Black Metal.

[ohiogrinder]

I never understood the hype about this album, even on first listen, for exactly this reason. ItNE is far and away the superior album. I don't rate ItNE as highly as some but I wouldn't hesitate to call it essential and a classic. However I personally wouldn't go as far as labeling it a masterpiece.

I actually listened to Anthems recently and have changed my mind. ITNE is superior to that album.

Anthems is Emperor's attempt at making a pop record, however bizarre that analogy may be.

 

[MasterOLightning]

ITNE is definitely better. It's pretty clearly in the top five or so black metal records. I haven't heard of any BM bands using symphonic keys quite so well. Every other attempt at symphonic BM I've heard has been beyond gay. (Albums where keys heavily dominate guitars = fail.) The style is not really a favorite of mine. Yet I think ITNE is near, if not at the absolute peak of black metal.

Anthems sounds as if someone turned every bar on the EQ up all the way. There's no balance at all in the production. It doesn't sound like black metal. The riffs aren't really black metal much of the time. The drums are too busy, and the keys are doing too much as well. I have a hard time disagreeing with the assessment that this is not a black metal album. It's more similar to IX E and Prometheus than ITNE. Anthems might be one of the first albums to fall into the vague "extreme" metal category.

 

[sevag00]

What do you think of Akercocke's Antichrist? Is it worth to buy?

 

[MasterOLightning]

^Download/sample it first. There's nothing amazing going on there. Not as good as the previous one.

 

[~ED~]

anyhow the new angantyr - nasheim split is pretty good.
nasheim seem to have drawn from drudkh it seems

 

[Zephyrus]

I think with more listening, you will come to realize that "Anthems..." is a very fragmented and predictable album. In the Nightside Eclipse" is a layered, coherent masterpiece that manages to be both simple and complex at the same time, reaching epic heights in ways only matched by Bathory at that time. "Anthems..." tried to conceal its simple nature by disguising itself as "extreme", when in fact, it is actually quite listener friendly.

I understand where you're coming from, so I guess it's just a matter of personal taste. I enjoy Anthems better, and that's something that cannot won't be changed by arguments against its superiority to ITNE. I think I enjoy it more because I tend to to like bands who take the traditional black metal sound and use it as a vehicle with which they can drive into new territory and cross genre-boundaries, even if it means relinquishing their status as a black metal band.

 

[unknown]

anyhow the new angantyr - nasheim split is pretty good.
nasheim seem to have drawn from drudkh it seems

mmm. might have to pick that up since I enjoy angantyr

 

[~Derek~]

I understand where you're coming from, so I guess it's just a matter of personal taste. I enjoy Anthems better, and that's something that cannot won't be changed by arguments against its superiority to ITNE. I think I enjoy it more because I tend to to like bands who take the traditional black metal sound and use it as a vehicle with which they can drive into new territory and cross genre-boundaries, even if it means relinquishing their status as a black metal band.

I just prefer INTE by a lot, Anthems has great songs but isn't a great album to me, I listened to Nemesis Divina and Anthems the same night and enjoyed Nemesis Divina more.

 

[Manic Ferocity]

For some reason, the first three tracks off Anthems are the only ones that do anything for me.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Listening to Sapfhier's Under Eternally Grey Skies. This is good, straightforward BM with louder-than-usual (yet fitting) keyboards that highlight the main epic guitar melodies and enhance them. I'm sure it's not exactly original, but then again I would love to hear more stuff in this style if people are familiar with what I am describing, or better yet, if anyone here is familiar with the band itself.

Another recent favorite (last month or so) has been Octinomos' On The Demiurge. 2nd wave black metal by Frederik Söderlund, this album features excellent, rabid, disturbing vocals (sounding almost feminine in edge/pitch, but not "womanly" if you know what I mean). The music is a combination of fast-paced blastbeat/all-guns-blazing BM with some catchier, mid-paced parts and some symphonic instrumentals that unfortunately feel a bit random. I would, however, highly recommend this to most BM fans. You can listen to some full tracks at the band's fan page on Myspace (I recommend "The Ground Shall Sorrow Be").

 

[Matt]

never heard 'em. how would you describe their sound?

Typical black metal...nothing really fancy etc.

 

[Skepticism]

Does anybody have Master's Hammer - Ritual on soulseek? I know you people are going to bitch at me for not buying, but I'm unemployed so I can't do anyhting about that.

 

[Alter]

Does anybody have Master's Hammer - Ritual on soulseek? I know you people are going to bitch at me for not buying, but I'm unemployed so I can't do anyhting about that.

Than get a fucking job.



Hills of Sefiroth is fucking great. Hard to explain. One of my fav.of of the USBM scene.http://www.myspace.com/hillsofsefiroth

 

[Skepticism]

Lick my balls, I'm trying.

 

[Slayed Necros]

Another recent favorite (last month or so) has been Octinomos' On The Demiurge. 2nd wave black metal by Frederik Söderlund, this album features excellent, rabid, disturbing vocals (sounding almost feminine in edge/pitch, but not "womanly" if you know what I mean). The music is a combination of fast-paced blastbeat/all-guns-blazing BM with some catchier, mid-paced parts and some symphonic instrumentals that unfortunately feel a bit random. I would, however, highly recommend this to most BM fans. You can listen to some full tracks at the band's fan page on Myspace (I recommend "The Ground Shall Sorrow Be").

Ah yes, Octinomos is class. I really need to listen to this more (and get around to buying it, seeing as it's piss cheap at Amazon). 2nd wave Swedish Black Metal fucking rules.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Yeah I'm guilty of not owning it either...hope to change that quite soon. It's on the invisible list...

WTF?! That IS fucking cheap...7 bucks shipped. DEAL!

 

[Mort Divine]

Ah yes, Octinomos is class. I really need to listen to this more (and get around to buying it, seeing as it's piss cheap at Amazon). 2nd wave Swedish Black Metal fucking rules.

Read that as 2nd wave Jewish black metal fucking rules.

Fucking shouldn't have lost my glasses.

 

[challenge_everything]

Anthems is so much better than ITNE in my opinion.

 

[BlackMetalTyrant]

Anthems is so much better than ITNE in my opinion.

agreed, the composition on Anthems is fucking amazing. In the Nightside Eclipse is a great album, but the guitar work on it is pretty intricate and the recording just does not do it justice. The gritty production worked for bands like Darkthrone that had a more simplistic aproach to their instruments, but it didn't for ITNE. You just have to listen too hard to figure out what is going on, its still a great album though.

 

[Zephyrus]

agreed, the composition on Anthems is fucking amazing. In the Nightside Eclipse is a great album, but the guitar work on it is pretty intricate and the recording just does not do it justice. The gritty production worked for bands like Darkthrone that had a more simplistic aproach to their instruments, but it didn't for ITNE. You just have to listen too hard to figure out what is going on, its still a great album though.

At last, some people in my camp.

However, I have to disagree with your assessment of ITNE's production. I don't find it at all gritty; instead I find it perfect in terms of acoustics and overall atmosphere it creates, as if it were recorded in the great hall of a stone castle (that's the image I get when listening to it).