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Genre: Black Metal
Country: Sweden
Year: 2009
Label: Eerie Art Records
1. Sacrificial Abolishment
2. Now We're Nothing
3. The March of the Drones
4. Hypothesis
5. Inconsequential
6. The Endless Void
7. The Drone Marches On
One word describes this album - FUCKING ANGRY!! Heh.. never mind, that was two. Anyway! Based on themes of war and social instability, the lyrics alone are almost like a sermon of complete distrust in the human race, and the music serves as a perfect accompaniment. With dissonance, raging fast guitar and drum work and an incredible sense of desperation, this album is fucking incredible. Blast this one the next time you drive by your local church, courthouse, political building or rehab center. Enjoy, you mindless drones!
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Genre: Death Metal
Country: United States
Year: 1993
Label: Roadrunner Records
1. De Profundis (Intro)
2. Stench of Paradise Burning
3. Beyond the Flesh
4. In Suffering
5. Monarchs of the Sleeping Marches
6. Sould Erosion
7. Entranced
8. Confine of Shadows
9. Deadspawn
10. Sea of Tears
11. Immemorial Dream (Outro)
What the fuck ever happened to Roadrunner? They used to release good shit, like, you know... this! This is by far my favorite piece of music that James Murphy has ever done, and as most know, he's done a lot. This album is just a good old in your face Death Metal record. While remaining heavy, this album is tastefully technical and just plain awesome in every way. Thrash your brains out to this one!
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Genre: Dark Ambient
Country: Germany
Year: 2010
Label: Malignant Records
1. Astral Visions
2. Mind Control
3. Deadspace
4. Voyager
5. Origin
6. Cloud Sector β
7. Cold Unity
This album is most definitely shaping up to be one of my top of 2010. This Dark Ambient project focuses on deep space themes (hence the album title) and does an incredible job at bringing each individual track to life. Using deep cavernous drones, washing synths, unorthodox noises and sporadically placed beats, this is a true gem. Feel like drifting through space and exploring a long abandoned space station while receiving a front row seat to the shift of the cosmos? I suggest you give this beauty a listen.
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Genre: Industrial
Country: Canada
Year: 1992
Label: Capitol Records
1. Love In Vein
2. Killing Game
3. Knowhere?
4. Mirrorsaw
5. Inquisition
6. Scrapyard
7. Riverz End
8. Last Chance
9. Circustance
10. Download
Ah, Skinny Puppy... an absolute classic Industrial act and one of the (if not THE) founding fathers of shock performance. What else can I say, this album is pure and true hearted Industrial. If you're at all into Industrial and you haven't heard this album (which you should have by now), or you're just expanding your horizons in the genre, give this one a listen.
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Genre: Funeral Doom Metal
Country: Australia
Year: 2006
Label: GotowaRex
1. Winds of Unknown Existence
2. Drown In Solitude
3. Your Waters
4. Sounds of A Dreary Sea
5. Misery Cloaked Under Decayed Flesh
Holy nostalgia! For me, this was one of the first Funeral Doom albums that I ever heard, and it has stuck with me ever since. This is actually one of the few albums that truly depresses me, but in a very enjoyable, fulfilling manner, if that makes any sense. It depresses me in an enjoyable way due to the fact that this album does to me what this genre truly means to do. With the muddy production and overwhelming atmosphere, this one is a real downer. Though it takes some time, if you really sit down with this one and fully immerse yourself, I'm sure you'll see what I'm talking about. Enjoy this one!
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Genre: Ambient
Country: Sweden
Year: 2000/2008 (Reissue above)
Label: Crowd Control Activities/Old Europa Café
1. Lost Land Part 1
2. Ice Shifting
3. Frost
4. Partial Melt
5. Lost Land Part 2
6. Drifting
7. Arcane Angelicum
8. Untitled (Dedicated To Z. Beksinski)
9. After The Silence
Oh, Mr. Andersson, you never fail to swoon me with your amazing ability to create the most outstanding Ambient music on this planet.. to me at least. Hell, if this man made a composition of a bunch of manipulated farts, I'd buy it! (Oh wait, he already did that :p) But seriously! This album is an incredible piece of art. With lush drifting (I know, I use that word a lot) soundscapes which are based upon an ever changing arctic scene, this album will absolutely entrance you if you're in the right mindset. If you like Ambient even in the slightest bit, I highly recommend this!!
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Genre: Industrial
Country: United States
Year: 2002
Label: Dependent Records
1. Purity
2. Human
3. Dystopia
4. Survivor
5. Extirpation
6. Shift
7. Circular
8. Hypersleep
9. Subcore
Now this is an Industrial album that I think anyone can enjoy, even if you're not an avid Industrial fan. There's just something about this album... maybe it's the life-like pulse behind each track, the ever growing synth passages, the dark atmospheres or the semi harsh/vocoded vocals that preach drifting electronic hymns. Whatever it may be, this album is just overall excellent. The Russian native, Gary Zon contributed to my liking for dark Industrial substantially with this release, maybe it will do the same for others. Enjoy.
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Genre: Funeral Doom Metal
Country: France
Year: 2007
Label: Totalrust Music/Ostra Records
1. First Symptoms
2. Transcendence #26
3. Funeralium
4. Let People Die
5. Light Crisis
6. Nearly The End
DOUBLE DOOM! Since I'm in a bit of a Doom kick lately, I couldn't wait till the next time around to post this one. This album is self proclaimed by the band as being "Ultra Sick Doom", and that description can't be any more perfect. The vocals alone sound like they're coming from some disease ridden person who is in their last minutes of life. Along with the mood setting vocal style, the instrumentation is very simple, slow and perfect for portraying death and despair. The French scored big with me on this one! Hopefully those who check this out will feel the same.
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Genre: Funeral Doom Metal
Country: Finland
Year: 2005
Label: Firedoom Music
1. Coalescent of the Inhumane Awareness
2. Sonorous Howl from Beyond the Stars
3. Upon the War-Torn Shape of Cold Earth
4. In the Arcane Clasp of Unwritten Hours5. Entreaties to the Primaeval Chaos"Tides of Awakening" is another prime example of Finnish Funeral Doom, and as I stated in another review, I feel they do it best. This album is CRUSHING!! Along side that, it's full of the most colossal atmospheres that are rarely achieved effectively in the genre. To put it briefly, this album is the soundtrack to time and space collapsing in upon themselves. If you love doom and you haven't already, you NEED to hear this one. Excellent!Download
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Sweden
Year: 2001
Label: Lupus Lounge/Prophecy Productions
1. Death, Pierce Me
2. Sterile Nails and Thunderbowels
3. Taklamakan
4. The Slow Kill in the Cold
5. I Shall Lead, You Shall Follow
6. Feeble Are You, Sons of Sion
Alright, this is an album that you either absolutely love or indefinitely despise... the reason? The vocals. Many people have argued that Nattramn's vocal style is pure genius and others have said that they're just downright fucking stupid. In my own personal opinion, I have rarely ever heard vocals that are this extreme in perspective of showing the true emotion that is trying to be portrayed behind the music. Honestly, it's an acquired taste, and I feel that once you warm up to them, you'll love them (at least I do). Other than that, this is a really great Depressive Black Metal album. With solitary clean tone passages and riffs that sound like razor blades slowly slicing through skin (Haha, I know, gay :p) this album is a must listen, even if you just haven't heard it before. WARNING: Do not listen to this album if you're already severely depressed - you're likely to off yourself off by the 3rd or 4th song. Enjoy!
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Genre: Death Metal
Country: Ireland
Year: 1999
Label: Season of Mist
1. Nihilist
2. I Hate
3. The Sharing of Thoughts With The Dead
4. Temple of Rancid Filth
5. Vermithrax
6. Vile Pleasures of Transfiguration
7. Raping Ground
8. When The Demons Come
9. Manhead
10. Forced Osculum Infame
11. Hellnoise
"The Last Supper" is definitely one of those albums that sounds totally old school but really isn't in a sense. In 1999, Irish Death Metallers, Abaddon Incarnate unleashed a force of sonic brutality. This album is fast, grimy, disgusting and anything else that would be used to described pure hatred filled Death Metal. Turn all the crosses upside down and bang your fucking head to this one!
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Genre: Ambient/Electronic
Country: Italy
Year: 1995
Label: Power and Steel
1. Ampos
2. Drulco
3. Moblo
4. Trozou
5. Neku
6. Ahibbe
7. Takron
8. Ze
9. Rsaa
10. Negi
11. (Some Gods)
12. Oxis
13. Ader
Rarely do I hear an Ambient or Electronic album and am able to say that it's heavy. Yes, heavy as in HUGE sounding and powerful as all hell. This Italian Ambient composer has studied extensively in the fields of audio recording, engineering and manipulation. Uniquely, he uses home made synthesizers which enables all of Bad Sector's material to take on a specific identity of it's own. As I said before, this is very dense and HEAVY electronic Ambient. Listen to this once and your body will be pulsating with each massive swell of this electronic monstrosity.
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Genre: Industrial/Electronic
Country: Germany
Year: 2008
Label: Tympanik Audio
1. Digital Drops
2. Temporale
3. Doors
4. Distal
5. Schlaflos
6. Rise
7. Samen
8. Reaktor
9. Moonwalk
10. Back Here Alone
11. Je Ne Trouve Pas La Sortie
"Rise" is one of the most dark and beautifully composed Industrial/Ambient albums that I've heard in quite some time. Each listen unfolds new elements, sounds and atmospheres that leave it's listener rediscovering the very essence of this electronic masterpiece. Similar to Gridlock, this German duo delivers drifting sound scapes as well as overlaid electronic beats that manage to give an astonishing element of life to the overall feel of the album. Sit and escape with this one!
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Genre: Funeral Doom Metal
Country: Russia
Year: 2005
Label: Marche Funebre Productions
1. Suicide Grotesque
2. Cataracts
3. Mirrors of Despair
4. Galleries of Coma
This is an album that truly showcases the despair and and darkness of Doom Metal. Hailing from Russia, Comatose Vigil has managed to create one of the most depressing pieces of Funeral Doom that I've ever heard, and not to sound high and mighty, but I've heard a lot of it. With crushing guitars, washing synth and choral passages and SLOW AS FUCK Funeral Doom drumming, this album encases everything that a good Doom album should be. This release is truly full of emotion, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is in the mood for a good attentive listen.
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Genre: Black Metal
Country: Sweden
Year: 2006
Label: Total Holocaust Records
1. Liothe
2. Bevingad Och Försedd Med Horn
3. Dionyssosinitiationen
4. Prosairesis
5. Infusco Ignis
You know those albums that are so fucking good but too FUCKING SHORT!?!?! Well, this is one of those albums. "Psalm II" is a perfect example of what Black Metal should be (remember, these are just my opinions :p). Thrashy, blasting, evil, you name it, it's all here. Like I said, I just wish there was some damn length to this thing! Only coming up on 27 minutes long, it seems as if once it gets going... it ends... sadly. Oh well, it's the quality, not the quantity, as they say.
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Genre: Death Metal
Country: New Zealand
Year: 2009
Label: Willowtip
1. Drown Within
2. We Are Nil
3. Withered And Obsolete
4. Caecus
5. Tyranny
6. The Earth At It's Knees
7. Soullessness Embraced
8. Everything Is Fire
New Zealand? Who would think that some of the most complex and twisted Death Metal on the planet would come from New Zealand? Well, regardless of where you would and would not expect certain things to come from, a rather remote island in the Pacific has offered us an impeccable work of modern madness. "Everything Is Fire" offers all the dissonance that one could want, without being wanky, along with some of the most crushing riffs that are almost out of conceptual reach. Sit back and grimace to this one, and prepare to get your asshole stretched over your head! Enjoy this head crusher from Ulcerate!
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Genre: Ritual Ambient
Country: Finland
Year: 2006
Label: Aural Hypnox
1. The Gate of All Directions
2. Bestial Waves
3. Green Spring Ferocity
4. MaUrMa
5. Skinning the Skies
6. The Immediate Body Drama
7. The Phantom Root
8. Siren Flakes
9. The Copulation of Mirrors
When it comes to the Aural Hypnox collective, all of the projects involved are VERY difficult to describe. Yes, this is an ambient album, but it is extremely meditative and complex, with concepts and ideas which are very deep within the earthly and astral realms. Forgive this description for being short, but if you want to journey to other worlds, give this a listen.
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Genre: Industrial
Country: Germany
Year: 1995
Label: Offbeat (Germany) Pendragon (US)
1. Solid State Logic
2. Dream Aid
3. Consciousness
4. Perfect Average
5. Nezzwerk
6. Trivial
7. World Window
8. Cold Comfort
9. Analysis
10. Sensor
Yet another introductory album within a certain genre for me. "Freeze Frame Reality" is, in my opinion, the absolute best release from German Industrial project, Haujobb. It seems to me that most of the industrial that I listen to is perfect inner city night time driving music. With great atmosphere and an overall feel-good yet dark vibe, this is an enjoyable album that can be enjoyed both on a good cruise or sit at home listens alike. If you want a more toned down and coherent Industrial album, this one is highly recommended!
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Genre: Funeral Doom Metal
Country: Great Britain
Year: 2004
Label: Season of Mist
1. Morphia
2. The Blood of the Eyes
3. Grey Day
4. Arcane Dissolution
This is one of the first albums that was ever introduced to me in the Funeral Doom category, and although it was an introductory album for me, it has remained an absolute favorite of mine ever since. Don't let the genre tag fool you, although this is overall a Funeral Doom album, it has many more aspects to it. The songs range from ultra slow and desperate crawls, to short bursts of fast Death Metal like periods, to very spacious and atmospheric passages like that in "The Blood of the Eyes", which to this day is a very special and personal song to me. This album has a little bit of something for everyone (everyone into this type of music, that is). A must listen if you're a fan of Doom!
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Genre: Black Metal
Country: France
Year: 2004
Label: Norma Evangelium Diaboli
1. First Prayer
2. Sola Fide I
3. Sola Fide II
4. Second Prayer
5. Blessed Are the Dead Whiche Dye in the Lorde
6. Hétoïmasia
7. Third Prayer
8. Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice
9. Odium Nostrum
10. Jubilate Deo (O Be Joyful in the Lord)
11. Carnal Malefactor
12. Drink The Devil's Blood
13. Malign Paradigm
"Si Monumentum..." is one of those albums that you just have to sit down and indulge in. With it's orthodox inspired lyrics and intricate musicianship, it could take a few listens to fully comprehend and appreciate the extent of the album. With concepts set aside, this album is dark, melodically evil, vile and all things that make an excellent Black Metal album. Want to commit blasphemy and spit in the face of every Christian in town? Do it while listening to this album, it'll surely give you the motivation ;)
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Genre: Death Metal
Country: Canada
Year: 1998
Label: Olympic Records
1. Obscura
2. Earthly Love
3. The Carnal State
4. Nostalgia
5. The Art of Sombre Ecstasy
6. Clouded
7. Subtle Body
8. Rapturous Grief
9. La Vie Est Prelude... (La Morte Orgasme)
10. Illuminatus
11. Faceless Ones
12. Sweet Silence
Twisted, deranged, technical and everything in between. "Obscura" is a perfect example of technical Death Metal, and Gorguts were doing it way before the modern trend of "Math Metal" bullshit. Honestly, this album really can't be described past this. If you're in the mood for a mind-fuck, give this little beauty (or beast) a listen.
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Genre: Ambient
Country: Italy
Year: 2008
Label: Hic Sunt Leones
1. Sine Tempore Part I
2. Sine Tempore Part II
3. Sine Tempore Part III
4. Aura Seminalis Part I
5. Aura Seminalis Part II
There is truly not much I can say about this album other than the fact that it is one of my absolute favorites of all time. This is scene setting ambient that achieves it's intentional goal like no other. Based on a three part concept of medieval castles/landscapes, Alio Die's "Aura Seminalis" is a 100% time vessel back to the early days of Europe. With pure drifting beauty, this album puts it's listener in the middle of both religious and visual representations of European life. Absolutely majestic!
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Genre: Industrial/Ambient
Country: United States
Year: 1999
Label: Pendragon Records
1. From Zero
2. Ash
3. Untitled
4. Sever
5. Untitled
6. Cramp
7. Without
8. Untitled
9. Here
10. Further
11. Egeszseges
12. Scrape
13. Under
14. Ash (KSP Remix)
15. Enzyme (Dryft Remix)
"Further" is an album that is filed under a style that took me a little while to get into. With it's frequent bleeps and bloops and other Industrial soundscapes, it's most definitely an acquired taste, but once you develop the hunger, it is rarely ever satisfied. This album is full of ambiance that is all too often attempted, but rarely ever captured effectively. It is hard to describe the overall feeling and effect of the album, but once you take a drive through an inner city at night while listening to this masterpiece, you will have a setting and world all of your own. For those who want to experiment a little outside of the box, this album is a must listen!
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Genre: Doom Metal
Country: Finland
Year: 2008
Label: Solitude Productions
1. End of Ages
2. Cosmic Key
3. Expression
4. Distant Dreams
5. Away From the World
Ahh the Finns and their doom. They do it as well as... well... as well as any other country that's really good at what they do. THE POINT IS, the Finns are incredibly talented at producing quality Doom Metal, and Astral Sleep is no exception. Surprisingly, this is a relatively new band, and "Unawakening", just coming out in 2008 was quite a shock to me. This is due to the fact that the album as a whole is somewhat raw, but clear sounding, mind you. Overall, it just has a really old-school Finnish Doom vibe to it, and just as the name suggests, the feeling of the album is very dream-like; drifting yet heavy. Highly recommended!
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Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Country: Poland
Year: 2005
Label: Supernal Music
1. In My Dungeon!
2. In Arms of the Astral World
3. Below the Tree of Life
4. Nightsky
5. The Manifesto of the Unity
6. The Breath of Atlantis
Although this Slavic Black Metal band has had ties with the whole NS scene, we won't mention that on account of the awesomeness of this album ;) HAH! DID SOMEBODY SAY FUCKING EPIC?!?!? Move aside all you Viking wannabe modern Folk Metal bands, and make way for Kataxu! That's right. All of the modern day folk instrument laden wankery doesn't have SHIT on this album. With song lengths of rather colossal size (by most peoples standards), huge sweeping keyboard passages and atmospheres only found in the cosmos, this album is a definite trip through time and space that is sure to leave every Eluveitie fan pissing their pants and cowering in a corner. If you want an album that is truly EPIC, here it is!
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Genre: Death Metal
Country: Finland
Year: 1993
Label: Relapse Records
1. Pilgrimage from Darkness
2. Black Embrace
3. Privilege of Evil
4. Misery Path
5. Vulgar Necrolarity (Abhorrence cover)
6. Excursing from Existence
Dirty, filthy and old school Finnish Death Metal! "Privilege of Evil" was made, I feel, for fans that forever wanted to have their roots preserved before they moved into their Doomy-er and then Rock filled later works. This is for sure not the Amorphis you know today, but even though they as a band have refined their sound over the years, this EP from the beginning is some of the best!
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Genre: Ambient
Country: Sweden
Year: 1997
Label: Cold Meat Industry
1. Reflecting In Shadows
2. In Absence of Light
3. The Well of Sadness
4. Deep Enshrouded
5. Falling Twilight
6. Passing Inner Shield
With the seemingly overwhelming response to "The Empty Hollow Unfolds", which by the way, is also an incredible album, I figured that I might try to open those faithful listeners to Mr. Andersson's other works. While most people think of the aforementioned album, when I think of Raison d'Être, "In Sadness, Silence and Solitude" is the first album that comes to mind. I may be able to blame that on the fact that this is the first album that I ever heard from the Ambient master, but aside from that, this album is absolutely glorious. With deep cavernous drones as well as the signature Raison d'Être style chants incorporated with ethereal synth passages, this album will forever be held close to my heart due to it's ability to transport me to worlds unknown. Hopefully it does the same for you! Enjoy!
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Genre: Industrial
Country: Sweden
Year: 1992
Label: Cold Meat Industry
1. Chaos Breeding
2. Koprofagi Christi
3. Fifth Skin
4. Taste of Human
5. Sacrosancts Bleed
6. Scum
7. Intercession
8. Christians
9. Inferno
10. Invocation
11. Mortified Flesh
12. Arcanum
Here we have a classic and hard to come by Swedish Inustrial album. Back in 1992, while most Industrial artists were releasing albums backed by weak beats and pulses, Jouni Havukainen released "Sacrosancts Bleed" with pounding rhythms, harsh vocals, heavy as hell guitar parts and full on sonic assaults. If you're looking for EBM or dance club Industrial, this isn't the album for you. For everyone else, prepare to get pounded into oblivion!
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Genre: Atmospheric Doom Metal
Country: Italy
Year: 2010
Label: Code666
1. Prelude to the Death of Hope
2. The Grave of Civilization
3. Apt Epitaph
4. Temple of Stagnation
5. None Shall Mourn
6. Empty Echo
This is the fourth album from the somewhat obscured Italian Atmospheric Doom Metal band, Void of Silence. Like the proceeding three albums, this is most certainly another monolithic masterpiece to join the ranks. This release takes the listener through the rusted shells of buildings and monuments as well as delivers an up front interrogation of the faults of modern civilization. If you're interested in Doom that portrays desolation and despair both visually, lyrically and musically, this is definitely worth the listen!
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Genre: Black Metal
