Themed Mixtape Game

[arg]

Darkthrone - Where the Winds Blow - 3
7 1/2 minutes of banging spoons on tin cans. some "intense" moments and tempo changes then back to clanging and groaning

Sort Vokter - Bak To Lysende Øyne - 0
one day many years ago i was at a zoo and an elephant was having explosive diarrhea. it sounded better than this song

Branikald - Rdjandalir - 4
this would make good background music at a massage parlor as the masseuse gently caresses my buttcheeks and i pass a silent gas

Scald - Night Sky - 4
homosexual obese buttsex cock and ball mouthstuffing. song is saved by some good riffs but then it drags

Bloodbath - Outnumbering the Day - 10
crisp guitar tone and fierce vocals. evil atmosphere yet visceral energy. balance of brutality, melody (the badass type, not pretty melodeath), groovy and varied riffs, speed changes and guitar solos. everything i look for in death metal

Panphage - Storm - 1
some weird tribal loincloth-wearing goofy shit

Hate Forest - Black Forest - 1
go climb a tree and have a grim wank, faggot

Alchemist - Part 1: The Bio Approach - 8
some kind of progressive/industrial, not my usual thing but i dig it

Ancestors - Mother Animal - 3
how about i reach into your asshole and pull the baby animal fetus out through it and feed it to you bitch

Sacramentum - When Night Surrounds Me - 5
guitar tone is fine. vocal tone is fine (i like "roaring" bm vocals, not croaky or screechy). i just dont like the composition. and the riffs sound fucking happy. if i want happy i'll listen to Eluveitie. but if i listen to black metal i want it to be fucking intense like EDT or PEM era Dimmu or even Gorgoroth or Marduk

Atheist - Green - 5
kinda disjointed, a bit too much start/stop but listenable enough

Dead Can Dance - The Arcane - 7
was getting ready to downrate it but ended up liking it. quite pleasant and soothing. i can appreciate and will uprate a cohesive and harmonic musical vision even if it's not metal

Arcturus - Icebound Streams and Vapours Grey - 3
saw them live at Hellfest 2012 and liked them a lot. they surely have better songs than this, shouldve picked a later album when their sound had matured

Drudkh - Forests in Fire and Gold - 2
crap

Waldgeflüster - Herbst befiel das Land - 1
shit

Demolition Hammer - Cataclysm - 9
thank god it ended with this

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Darkthrone – Where the Dark Winds Blow – 8/10

One of my favorite songs from one of the few Darkthrone albums I really enjoy.

Sort Vokter – Bak to Lysende Oyne – 1/10

Polka drum machines, basically non-existent riffing, vocals are pathetic and only harsh thanks to distortion, lyrics aren’t available and Google Translate is telling me it means “Back to Luminous Eyes” so yeah.

Branikald – Rdjandalir – 6/10

Pretty, but this is a good example of what I mean when I talk about the non-metal influence in black metal. This sounds like a really stretched-out post-punk song or something. Sound is nice, I like the atmosphere, and the singer has a nice voice and I like how it changed from more sad to agonized. If this was about half as long I’d rate it higher, but at least for first listen it was enjoyable all the way through and there was enough direction for it to work. But this definitely isn’t metal in the slightest.

Scald – Night Sky – 8/10

Best song on an underground classic. I have to admit that I never really tried reading the lyrics to this album because I liked the vocals on their own merit enough to not want to potentially taint that, but I didn’t think they would fit a nature theme this well, and it’s definitely enhanced my appreciation of this song.

Bloodbath – Outnumbering the Day – 6/10

I’ve never really actually listened to these guys so much. Better than I expected, nothing too sappy even if it is a little clinical.

Panphage – Storm – 5/10

Folky and dancy, a little fruity, but it’s ok. I like the vocalist’s laugh at the beginning.

Hate Forest – Black Forest – 4/10

I’ve definitely heard worse Hate Forest than this (or I’ve just warmed up slightly), but still not winning me over. The melody halfway through is pretty sappy and stereotypical of what a lot of black metal tries hard to do, and the change in vocals to those pseudo-growls doesn’t even fit it. Contrived.

Alchemist – Evolution I: The Bio Approach – 7/10

This album has maybe shrunk slightly on me over the years, their use of “tribal” elements and stuff kinda force the sound while otherwise having more alt-metal-oriented riffs, but I still enjoy it a lot.

Ancestors – Mother Animal – 7/10

I’ve seen the cover art of this album (and their newest apparently) a bunch of times before but never even had the curiosity to find out who they were, let alone listening to them. This is stoner/doom the way I like it, open production and jammy, but not pure masturbation, lots of quality ideas here. That heavier section three minutes in was especially ass-kicking, will check them out properly.

Sacramentum – When Night Surrounds Me – 5/10

Don’t dislike them, but they don’t really click with me either. I’ll admit that the very wintery sound works well for this playlist though.

Atheist – Green – 10/10

Thought for sure Mother Man would have been the one chosen, lol. One of my very favorite songs on one of my favorite albums, jazzy swingy metal doesn’t really convey

Dead Can Dance – The Arcane – 5/10

I prefer their first album to what I’ve heard, not as much of that “neoclassical”/pseudo-choir stuff creeping in, although the chanting here still doesn’t really appeal to me. It has a neat atmosphere though.

Arcturus – Icebound Streams and Vapours Gray – 6/10

As much as I’ve listened to their studio albums and as important as they were for me branching out of the trad and thrash routine, I never got around to listening to this EP, so that’s cool (although parts of this sound like something they did later anyways).

Drudkh – Forests in Fire and Gold – 4/10

The guitars are pretty enough to make calling this sleep-inducing almost not an insult, but regardless I zoned out through most of this.


Waldgeflüster - Herbst Befiel Das Land – 1/10

Wow, this almost sounds like blackcore or something. Vocalist has that Taz the Tasmanian Devil thing going for him, these melodies are beyond saccharine, and you even get a brief bit of stop-start screamy shit. The gothier parts about 4-5 minutes in had me cringing.

Demolition Hammer – Cataclysm – 8/10

I didn’t really notice until some M-A review or something pointed it out, but srsly, the idea of a thrash metal song dedicated to the crushing force of glacial drift, eroding the planet under millions of tons of ice over many millennia, is just too damn awesome. It’s the “RETREAT TO THE EQUATOR!” followed by the breakdown that especially sells it for me.

 

[Onder]

Sort Vokter - Bak To Lysende Øyne - 1/10
-wow, just wow. this is bad. real bad. im talking cant get any worse bad.

Sort Vokter - Bak To Lysende Øyne - 0
one day many years ago i was at a zoo and an elephant was having explosive diarrhea. it sounded better than this song

Sort Vokter – Bak to Lysende Oyne – 1/10
Polka drum machines, basically non-existent riffing, vocals are pathetic and only harsh thanks to distortion, lyrics aren’t available and Google Translate is telling me it means “Back to Luminous Eyes” so yeah.

-_-

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

... i think Baroque was being generous with his 2 for that song.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

-_-

What do you find appealing in that song? It was seriously one of the worst things I've ever heard in a this-has-to-be-intentionally-bad kind of way.

 

[EspaDa]

I'm so embarrassed with some of these ratings that I'm actually reluctant to tally them up.

Scald - Night Sky - 4
homosexual obese buttsex cock and ball mouthstuffing. song is saved by some good riffs but then it drags

lol

 

[Vegard Pompey]

I will post my ratings today in a couple hours

 

[Krow]

Not sure if aug is trying to be funny or just that mad no one ever likes his picks....

 

[no country for old wainds]

trying and succeeding

 

[Omni]

What do you find appealing in that song? It was seriously one of the worst things I've ever heard in a this-has-to-be-intentionally-bad kind of way.

That song rules. That said, I think that Sort Vokter has an intense capacity to be disliked by a lot of people. Maybe even more than regular Ildjarn music at times.

In regards to your Google Translate difficulties, the actual closest translation is "Behind Two Gleaming Eyes" and it's seemingly about being stalked by some type of animal in the forest.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

I find I don't have anything to say about many of these songs, so I'm not going to do a song-by-song commentary this time. That's not to say I didn't like the playlist; I enjoyed almost everything on it.

Darkthrone - Where Cold Winds Blow: 4/10
Sort Vokter - Bak to Lysende Øyne: 2/10
Branikald - Rdyandalir: 9/10
Scald - Night Sky: 10/10
Bloodbath - Outnumbering the Day: 6/10
Panphage - Storm: 10/10
Hate Forest - Black Forest: 8/10
Alchemist - Evolution 1 The Bio Approach: 6/10
Ancestors - Mother Animal: 9/10
Sacramentum - When Night Surrounds Me: 9/10
Atheist - Green: 3/10
Dead Can Dance - The Arcane: 6/10
Arcturus - Icebound Streams and Vapours Gray: 6/10
Drudkh - Forests in Fire and Gold: 7/10
Waldgeflüster - Herbst Befiel Das Land: 4/10
Demolition Hammer - Cataclysm: 7/10

Some thoughts:

I always feel bad downrating something canonized like Darkthrone, it makes me wonder what it is I'm just not hearing. I played that song several times and still find it incredibly boring.

Can't take this Sort Vokter seriously. The drum machine is hilarious.

Why the fuck isn't Rdyandalir the playlist outro

Vocalist of Scald is Great Power

I appreciate the Alchemist pick for being the only one with a 'natural science' angle.

This Ancestors song is shockingly good. For the first time in my life I feel a desire to check out a stoner doom album.

What the hell is going on in this Atheist song. Who picked this over Mother Man?

The vocals kill this otherwise-interesting Waldgeflüster song.

I probably wouldn't like this Demolition Hammer song that much in any other context, but it really stands out in this playlist while fitting them theme perfectly. Excellent pick.

 

[Carpe Mortem]

I've never been a fan of over-indulgent treble, especially in lo-fi black metal, especially with cacaphonic croaked vocals. Those first two tracks just happen to be a very specific formula for shit I do not like.

 

[Phylactery]

Do you like any Darkthrone, Vegard?

Also, I'm wondering what it's going to take for Omni to give a 9.5 or a 10.

 

[Omni]

I know specific songs that I would give a perfect rating if they fit into a future theme.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

I love this song so much. Amazing riffs. This is just one of my all-time favorites.

8.5/10

@Phylactery, actually haven't listened much to Darkthrone... Yeah, I know.

 

[CiG]

Darkthrone are gods.

 

[Krow]

Darkthrone are gods.

Too many falses here.

 

[EternalMetal]

I think im going to follow in Vegard Pompey's steps and just comment on songs I feel like.

1. Darkthrone - Where Cold Winds Blow - 8/10
2. Sort Vokter - Bak to lysende øyne - 8.5/10 - Surprised at the negative reactions to this one, the forest terror is very palpable and visceral here. I guess some people just dont appreciate good atmosphere and minimalism.
3. Branikald - Rdyandalir - 5/10 - Maybe if I sat down and gave the entire album a listen I would feel otherwise, but this kind of just drags on for a while with very little progression or anything going on. Decent background music.
4. Scald - Night Sky - 8/10
5. Bloodbath - Outnumbering the Sky - 4/10 - Nature vibe is extremely lacking here
6. Panphage - Storm - 7.5/10
7. Hate Forest - Black Forest - 8/10
8. Alchemist - The Bio Approach - 7/10 - I picked this out of contrast to all of the winter BM I was expecting on the playlist. Aside from the vocalist, the song exhibits an organic nature vibe and the lyrical content focuses on the biology of creating nature. Not nearly one of the best songs on the list tbh.
9. Ancestors - Mother Animal - 5/10 - Stoner doom is hit or miss for me, and I dont think they completely nailed the vibe they were looking for. The keyboards ruin an otherwise decent band.
10. Sacramentum - When Night Surrounds Me - 9/10 - Nails the theme and aesthetic.
11. Atheist - Green - 8/10 - Im probably the only one here aside from who selected this song who agrees that this was the better song to pick than Mother Man. Ive always felt like the nature vibe was strong on this album, and im glad to see this song on here.
12. Dead Can Dance - The Arcane - 7.5/10
13. Arcturus - Icebound Streams and Vapours Grey - 6/10
14. Drudkh - Forests in Fire and Gold - 8.5/10 - Drudkh have a strong nature aesthetic almost as good as Burzum. Would have liked to see a Belus track on here, but this is pretty good too.
15. Waldgeflüster - Herbst Befiel Das Land - 5/10
16. Demolition Hammer - Cataclysm - 5/10 - Despite the lyrical content, thrash is one of the last types of music I would associate with nature. Pretty decent for party thrash though.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

11. Atheist - Green - 8/10 - Im probably the only one here aside from who selected this song who agrees that this was the better song to pick than Mother Man. Ive always felt like the nature vibe was strong on this album, and im glad to see this song on here.

me, you and HBB. It is the better choice by far if we are talking "nature".

 

[Baroque]

... i think Baroque was being generous with his 2 for that song.

I gave it 1 point for having distorted guitar tone and 1 point for being on the theme. Otherwise it was garbage lol