2019 Themed Mixtape Game

[Sophii]

Sorathian Dawn - Adversarial Iconoclast (6.5/10) Pretty cool, but too much feels like its going on at once. Middle of the song is the best part of it. Amazing atmosphere though.

Diabolic Night - Sovereign of Doom (9/10) Probably the best track on this playlist by far I think. Unholy speed metal forreal!

Mystik - Ancient Majesty (7.5/10) I like it but the only thing holding it back are the vocals and the way they were used. Killer riffs and harmonized guitars.

Hexenbrett - Hexen (9/10) I wish more black metal sounded like this. This is cold and riffy. Also the artwork kicks major ass. I think this might be my favorite song on the playlist.

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult - T.O.W.D.A.T.H.A.B.T.E. (6.5/10) Its your bread and butter black metal. Nothing spectacular though. Still cool.

Ripper - The Unreal (8.5/10) The best Death/Atheist worship I've heard. That crazy fucking bass!

Warchest - Spiritually Dead (8/10) Riffy and exciting, but not sure how I feel about the vocals. Its greasy though and I dig it. I originally had it a 7.5 but those solos are kicking way too much ass and that riff during the 2 minute part to the end got me.

Misthyrming - Alsæla (5.5/10) Pretty cool, but super repetitive. Its got some cool melodies though

Ares Kingdom - Eighteen Degrees Beneath (8/10) Killer vocals and vocal phrasing. Killer riffs and nice pacing. Just wish the drums were a little louder and mixed better.

Pissgrave - Euthanasia (8.5/10) This shit scary; I like it. Truly evil sounding. My complaints about the first song on the playlist are actually used well here in this song. Also that artwork is gnarly.

 

[CiG]

Just wish the drums were a little louder and mixed better.

Same. It's the one thing holding it back.

 

[Sirjack]

Sorathian Dawn - this started off as the same old boring BM for me but by the end l was hooked! ha nah not really. drums were cool, and the geetars at the very end ruled 7/10

Diabolic Night - wicked wicked wicked shit. l'd prefer the drums to be a bit more in your face - maybe a tad more brash - but this is excellent 8.5/10

Mystik - cool start cool vocal - it took me a full fucking minute - kick arse riffs. Great fucking chorus 9/10

Hexenbrett - the vocals are BM while it's trad metal riffs and weirdy 70's keyboard effects wtf? very cool 8/10

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult - some day's l'll click with a track like this and other days l hate it. BUT, tonight l am feeling the love. Never heard of the band, so that's cool 8/10

Ripper - that opening riff, the tone!.... love this band. 9/10

Warchest - killer riffs, mad solos, love this 9/10

Misthyrming - I'm sitting in my shed and winter is creeping around the corner, so at this time of year in sunny fucking Blighty, all the worlds spiders decide it's time to move indoors...l must have 20 fucking spiders starring at me right now. Big fuck off abdomens ones, long fucking legged ones, nasty weird retarded ones. There's no stopping them. 8/10

Ares Kingdom - some of my favourite albums sound just as bad as this production wise - breeding the spawn, morbid visions, van halen III etc, there's really no excuse 8.5/10

Pissgrave - fantastic clean portalish clones. l like this a lot. 9/10

cool playlist

 

[CiG]

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

 

[Baroque]

2019 Mixtape Game: Round 1.

Sorathian Dawn - Adversarial Iconoclast
8/10 Usually not a fan of the tremolo picking/growl style, but this has more going on musically to make it interesting. There's actual melody and progression at times, voice is unobtrusive unlike many in this style. I'd listen to more by them.

Diabolic Night - Sovereign of Doom
7/10 Pretty much standard speed metal instrumentally. The rhythm guitar riffs are unfortunately boring. Also the solos are uninspired. The pseudo-extreme metal vocals make it more interesting and it has plenty of energy, though.

Mystik - Ancient Majesty
7/10 I've heard this before. I like the guitars somewhat better than the previous band, however I like the vocals less lol. It averages out to a push. They have potential, but imo need more development. I'd like to hear their next release before deciding they're a band I don't listen to.

Hexenbrett - Hexen
4/10 What's going on with this, sounds janky for lack of a better term. The band members wanted to take this in all different directions and don't really gel together. The guitar tone is somewhat annoying to my ears, as is the long held ooOOooh.

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult - T. O. W. D. A. T. H. A. B. T. E.
7.5/10 Not really a black metal fan. I can hear some influences or atmospheres at least that remind me of Vektor or Black Fast here. The band gels unlike the last one on this playlist. Overuse of cymbals imo, masks some of the musicianship going on underneath. It's a bit enjoyable for what it is.

Ripper - The Unreal
9/10 These guys took me by surprise a few years ago when they arrived on the scene, and they continue to impress. This is what I expect from them, riffy, brutal, headbang inducing. Great track. Can't ask for much better thrash/death in 2019.

Warchest - Spiritually Dead
9/10 An even more recent discovery for me, the speed of this band never disappoints. Drags my ears along by a chain into a place I want to be when listening to metal. Hell yeah to the riffs both the choppy guitar and pounding drums. Best solo on this playlist so far.

Misþyrming - Alsæla
5/10 Not really my style. There's melody here but it often repeats itself and doesn't go anywhere. The transitions don't really make sense to me. It's kind of slopped together. Eh.

Ares Kingdom - Eighteen Degrees Beneath
5.5/10 Is it the mix or just the youtube upload? Something sounds really bad and off. The rhythm guitar riffs have little clarity through the mud, but the solos are clear enough. There's a lot of things I want to hear and they don't go there. Sounds like a bad opener band at some random metal show, though I know a lot of people like these guys.

Pissgrave - Euthanasia
3/10 Heh, well the mix is even worse here and the music if it exists is practically indiscernable. Sounds like someone is listening to black metal across the street through an industrial fan while a jackhammer is going off. Straining my ears doesn't produce anything I feel like hearing from them through the noise.

 

[Burkhard]

Sorathian Dawn - Adversarial Iconoclast
Not my cup of tea, especially (though not only) because of the vocals. 2,5/10

Diabolic Night - Sovereign of Doom
This is much more to my liking. 8,5/10

Mystik - Ancient Majesty
I already enjoyed the demo version. For me, this is the best song on their debut album. Music-wise (if the sound was a bit rawer) as well as vocals-wise (especially as regards the pronunciation - or is it accentuation?), this song could also stem from Original Sin's "Sin Will Find You Out". I also hear a bit of Doro Pesch in the vocals. 9/10

Hexenbrett - Hexen
Considering that this is labeled black metal (though with the addition "horror heavy"), the music is surprisingly enjoyable for me and the vocals seem rather moderate, but I'm not a fan of German lyrics (there may be a few exceptions to the rule), especially not clichéd ones like these. 6/10

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult - T. O. W. D. A. T. H. A. B. T. E.
Not my cup of tea, but since the vocals are more bearable than in the case of Sorathian Dawn: 3,5/10

Ripper - The Unreal
I like the music and especially the bass-playing, but I'm not too fond of the vocals. 6,5/10

Warchest - Spiritually Dead
Decent thrash metal, but the vocals are too much monotonous screaming for my taste. Therefore only 6/10

Misþyrming - Alsæla
No, thanks. 3/10

Ares Kingdom - Eighteen Degrees Beneath
See: Sorathian Dawn. 2,5/10

Pissgrave - Euthanasia
Possibly the most annoying piece of noise I've been exposed to in all the mixtape-games thus far. 0/10 (If zero-ratings aren't allowed anymore, make it 0,5/10)

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

i love Burkhards rating style. He's one tough cookie

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

am i the only one here scratching my head when i hear people refer to Hexenbrett as black metal? They basically sound like M-16 era Sodom. There is zero black metal in that song.

 

[Sophii]

am i the only one here scratching my head when i hear people refer to Hexenbrett as black metal? They basically sound like M-16 era Sodom. There is zero black metal in that song.

Its more present on the other songs on the demo tbh. Which I recommend, a lot. It's bizarre and sinister. Can't wait for more by this band

 

[Sirjack]

ahh - cough-ahh

 

[CiG]

am i the only one here scratching my head when i hear people refer to Hexenbrett as black metal? They basically sound like M-16 era Sodom. There is zero black metal in that song.

Sounds to me like Master's Hammer.

 

[Sophii]

I think there is a bit of a Death SS vibe on there too, but thats more like...doom metal

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

ahh - cough-ahh

 

[challenge_everything]

Sorathian Dawn - Adversarial Iconoclast 8/10

Drummer is like "Hold my beer". These guys aren't entirely on the same page, but fuck, I like it a lot.

Diabolic Night - Sovereign of Doom 7.5/10

Almost the opposite of Sorathian Dawn - this is tight, vicious, and moves with a singularity of purpose. Love the bass too. The melodic sections are not as interesting though.

Mystik - Ancient Majesty 7/10

The main riff is really, really good but I rarely like female vocals in metal, and this is no exception. Frustrating because the vocal melodies are actually great

Hexenbrett - Hexen 7.5/10

Shuffles along like a corpse, then that speed metal break about 2mins in is a cool change-up. Unique stuff. Not sure how much I would enjoy this after multiple listens but I'm intrigued enough to check out the album. Artwork reminds me of The Babadook!

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult - Alphabet Salad 5/10

I wasn't into this at all, until the majestic section kicks in just before 3min. But then it lost me again.

Ripper - The Unreal 6/10

Think I've gone off this style of DM... it's oddly warm sounding. Some of those drum fills are just insanely quick though.

Warchest - Spiritually Dead 4/10

Doesn't do much for me, particularly the barking vocals.

Misþyrming - Alsæla 8/10

Trying to figure out who this reminds me of. Mgla maybe? This is right in my wheelhouse, maybe just lacks a killer riff to take it next level.

Ares Kingdom - Eighteen Degrees Beneath 5/10

Man it's been ages since I listened to Ares Kingdom. Vocals are on point, but the rest of it sounds tired to be honest. Drum tone is particularly flaccid.

PIssgrave - Euthanasia 6.5/10

Unlike some here I don't find this too much of an aural assault, if anything it's deceptively simple, maybe too much so. Would enjoy this live though.

 

[CiG]

Drum tone is particularly flaccid.

So true.

 

[Burkhard]

i love Burkhards rating style. He's one tough cookie

Way back in the second half of the eighties, when I bought about 30-50 new albums per year which I really liked (well, most of them), there would probably have been more positive ratings from me in such a game (unless people had submitted lots of hair/glam metal stuff), but nowadays, I find hardly any new albums I really like. This year, I've bought one new album thus far (which I do enjoy) - I still hope some upcoming releases will change this (I'm thinking about Mekong Delta and Avatarium). Maybe I should also give Candlemass and Saint Vitus a proper try on youtube.

 

[CiG]

Sorathian Dawn - Adversarial Iconoclast 7/10
Sprawling chaotic journey of black/death melodies and focused high speed drumming. This was very cool, hail Australian metal.

Diabolic Night - Sovereign of Doom 8.5/10
Pure fucking metal mayhem! A lot of black/speed is samey, but I get the honest vibe of a band trying to do something a bit different within those boundaries with Diabolic Night.

Mystik - Ancient Majesty 5/10
Drumming sounds like a crappy drum machine pattern on repeat. The one male in the band and he is fucking it up.

Hexenbrett - Hexen 7/10
Pretty good imitation of first wave black metal by way of the Greek tendency to co-opt bizarre heavy metal elements. Definitely hearing some Master's Hammer vibes.

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult - T. O. W. D. A. T. H. A. B. T. E. 8/10
Those 80's drums rule and the riffs are vicious and primitive, and the way they mixed this with a more majestic middle section was sweet. Also I disagree with Baroque, if anything it needs more cymbals!

Ripper - The Unreal 8/10
The bassist is playing like a nutcase on this one, I love it!

Warchest - Spiritually Dead 8/10
Out-crowd thrash. This shit chops like an axe, production is on point, drums are brutal, this has all the makings of a modern classic. I need to revisit this album tbh, only listened to it once and then it got lost in the craziness of new music.

Misþyrming - Alsæla 6.5/10
I fucking LOVE the drumming and the production, but ultimately the rest doesn't click with me.

Ares Kingdom - Eighteen Degrees Beneath 7/10
What a shame the production is so limpwristed, it's not terrible by any means and I like Ares Kingdom a lot but everything feels so suppressed and toned down.

Pissgrave - Euthanasia 7.5/10
Ares Kingdom should have a production like this lmfao. Good album, some of the melody is more noticeable on this album compared to the last which I appreciate, instead of just the wall-of-noise meme. It's not that Pissgrave are overly raw or anything, more that they purposely bury the music, doing the inverse of a demo which is to try and get the music through the conditions you're subjected to. I dunno it's kind of weird to do this to your music on purpose.

 

[CiG]

Reminder for those who submitted songs to rate: @no country for old wainds @Krow @EspaDa @Funerary_Doom @Mort Divine @TechnicalBarbarity @Phylactery

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

I checked out the first *four songs about a week ago and thought they were all pretty damn good. Strong start