Topic: The Music Thread

@GirlVersusGame considering your post just before it on this page said you don't believe in coincidences, and then for a coincidence to happen right after it is kind of extra spooky 😂 I have mentioned it is one of my most listened to albums before (when I was surprised it didn't top the Spotify list for 2025) to be fair, so there was always a chance for it to line up like that.

If you had also been listening to Vanilla Fudge or watching The Guest then I would have claimed that spirits were meddling with our realities.

@Ravix I don't, but that was really weird. I saw the notification, saw the album art then looked again. I thought the drastic change in temperature had done something to my eyes. I'll tell you something else too, like a lot of bands I've only ever listened to their early work. I know it's right there on Spotify but I've never clicked play, that 2025 one last night was a first.

For Hawthorne Heights it's - The Silence in Black and White, If Only You Were Lonely
For Underoath it's - The Changing of Times, They're only Chasing Safety, Define the Great Line
For Alkaline Trio it's - Crimson (for years) Maybe I'll Catch Fire
For Senses Fail it's - Depths of Dreams, Let it Unfold You, Still Searching, Life is a not a Waiting Room
For Silverstein it's - When Broken Is Easily Fixed, Discovering the Waterfront, Arrivals & Departures, Shipwreck in the Sand
For Alexisonfire it's - Selftitled
For Thrice it's - Identity Crisis, The Illusion of Safety, The Artist in the Ambulance, Vheissu
For Anberlin it's - Never Take Friendship Personally, Cities, New Surrender
For Armor for Sleep it's - What to do When your Dead (amazing album) Dream to Make Believe
For The Used it's - Selftitled (obviously) In Love and Death, Lies for Liars
For Thursday it's - Full Collapse
For Bayside it's - Sirens and Condolences, Selftitled
For Chiodos it's - All's Well that Ends Well
For A Skylight Drive it's - She Watched the Sky
For Escape the Faith it's - Dying is Your Latest Fashion
For Funeral for a Friend it's - Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, Hours (obviously)
For Amity Affliction it's - Chasing Ghosts

Literally every band I like, I've heard none of their newer music. Placebo is an exception, I tried Loud like Love and really liked it. I know why I use that system, it's to preserve what I first felt when I heard that band. I one hundred percent felt those albums back then and when I listen I can replay some of that. People talk about bands changing, about the evolution of their style, I just nod when really I don't know because I stick with their early work. Especially with Screamo/Emo. I don't think I'd feel anything from they newer stuff. I can say I'm a huge Escape the Fate fan but I've only been listening to their one album my whole life. They are playing Moscow in February which means a chance to meet them but it's not the same singer or the same songs so I doubt I'd go. Which the case for a lot of live music.

Do you do that too or listen to the entire catalogue? I mentioned it to someone before and they didn't understand it at all. Maybe 'time-capsule' might also fit, but it works. Spotify Discover Weekly is always putting work in, it's just the same albums over and over again. So new music is actually ten plus years old, which is kind of funny.

That Anthonio song you linked is pretty good. I can see the influences you mentioned. It reminds me of another song, I can't figure out which. I know that Vanilla Fudge song from before but hadn't seen the band before. A bit like hearing Dire Straits your whole life and thinking 'I bet he has the looks to match that voice', that was an interesting day. He looked nothing like I expected, I'd first heard the band when I was maybe twelve years old. I only checked maybe a year ago, the same for Chris Rea, he looked nothing like I expected. That's also why I didn't know who you meant with Alkaline Trio, I probably walked right past him.

I did some calculating (A.I. calculator) and I think I started listening to most of those albums when I was twelve years old. It was the first non Classical genre I was introduced to. The same person introduced me to Underoath, she was older but Emo/Screamo was her thing, so it became my thing and never lifted. I went from Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky straight to those bands, all in one night. It was like her world collided with mine, and at the center was all of that music. She was from California and grew up on all of those bands, even saw them live. She was my social media when I didn't have any, lots of bands, lots of albums. I wrote about her to share with Tjuz, eventually. Underoath was her favorite band so Underoath became my favorite band.

I remember the first time she shared 'They're only Chasing Safety' and 'If Only you Were Lonely'. She could Screamo scream too, I'd try then choke and blow my voice out. You probably found them in England through HMV? or was it online? I imported most of the albums then rounded the rest up when I moved there.

My friends just noticed it's been playing for hours. They heard it over my headset seven hours ago on repeat while we talked, then they went to work etc, came back on 'is that the same song?' yes, yes it is. It's kind of funny that they even noticed, I was listening as I read and sketched, I didn't even notice, it just carried me along productively.

Ten hours, that's got to be a new record. Or an actual record. I need to find a way to see my Spotify stats, also sleep.

I found one and it works, it seems accurate. Spotify really should give these stat layouts as default. It's taking a while to update my listening history but last night/today was accurate. I'm waiting to see if it gives me an overall count/number for Alkaline Trio 'burn'.

It does this too, that's Underoath's 'It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door'. It's a very neat feature, I'll see how it works for more tracks once my listening history updates.

Amazing free jazz album from 1965.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN I'd forgotten about this until you mentioned Henry Grimes.

Jazz on a Summer's Day is a 1959 concert film set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island (which took place from July 3 to July 6 of 1958). The film was directed by commercial and fashion photographer Bert Stern and Aram Avakian, who also edited the film. The Columbia Records jazz producer, George Avakian, was the musical director of the film.

The film features performances by Jimmy Giuffre; Thelonious Monk; Sonny Stitt; Anita O'Day; Dinah Washington; Gerry Mulligan; Chuck Berry; Chico Hamilton, with Eric Dolphy; and Louis Armstrong, with Jack Teagarden. Also appearing are Buck Clayton, Jo Jones, Armando Peraza, and Eli's Chosen Six.

In 1999, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"

@GirlVersusGame That's awesome! Thanks for sharing that with me. I am especially intrigued to see the live performances of Monk and Dolphy, two of my old favourites. I think I've heard some Sonny Stitt, and enjoyed it, too.

Added the Blu-Ray to my to-watch list! .

There's also this album, featuring Grimes and a saxophonist. The presence of the saxophone makes things a little more colourful, and, also, dare I say, more "accessible".

more metal incoming, this would be perfect to play when KRatos stalks the realms but i need to hear when Valhalla is being screamed. Iotunn with the brilliant song Waves below from their album Access all Worlds.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN It's really good. I heard it about when reading a piece on Bert Stern. He worked a lot with some of the early Fashion publications. He was one of the last people to photograph Marilyn Monroe, after that Vogue shoot she was gone. Jazz on a Summer's Day was known as one of his best works and a really good surprise. It was praised as one of the best Jazz films of all time, I can definitely see why. It's timeless. Mahalia Jackson is brilliant, I hadn't heard Gospel before her. I found a lot of Gospel singers after listening to her. The most recent was a couple of nights ago. He does a really good cover of Moby's 'when it's cold I'd like to die'. There's nothing on his bio other than 'I love to sing', so he's humble too. I almost prefer him to Mimi Goese from the original track.

I found Benjamin Zephaniah recently too. He was recommended because I like Bob Marley and he'd recorded with The Wailers.

Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (15 April 1958 – 7 December 2023) was a British writer, dub poet, actor, musician and professor of poetry and creative writing. Over his lifetime, he was awarded 20 honorary doctorates in recognition of his contributions to literature, education, and the arts. He was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008. In his work, Zephaniah drew on his lived experiences of incarceration, racism and his Jamaican heritage.

In 1982, Zephaniah released the album Rasta, which featured the Wailers' first recording since the death of Bob Marley as well as a tribute to the political prisoner (later to become South African president) Nelson Mandela. The album gained Zephaniah international prestige and topped the Yugoslavian pop charts. It was because of this recording that he was introduced to Mandela, and in 1996, Mandela requested that Zephaniah host the president's Two Nations Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Zephaniah released a total of seven albums of original music.

@Skarasny I didn't expect to see Iotunn today, I haven't listened to them in years. I wouldn't have found out about them if not for Metal Blade. They added the live performance to Spotify last week and I completely missed it. Have you caught them live? they did Wacken last year.

I don't listen to a lot of new Black Metal but I liked Kinship, I don't know if you know the Finnish band Insomnium? that's who they reminded me of, a little Opeth too. I like the older stuff like Celtic Frost, Venom (all their work) Bathory, Immortal, Enslaved (especially Havenless) Moonsorrow, some Satyricon, Dimmu Borgir (mainly Deathcult Armageddon) early Marduk too.

I don't know if you know 'I'? it had members of Immortal, Enslaved, Gorogorth. They have the one album from 2006 called 'Between Two Worlds'.

Abbath Doom Occulta (Olve Eikemo) – vocals, guitar
Ice Dale (Arve Isdal) – guitar (absolute Gent in person, not bad on the eyes either)
TC King (Tom Cato Visnes) – bass
Armagedda (Gerhard Herfindal) – drum

@StitchJones I'm not going to not press play when I see a cat.

You might like Holy Ghost (it hit's after the one minute mark)

Maybe Sweetmates too, kind of funky.

@GirlVersusGame Thanks for sharing that with me. Definitely all food for thought.

@GirlVersusGame Yeah, Iotunn is good stuff, both records are good. I like their use of vocals, Jon Aldara can really sing. No, i havent been to a metal concert for years, iam struggling with Tinnitus so loud arenas and many people aint my thing. Last concert i went to was Bruce Springsteen and there were way to many drunk people there. last metal concert i went to was ANathema 10-15 years ago. I enjoy playing loud music in my livingroom now and there are no drunk ***** around to make my life a misery.

I actually have that record on my wishlist on bandcamp, i really like Immortal so anything that Abbath or Demonaz has done is something i could listen too. If i listen to black metal it would be Immortal, Morbid angel, Emperor, Blut aus Nord, Ruins of Beverast, Old mans Child and some new bands. I am more into Doom/funeral metal, i like the long songs and the doomy vibe. I just bought this record on bandcamp. Its a norwegian band with some of the members of Emperor in. Good Stuff

@Skarasny I'm trying Old Man's Child now, I never heard of them before. A track called 'black seeds on virgin soil', that drummer is a beast. And now I see why, it's Tjodalv from Dimmu Borgir. I've never seen Bruce live, I did have the chance to go but something came up and I regretted it years later when I understood his music better. I don't think I've seen ANathema live but I've listened to them, I think after being introduced to Katatonia. Hearing 'Soil's Song' live was brilliant. The Great Cold Distance was their first album for me, it was a promo copy too meaning each twenty seconds 'you are listening to The Great Cold Distance by Katatonia' it happened with Soilwork too for Stabbing the Drama. I kept all of those promos. They are a little piece of history.

I haven't listened to Blut aus Nord in years. So many of the Black Metal bands I found came through downloads and shady bootlegs, then once I got to England I bought them all. Black Metal gets a bad rap like a lot of Metal, people see it more as church burning and (anything MayheM) related but I think it brings people back to nature and forges a kind of landscape like no other. I say that as someone who isn't in nature. I started with regular Metal, moved onto Symphonic, Melodic and somewhere in the middle found Black Metal and Doom Metal. Green Carnation are giving off some serious Novembers Doom vibes, Shores of Null too. Novembers are I think American, Shores is Italian both I'd say would be Doomy. There are bands I listened to years ago on those bootlegs that I still haven't found, either the translations were wrong (common) or I completely forgot the name. You have great taste in Metal, Green Carnation are going to get a lot of plays today. I'm listening to 'A Dark Poem Pt1' a track called 'as silence took you'. I'll have to check out Beverast too, thanks. I think i found them under The Ruins of Beverast, ambient Black Metal. Tempelschlaf at the moment. It's giving off a little Ellende and some (I'll butcher this name) Waldegefluster. German Black Metal band who mix a lot of nature into their work.

@Ravix What do you think of Atreyu, were they big in England? I never really got into them. They always seemed a little too generic, like they were trying too hard to sound like everyone else. Then I heard Trivium and BFMV, I stopped even trying to like Atreyu after that.

@GirlVersusGame Yeah, I remember vividly when the churchburnings and the murders happened here in Norway. Everybody was scared of the satanists and the different black metal bands that was implicated in the incidents. Yeah, norwegian black metal was seen as something evil and dangerous at the time. Now people from all around the world come to see Helvete and romantize about the forest. I remember when i first heard Burzum at a friends house, it felt a bit evil to be honest, in the context of what you knew at the time. Burzum musically speaking is quite good. But the person behind is despicable and therefore i will not buy his records. You could of course argue that his music doesnt contain his hateful opinions but you will still support his lifestyle when buying the record.

That Waldegefluster or Forest whispering eller skogshvisken on norwegian was quite nice. They actually have a record that was inspired by a trip to Norway by Winterherz the vocalist. Hehe kinda funny. I would recommend Saor, which is a band/solo project that draws on their celtic roots and nature. Quite nice with bag pipes and double bass drums. When it comes to nature and music i usually listen to sami/joik music or my favourite tuva band Huun Huur tuu. MAybe you have heard of them since they come from Russia/Mongolia.

I leave you with a song from a band called Orbina which merges joik and heavy rock. A hidden gem if you ask me. He be the Running Man

@Skarasny That sounds like the first time I heard Venom, I thought I was going to call something up just in the first thirty seconds of 'In League with Satan'. Then I met some Left Hand Path practitioners and started to research it myself. I can see how Satanic Panic took off, people didn't bother reading the material they just decided 'that's evil'. Most Satanist don't even believe in The Devil, they worship man and want to become a super-being. Wiccans don't even believe in The Devil, I not a follower of Wicca anymore but I do like my Gods and Godesses. Satan panic did create some great music though. I've read some good books about the history of Black Metal like Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult by Dayal Patterson. He's written for publications like Terrorizer, Metal Hammer (how I found his book) Decibel, Classic Rock and Crypt Magazine. He laid out the history well.

That's his book, he covers almost everyone. Even Beherit who I must have read about and never listened to.

“Beherit were one of the bands who had a real mystique. Their sound was never really popularized so they’ve remained ‘cult,’ but their atmosphere of claustrophobic and pernicious ritual had a big impact on a generation of black metal. They represent a whole era when black metal felt vital, and even dangerous, in a way that was swiftly lost.”
—V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (Anaal Nathrakh) - Taken from the book.

Lords of Chaos by Michael Moynihan was very good too. I handles all of the above, church burnings, Satanism and the genre itself. There are a couple of others that could have been better like Myth and Magic in Heavy Metal Music by Robert McParland, it talks about the symbology and themes of bands like Black Sabbath but he doesn't understand the Occult so it came off more as tourists guide.

I don't really have any draw to visit Helvete but I understand why people might want to, more now that the movie (Lords of Chaos) put MayheM on the map for those who might not have been as close to the material. I don't really listen to much connected with them anymore or Burzum, for the same reasons as you just mentioned. I'm more interested in the cultural implications and the panic that was drummed up around it. We're seeing a little of that in Russia again so I'm monitoring it. A lot of things are extremist now but the Church of Satan is absolutely in those crosshairs, membership can get you years behind bars. Which basically means Black Metal is now almost illegal, a lot of things are but it's mainly down to the imagery and how it insults religious beliefs, which, no? it doesn't. Needless to say I didn't listen to any over Christmas, now I'm making up for it.

That Waldegefluster or Forest whispering eller skogshvisken on norwegian was quite nice. They actually have a record that was inspired by a trip to Norway by Winterherz the vocalist.

• I can see why, it's a very beautiful country and I'd say when people do visit it's almost like a pilgrimage to the place that birthed the genre. I've never felt the need to visit Sweden for Swedish Death Metal (I do like old InFlames, At the Gates and some Entombed) InFlames became too commercialized too fast.

I was in Oslo a couple of years ago and even-though it wasn't a remote location I understood enough of my surroundings to feel the difference. Maybe one day I'll get to Bergen.

Oh I know Saor, from Scotland, Amidst the Ruins has gotten a lot of plays. The same tour manager who turned me onto Eluveitie introduced me to Saor, Primordial (also Celtic) Winterfyletth, Stormkeep and I think Ensiferum. I learned a lot about Folk Metal from him, he would only work shows like that so it was probably for NuclearBlast Records. He knew a lot of the smaller bands too that I'd never have found. We once ended up in the mountains somewhere for a big bonfire, I don't remember which band it was but they went back to nature in a big way that night (non PG) I remember the next day we saw two hitchhikers walking past and I think they called the police because a patrol car came and they were very curious.

The guys looked like they'd walked off of Game of Thrones (hence so many bands I know got bits on the show, the Vikings show too, many are Metal guys) and there was meat everywhere, so much sausage. They do that at Wacken too, grill a lot of meat to soak up all of their beer. That was my first and only camping trip. They washed in the river too, real mans stuff. all of the firewood was gathered from fallen trees, it felt like going back in time. I stayed awake all night because there was no way I was sleeping in the middle of nowhere but it was really memorable. Just Metal all night and the first time I saw a bonfire, it was huge and probably dangerous. It was their idea of an after party, going into the mountains and doing naughty things, also cooking a lot of meat with raw fire. I think they were Pagans, some of those bands are, not just for show, they live that life.

I do actually know Huun-Huur-Tu their music is highly respected. They were on of those State sponsored groups that really took off even internationally. I look at groups like that as something to preserve. They've performed everywhere, definitely in London but I've never known how to explain them to anyone. The Hu is a little easier to explain, I call them ThroatSingingMetal and I know no other band who even comes close to them. Rob Zombie likes them so much he brought them on tour. I'm trying to imagine what it must be like opening with Wolf Totem and then going straight to Rob, unforgettable.

You probably don't know Chthonic? They are more Melodic Death Metal but they have some great Folk songs too. They are so unique, their lead singer was a Taiwanese Ambassador, that's how I was introduced to their music. Normally trips like that are a bore-fest and I can't always hide headphones under my hair. So when I heard 'he is also a Metal singer' I went straight to him and asked was it true, then grabbed some headphones and spent the rest of the evening listening to his band on Youtube. I couldn't buy any CDs before we left but years later I saw them live. The acoustic isn't on Spotify, only Youtube.

I'm trying Orbina now, they are definitely different. They remind me of a Rock band I heard in Czech Republic, a really similar sound to my ears at least. I don't know if you think so too.

Someone just introduced me to Bad Omens, and to Poppy. If I had to sum them up, Static X for girls. They aren't bad at all, their drummer sounds like a machine gun. They are kind of synth-Metal with a lot of Industrial for good measure. She can certainly scream.

@StitchJones I hadn't heard Unearth in so long.