OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 29): VINTERBRIS AND AUTUMN’S DAWN

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  2 Responses »
Jul 192015
 

Vinterbris-Solace

 

As promised yesterday, I’m now adding two more songs to my woefully delayed roll-out of our list of last year’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. Bad enough that five months went by before I resumed the roll-out after starting it late last year, but then I let three weeks go by since the last installment in the series. With two songs added yesterday and two more today, I hope to be a little more consistent in completing it.

For an explanation of what this list is about, go here. To see the songs named to the list so far, use this link. The titles of today’s two songs happen to refer to ashes, and they both happen to be affiliated with black metal.

VINTERBRIS

I thoroughly enjoyed this Bergen, Norway, band’s second album, Solace. I wrote separately about two of the tracks when they premiered in advance of the album’s release last year, and they were both candidates for this list (“Fathom” and “Dysphoria”). But the one I picked is the album’s wonderful second track, “Ash Alight”. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 28): VOLTURYON AND HOUR OF PENANCE

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  2 Responses »
Jul 182015
 

Volturyon-Human Demolition

 

Well, when I made the announcement that I was going to resume the roll-out of our list of last year’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs — five months after the last installment in the series — I did warn you that I probably wouldn’t be posting a new installment every day. But I didn’t think I’d let three weeks go by after the last installment. Sorry about that.

Anyway, here are two more songs for the list, and I have two more in mind for tomorrow — and if perchance you don’t know what this list is about, you can find an explanation here.

VOLTURYON

Volturyon’s vicious little five-track gem of an EP, Human Demolition, was a particular favorite of my comrade DGR (reviewed here). Thanks to him, I finally listened to all of it a couple of weeks ago, and yeah, I’m sold. There are really no weak spots on the EP, but one song in particular stands out as the most infectious, and that one is the next addition to this list. I’ll borrow from DGR’s review: Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 27): FALLS OF RAUROS, SAOR

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  6 Responses »
Jun 272015
 

 

In case you missed the announcement last week, I’ve resumed the roll-out of our list of last year’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs — a scant five months (ugh) after the last installment in the series. If perchance you don’t know what this list is about, you can find an explanation here.

Today’s two additions to the list are a bit out of the ordinary, because both songs are long. There’s a lot to be said for long-form music, but I would guess that “infectious” isn’t a word that typically springs to mind. In the case of these two songs, however, I think it fits.

FALLS OF RAUROS

Very tough choice, this one. Not the choice to include something from this band’s album Believe In No Coming Shore — that was a given (though the songs on the band’s 2014 split with Panopticon were also strong contenders) — but which song? That was the hard decision. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 26): SINMARA, SVARTIDAUÐI, SABBATIC GOAT

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  7 Responses »
Jun 252015
 

 

Yes, that’s right, in case you missed yesterday’s announcement I’ve resumed the roll-out of our list of last year’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs — a scant five months (ugh) after the last installment in the series. If perchance you don’t know what this list is about, you can find an explanation here.

To get this thing started again, I decided to jump into the turbid and turbulent end of a very black pool. Apologies in advance if I happen to kick you in the teeth on the way in.

SINMARA

I’m re-launching this series with songs by two Icelandic bands, the first of which is Sinmara, whose ranks include members from other personal favorites like Svartidauði, Wormlust, and Slidhr. The song is “Verminous” and it comes from the band’s 2014 album Aphotic Womb, released last year by Terratur Possessions. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: THE ROLL-OUT RESUMES (TOMORROW)

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  22 Responses »
Jun 242015
 

 

Some of you will remember that late last fall we actually began our annual roll-out of the list of “Most Infectious” extreme metal songs released during the year that was drawing to a close. Some of you will also remember that the roll-out just sort of… stopped… without even a polite interval of the gas gauge showing “Empty” or coasting for the last dozen yards before the machine just turned into a giant, half-formed paperweight.

There was a reason for this (sort of): I was rudely interrupted by a protracted grind at my fucking day job, and by the time life returned to a semblance of normalcy, so much time had passed that I just gave up on finishing the list. I guess I needed a tardiness support group. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 25

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  7 Responses »
Jan 252015
 

We now come to Part 25 of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

I could go on at length about both of the songs I’m adding to the list today, because to me the way in which each song is constructed and the musical ingredients the bands folded into them make the songs as interesting as they are catchy — and they are both very catchy. But I’ll hold my verbiage to a minimum and let the music speak for itself.

MACHINE HEAD

A lot of bands would have been quite happy to end “Now We Die” at about the three-and-a-half minute mark, and it would have been a fine, hard-rocking, heavy-grooved piece of business without anything more. But this is Machine Head and of course they weren’t about to stop. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 24

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  9 Responses »
Jan 232015
 

For those of you (if any) who’ve been following this series like bloodhounds on a fox’s trail, you will have noticed that I missed adding entries for the last two days. I was more distracted than usual (usually I’m distracted by things like passing cars and the need to chase them), but let’s forget about the explanations and just forge ahead.

For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

TRIPTYKON

The next song I’m adding to the list is “Aurorae” from Triptykon’s Melana Chasmata. I’m adding it not just because of the gripping drum beats or the gravelly riffs or the lead guitar chimes or the transfixing solo or the transfixing vocals or the vivid atmosphere of the song. In addition to all that, in addition to the music’s infectiousness, there’s this: Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 23

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  5 Responses »
Jan 202015
 

We now come to Part 23 of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

In most of the installments of this list, I’ve tried to pair songs together that have something in common. Not today. Not only are these two songs unlike each other, they’re both unlike anything else I’ve selected for this list so far. But they’re both damned infectious, so there’s that.

TREPALIUM

When I first saw and heard Trepalium’s video for a single named “Moonshine Limbo” off their 2014 EP Voodoo Moonshine, I got the biggest grin on my face.  It still makes me smile — and want to jump! — even when I’m in the midst of a truly shitty day. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 22

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  4 Responses »
Jan 192015
 

 

I missed a day yesterday, but I’m resuming the rollout of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

In this Part 22 of the list I’ve paired two songs by two bands on both sides of the Atlantic who, at least musically, have a few things in common. And so do these two songs — principally, beautiful guitar melodies that just will not let go.

INSOMNIUM

My NCS colleague and former friend DGR lobbied mightily for the inclusion of “Out To The Sea” on this list. Even though the song only appears on Shadows of the Dying Sun (reviewed here) as a limited edition bonus track, I still seriously considered it, but I think “While We Sleep” wins in the “infectious” category — but only barely. Actually, I’m pretty sure DGR won’t end our friendship over this decision. Pretty sure. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 21

 Exceptions to the Rule, MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  7 Responses »
Jan 172015
 

We have arrived at Part 21 in the continuing rollout of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

The two songs I’m adding today aren’t as loud and extreme as the majority of what’s on the list. They’re also exceptions to the rule embodied in the site’s name. But they’re both very good, very infectious songs — and they have some other things in common, too. Prepare for some satanic rock.

THE HOUSE OF CAPRICORN

Morning Star Rise marked a conscious change in sound for New Zealand’s The House of Capricorn, a change exemplified by the song I’m adding to the list today. Relatively speaking “Ivory Crown” is one of the more subdued tracks on the album — if you’re looking for tracks that drive harder on the mayhem end of the spectrum, then I’d recommend “The Road To Hell Is Marked” or “Our Shrouded King”. But “Ivory Crown” is built around such killer melodic hooks that it’s powerfully addictive. Continue reading »

 Older Entries