Dimmu Borgir for example. For reference.

I know what you mean though about none of the tracks really jumping out at you. Its a good album overall, but the only track I get into really is 'K.I.N.G.'. Which is the single from the album I believe.

 

[MdRex]

Quote:

Stopped by a little shop in Singapore today...

Where in Singapore? I would love to know, since most metal CD are either not stocked or just ridiculously overpriced in Singapore.

BTW, off topic, you are here on a holiday?

 

[Enverxis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nacher /img/forum/go_quote.gif I finally bought some albums. Initial impressions : Orne - The Conjuration By Fire Not really dark metal, but a really cool album. It doesn't sound like a cheap try to mimic the 70s prog sound, it actually almost nails it. The instrumentation, vocals, fuzzy and organic sound & production, the psychedelia.. It's all there. The tracks 2-4 are god-like, though the rest of the album is good as well. I actually like Orne more than Reverend Bizarre, even though Orne is kind of their side project...

I still need to pick up the actual CD, I haven't had a chance to listen to it that much but I would probably agree, Reverend Bizarre are fun, but Orne has more depth.

Quote:

Nest - Trail of the Unwary Acoustic mood. Synths, kantele and some distant vocals. A bit like Tenhi, but more ambient like. This is really emotional and dark. One of the greatest semi-ambient albums I have heard in ages. Much better than previous Nest albums, which were good as well. To get an idea how dark this stuff is at times, keep in mind that A.Tolonen, whose one mand band Nest is, also played kantele in Shape of Despair.

Another album I've been waiting for, have only heard good things about it, can't wait to pick it up.
Quote:

Dark Sanctuary - Les Memoires Blessees Another dark but non metal album. I wouldn't compare this to Elend, like Enverxis did (?). This is more like Dargaard. Hypnotic, simple gothic darkwave. Not like it would be a bad thing though. I have already listened this album through a dozen times, and nothing can stop me from aquiring more albums from this group.

Excellent, I knew you would enjoy Dark Sanctuary. The reason I compared them to Elend's Winds Devouring Men because of the atmosphere and really sad emotion portrayed by the music, whereas Dargaard isn't really depressing at all. Also while Dargaard is almost completely electronic, Dark Sanctuary is acoustic (minus the keyboards) like Elend.

I thoroughly recommend Dark Sanctuary's L'etre las l'envers du miroir and Exaudi Vocem Meam Part II which are probably the other top albums of theirs. I also own De lumière et d'obscurité which I haven't given a proper spin and I will be meaning to pick up Royaume Mélancolique very soon. Exaudi Vocem Meam Part I is apparently not a very strong album according to the guy who got me into the band.

Quote:

Maudlin of the Well - Leaving Your Body Map I'm not entirely sure of what I think of this. I had some fears that it would sound metalcorish like Dillinger Escape Plan. Fortunately it doesn't. This stuff sounds good and interesting, but I still haven't really gotten into it. Maybe one year from now, I'll listen to this album in the right mood and it will rock my world. So far it hasn't reached even nearly as much playtime as the previously mentioned albums.

Took me maybe 20 spins of Bath to get into it, after that I was hooked. The reason it took that long is it is because unlike anything I'd heard before, you have to really take it in to find the flow between the songs, after that it will seem like a seamless transition.
I got Bath first because Bath & Leaving Your Body Map are joint concept albums, the concept itself is a rather abstract view of life, death and the reflections of it (from my calculations anyhow).

 

[asmox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MdRex /img/forum/go_quote.gif Where in Singapore? I would love to know, since most metal CD are either not stocked or just ridiculously overpriced in Singapore. BTW, off topic, you are here on a holiday?

Not a holiday, exactly... more like a work-related pit stop.

As for the store - yeah, it was ridiculously overpriced. It was the HMV on Orchard Road, next to the cinema building. The only reason I didn't walk out with more albums is because of the obscene prices... but walking into a record shop with interesting stock and walking out with nothing is an impossibility for me

 

[MdRex]

Quote:

As for the store - yeah, it was ridiculously overpriced. It was the HMV on Orchard Road, next to the cinema building. The only reason I didn't walk out with more albums is because of the obscene prices... but walking into a record shop with interesting stock and walking out with nothing is an impossibility for me

I was there yesterday. HMV is WAYYY to overpriced. Kamelot's the Black Halo is like SGD$43 or like US$28. DT's 6DOIT was like US$34. When you say "little shop", that would be like the largest CD shop we have in Singapore.

 

[DarkAngel]

Enverxis
Are you really happy with your Black Dragon cable for RS1?
I am very close to sending my AKG 701 in for Black Dragon upgrade, but there is not much feedback in forums........

I really like my Senn 650 with Zu Mobius upgrade

 

[Enverxis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Enverxis Are you really happy with your Black Dragon cable for RS1? I am very close to sending my AKG 701 in for Black Dragon upgrade, but there is not much feedback in forums........ I really like my Senn 650 with Zu Mobius upgrade

Well the cable has superb build quality, i'll say that now.

The sound was an improvement over the stock cable, I had a sneaking suspicion that it also made the cans less forgiving as well as more refined. The biggest difference was probably the highs. Odd though because what I could find on the cable was that it improved the lower frequencies more, turned out not to be what I expected I guess. My cable was cheap (koss ksc-75 price) because of the mods already done to the RS-1. I would have to hear a Stock RS-1 and this can side by side to really give a thorough impression.

My RS-1s are fairly damn modded (Doobooloo Mods, Headphile V7 C-Pads and Black Dragon cable, but they sound alot better than the stock RS-1. I do prefer the sound of the bowl pads in alot of instances over the C-Pads but the C-Pads are more comfortable, offer larger/deeper soundstage and suit most metal music better. I'm not as concerned with SQ as I used to be so when I pick up a HD650 i'll probably just stick to the stock cable.

 

[DarkAngel]

Ok, guess I will go with a black dragon...........the stock cable is very very cheap looking and can't possibly be allowing the AKG 701 to perform at full potential. Also will go with split connection into heaphones to fully extract all possible SQ.

 

[Enverxis]

Another ripper of an album that I discovered this week

Warning - Watching from A Distance
Traditional Doom Metal, Vocals actually sound VERY similar to Ozzy Osbourne from the first few Sabbath albums except this guy is less nasal and a far more consistent singer.
The music is very ... slow. Trying to think of something that it sounds similar too, the guitar melodies are very good, sometimes they weep, sometimes they crush, obvious hommages to the old school doom metal bands (Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Candlemass, Cathedral) as well as a few newer influences (While Heaven Wept?, Doom:VS? Evoken?) perhaps (or similarities anyway).

If anyone wants a sample, I'll send them a PM with a song upload.

Some other bands that I have discovered/enjoying recently
Hate Forest (Ukraine Black Metal)
Ved Buens Ende (Norweign Avantgarde Black Metal
Procer Veneficus (you could call it acoustic black metal?)
Onmyou-Za (Japanese Heavy Metal with male/female operatic vocals)
Stargazer (Australian Avantgarde Black Metal)
Astriaal (Australian Black Metal)
Tvangeste (Russian Symphonic Black Metal)

DarkAngel probably owns a few cds from that list.