Bullet Ratings #5

• Aphex Twin - Collapse EP [7/10]

Fun listen and didn't make me wanna turn the player off, like some of his other stuff.
 

• Black Tusk - TCBT [4/10]

I don't know why I can't get into this band and most of the tracks I found generic.
 

• Candelabrum - Portals [3.5/10]

Too much flat noise that had me bored quickly.
 

• Cemetery Urn - Barbaric Retribution [9/10]

A proper death metal record that honors the past and its greatest bands, as well as being in bed with the sound of the more recent greatest bands in the genre. Right next to Dead Congregation.
 

• Defeated Sanity - Chapters Of Repugnance [8.5/10]

The deluxe edition re-release was a good reason to come back to one of my favorite BDM albums.
 

• Ende - Goétie Funeste [6.5/10]

Not much innovation but a few good moments saved the day.
 

• Excision - Apex [4/10]

An overall good listen, but no bangers were as impressive as in previous records.
 

• Ill Omen - The Grande Usurper EP [6/10]

Nice guitar lines and melodies in general, but I didn't like the sound of the vocals and the production of the EP.
 

• Innumerable Forms - Punishment in Flesh [7/10]

Sweet and dirty.
 

• Mortuary Drape - Necromantic Doom Returns (Compilation) [7/10]

Including tracks from their early demos in the late 80's, as well as some early live recordings, makes this compilation a good rotten gem for the fans of the band.
 

• Mørketida - Panphage Mysticism [5.5/10]

I had higher hopes for this release because of its promotion but it doesn't shake much ground. By no means bad though.
 

• Nicki Minaj - Queen [6.5/10]

This album should have less tracks, because about half of it I really, really like. One of her better efforts, good job.
 

• Primitive Man & Unearthly Trance - Split [6/10]

Primitive Man haven't impressed me in the past, they didn't now either. Good that something happened when Unearthly Trance hit.
 

• Unanimated - Annihilation EP [8.5/10]

Amazing tracks with a feel of early Swedish melodic black (as they proudly are a part of) and touches of Dissection. Is "From a Throne Below" a title coincidence, thinking that Watain also have a track "A Throne Below" in their recent album? I will never know. Anyway, all four tracks are in my player.
 

• Young Thug - Slime Language [5.5/10]

I have to say i like his solo material more than the songs here, which -almost all- feature other artists. Nice artwork (with a sign language reference probably to his deaf brother) and a few nice trap tracks here and there. Wouldn't listen to such stuff too many times though.

A Norwegian Black Metal Playlist - 90's Part I

I would usually make an album list for this but for once, I chose specific favorite tracks to support the case instead of whole records. I try to maintain one track by each band when it's not a specific band's playlist, which means of course I have more tracks but the artists I like that I didn't use here. Many of them are personal choices of some of my favorite tunes, so if anything's missing, it's not that I might have ignored or overseen it. I wanted to create a Spotify playlist but some tracks were missing so I decided just to list Youtube links to each track, for anyone to have a quick listen. I have a second part of a similar playlist and then a third installment for bands active after 2000, I don't know when I will write things up about them in the future though.

Turbonegro - Scandinavian Leather

Turbonegro (Norway)

Scandinavian Leather (2003)

Burning Heart Records (Sweden) | Epitaph Records (US)

After all this time, I'm returning to posts about shit I buy and it's not all too much lately. I've always wanted to look more into Turbonegro albums because it's a band that has been suggested many times and they seem to be liked by metalheads quite much. I found Scandinavian Leather in a second hand store for a really cheap price, mostly among totally random numbers there, but it was the discovery that made me buy it in the end. I don't know much about them and a track featured here, "Train of Flesh", is weirdly the first I heard by Turbonegro ever. Even though there's lots of "ooOOOoo" for my taste, some tracks are catchy and well written. From what I have heard so far, it's only specific tracks by the band I dig.

Favorite tracks: Gimme Somme, Train of Flesh, F**k the World (F.T.W.)

Listen

Albums of the Year 2017

This blog is now five years old, plus a couple of months.

AOTY 2017: Top 10 misc albums

László Moholy-Nagy, At Coffee, c. 1920s

We're close, we're almost there! This is the final post before my main list and again I'm doing this seperation with miscellaneous albums, maybe for the last time. We'll see!

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10. William Basinski - A Shadow in Time

ambient

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9. The Necks – Unfold

jazz, improvization

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8. Brad Medhlau & Chris Thile - Brad Medhlau & Chris Thile 

jazz, piano, acoustic

listen

7. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Feed the Rats

stoner rock

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6. Ulver – The Assassination of Julius Caesar

synthpop, experimental

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5. Colin Stetson – All This I Do for Glory

experimental, jazz

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4. Elder – Reflections of A Floating World

stoner / hard rock

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3. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Luciferian Towers

post-rock

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2. Susanne Sundfør - Music for People in Trouble

pop

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★ 1. Krokofant – Krokofant III ★

jazz rock

listen

Krokofant

AOTY 2017: Top 10 EPs

Shuffling through releases of my favorite format, I saw new violent Svartidauði material, as well as Sinmara and finally another One Tail, One Head EP. Great new bands come around, like Abkehr, Daeva, Chevalier, Thantifaxath’s mini album appealed to me more than their full length a couple of years ago and Poison Blood was a reasonable / nice crossover. Fever Nest was the best gift of the year and close to the epitome of filth, just how it’s done. I want to change my approach to end year lists drastically in the future, but I hope this kind will stick around.

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10. Poison Blood – Poison Blood

9. Chevalier – A Call to Arms

8. One Tail, One Head – Firebirds b/w Prowess

7. Oranssi Pazuzu - Kevät / Värimyrsky

6. Daeva – Pulsing Dark Absorptions

5. Svartidauði – Untitled

4. Thantifaxath - Void Masquerading As Matter

3. Abkehr – In Asche

2. Sinmara – Within the Weaves of Infinity

1. Fever Nest – Black Carrion Fowl