Currently Listening

[Mantis]

I'm not sure why I never really paid these guys much attention in the past, but I've been listening to a lot of Gojira lately.



They are excellent.

[Stormbringer]

I am listening to Om this week. Stoner doom metal with a strong "eastern mystical" vibe. They've become one of my favourite artists in recent times.

They have three albums of note:

God is Good




Pilgrimage




Adviatic Songs



All good, but the latter is my favourite.

[Sly Boots]

They've come a long way since the early 90s

[Drarok]

I think Lateralus is a great album, both lyrically and musically; it's got a lot of funky time signatures that they effortlessly groove on, and I'm pretty into that kind of stuff.

That's the only one I've tried (and vehemently disliked). I can't put my finger on what it is I don't like. I love other proggy bands and I really like interesting time signatures… it just doesn't gel for me, weird.

Anyway, what I have been listening to is Coheed and Cambria – The Unheavenly Creatures. A return to the Amory Wars storyline which all of their albums (except the previous one) tell part of, stretching the "concept album" idea out to "concept band".

There's some great tracks on here, the title track being one of them. The Gutter is another – released before the album as a single so I've had plenty of time for that to grow on me and get stuck in my head.

[Alex79]

I've really just been going through the whole GYBE! back catalogue lately. They remain one of my favorite bands. Their latest album took a few plays, but it really is a masterpiece, expertly straddling cold bleak paranoia, and absolute euphoria with ease. They are geniuses.

[Snowy]

Gojira are a fucking wonderful band - and that version of Global Warming is killer.

For me, I have mostly been listening to Behemoth recently. I loved The Satanist and their new album I loved you at your darkest follows the progression. It has met with really mixed reviews, with die hard Behemoth fans lamenting the move away from pure brutality into more open (but still pretty brutal) songs where there is more space and some of the heaviest clean guitar sound I have ever met.

It is a funny one for me, I kinda am a die-hard Behemoth fan, enjoyed them for a long while, but I really dig their new stuff. I am never a fan of kiddie choirs in songs, so God = Dog took some time for me to dig it, but for me it is a really expansive and well crafted album. I have tix to see them live in February, and as I told Nergal at the album signing I went to recently I can't fucking wait to hear some of their new stuff live. I got a grin, a handshake and a thrown set of horns in response

[Alex79]

I've also been listening to a lot of Russian Circles recently. It's really good. Instrumental post-rock, occasionally heavy as fuck. I think a lot of people on here would like it. I recommend starting with the album Guidance, which is their most recent I think.

[Mantis]

Russian Circles are excellent. I think Memorial and Geneva are their best albums, but they're all good.

[Animalmother]

The lyrics are silly and the video is odd, but its a fucking cracking song once it gets going.

[Wrathbone]

William Shatner has released a Christmas album called Shatner Claus. This is not a drill.

Prepare your ears accordingly.

[Drarok]

My latest obsession is with a band called Ice Nine Kills (which is a reference to Ice Nine: a fictional material that appears in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle).

I'd heard the name kicking around a few times but ignored them since the name made them sound really shit. Turns out that all their tracks are inspired by fiction (novels for the older ones, films on the latest), and their track A Grave Mistake is inspired by The Crow, which is one of my favourite films ever. It popped up on a recommendations playlist and immediately hooked me. I grabbed the album and it's wall-to-wall gold! The wiki article lists all the films that inspire the songs. The breakdown in Rocking the Boat is basically just the DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN section of the Jaws soundtrack, which is ace.

The final track IT is the End (which has guest appearances from fuckin' everyone including Less Than Jake) is amazing, too. Want to hear a metalcore song with a honka-honka of a clown horn in? This is the song for you.

A Grave Mistake (inspired by The Crow)


Rocking the Boat (inspired by Jaws)


IT is the End (inspired by IT (obviously))

[Snowy]

That's not for me, even though I wanted to really like it. I just can't do vocals like that. Went to see Amorphis play the Camden Electric Ballroom last night, and Soilwork supported - much as I wanted to like them as they really went for it, that style of vocals just doesn't work for me, kills the songs stone dead.

But then, horses for courses right?

[Mantis]

[Stormbringer]

I'd sorta gone off dungeon-synth a bit in recent times as I was finding it all a bit samey and uninspiring.

BUT THEN I found this album:



Definitely more my thing.

[Rossell]

Got there before me. It's absolutely bonkers but I love it.