Top 10 BM Albums of the 00s

[Zephyrus]

There's probably some psychological factor that trying to like a certain band so much because it's en vogue may at least externally convince the person that he or she actually enjoys the music. I find this in a lot of these bands, such as Averse Sefira, who are less accessible than DSO (at least to me) and by that relationship, AS suddenly becomes the more exclusive band to be favored, so that those who claim to like it better attain some reverence in some club of those who "get it." Others are inspired and listen to said band, despite not quite "getting it" yet outwardly claiming to "get it" in order to secure his or her popularity and respect among peers. That's ridiculous.

Metalheads claim to be so individualistic, yet here we have a senseless conflict of trying to look better than everyone else by paradoxically following the example of a certain few who can't stand the fact that everyone else has suddenly impinged their unique position.

 

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

I was going to mention something about the "individualism" paradox here It's especially amusing in black metal.

 

[Addo_Of_Nex]

I typically only see the extremes represented on both sides of the ANUS/New BM fan dichotomy, and they're equally guilty. Any time I criticize post-SMRC Deathspell Omega, I'm bombarded with people namedropping philosophers like Heidegger in relation to the band's stance on existentialism and Christianity as if I'm supposed to "not get it" and move on to my traditionalist idiotmusics. I have yet to hear a solid defense for Fas whenever I say that it's predictable, scatterbrained nonsense that doesn't know what it's doing most of the time. I always start posts like that with "I'm genuinely interested in someone breaking down the lyrical matters in relation to the music so I might find some worth in this"; but I always get patronized instead.

Too many people cringe when ANUS or elitism in metal is brought up imo. The organization itself is lackluster in execution due to retarded politics and rushed, inaccurate armchair philosophy that permeates every article on the site; but the idea of intellectually promoting metal as a philosophical approach to living life is something I don't see a problem with at all. I do think the organization is a joke, though it's funny how a couple comments on an ANUSite's last.fm page sparks a series of requests on multiple websites.

 

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

What I get out of Fas is certainly akin to a mental breakdown, inhabiting of dark mental corners and the loss of sanity stemming from knowledge. In other words, sounds exactly like the cover.

 

[Manic Ferocity]

I don't really get why everyone's suddenly fallen out of favor with SMR,C. It's still fucking amazing, guys. Maybe it's hype-backlash, which tbh makes people excluding it who once liked it pretty pathetic (though they'll no doubt come up with excuses etc. for their reasoning).

I still like the album, it's just not the be-all-end-all of black metal and I never really thought it was.

 

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

It's certainly worthy of a fucking top ten list of this past decade in BM, c'mon.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

I typically only see the extremes represented on both sides of the ANUS/New BM fan dichotomy, and they're equally guilty. Any time I criticize post-SMRC Deathspell Omega, I'm bombarded with people namedropping philosophers like Heidegger in relation to the band's stance on existentialism and Christianity as if I'm supposed to "not get it" and move on to my traditionalist idiotmusics. I have yet to hear a solid defense for Fas whenever I say that it's predictable, scatterbrained nonsense that doesn't know what it's doing most of the time. I always start posts like that with "I'm genuinely interested in someone breaking down the lyrical matters in relation to the music so I might find some worth in this"; but I always get patronized instead.

Too many people cringe when ANUS or elitism in metal is brought up imo. The organization itself is lackluster in execution due to retarded politics and rushed, inaccurate armchair philosophy that permeates every article on the site; but the idea of intellectually promoting metal as a philosophical approach to living life is something I don't see a problem with at all. I do think the organization is a joke, though it's funny how a couple comments on an ANUSite's last.fm page sparks a series of requests on multiple websites.

Wow, I guess I just don't get it

I would be interested in studying an album from a philosophical standpoint though. I don't think I've ever done that in a non-casual way. It's easier just to look at music in terms of the 'imagery' and emotions involved.

 

[Addo_Of_Nex]

Heh, I usually just give an album 4-5 listens while reading lyrics and interviews, as well as thinking about artwork to see if there's any interaction between everything at hand and evaluate it from there. ANUS bullshit about classical structure and form (metal is usually linear and narrative, so clearly it's Wagner with harsh vocals) and metal's relation to nihilism and romanticism is far too superficial and sloppy to be taken seriously at the end of the day. Like I said though, I love the idea and would like to do something with it when I'm somewhat qualified in about 20 years.

Excuse the intended hyperbole and oversimplifications. I guess I like criticizing ANUS harshly because they'd be decent if it wasn't for some fundamental retardation on their part.

 

[Zephyrus]

I typically only see the extremes represented on both sides of the ANUS/New BM fan dichotomy, and they're equally guilty. Any time I criticize post-SMRC Deathspell Omega, I'm bombarded with people namedropping philosophers like Heidegger in relation to the band's stance on existentialism and Christianity as if I'm supposed to "not get it" and move on to my traditionalist idiotmusics. I have yet to hear a solid defense for Fas whenever I say that it's predictable, scatterbrained nonsense that doesn't know what it's doing most of the time. I always start posts like that with "I'm genuinely interested in someone breaking down the lyrical matters in relation to the music so I might find some worth in this"; but I always get patronized instead.

I love Fas because it's so complex (whether there's a structure or not is not of my concern) that I can listen to it so many times and still find it fresh as ever. I don't try to understand it but I do know that there's something about it that is grabbing my attention and giving me pleasure. Some people can't deal with that, and that's fine.

And artwork is something I have paid much more attention to lately, and Fas is a great example. It's especially vivid with Bolt Thrower, as I place each album's music in the context of the time period of the cover, whether it's the medieval wars of The IVth Crusade or World War I in Those Once Loyal.

 

[Manic Ferocity]

It's certainly worthy of a fucking top ten list of this past decade in BM, c'mon.

I suppose.

 

[Srontgorrth]

Off the top of my head:

Deathspell Omega - Fas
Blut Aus Nord - TWWTG
Mirrorthrone - Carriers of Dust
The Ruins of Beverast - Unlock the Shrine
Weakling - Dead as Dreams
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
Absurd - Der Funzenjarige Krieg
Hate Forest - Battlefields
Shining - V Halmstad
Negura Bunget - Om

 

[Slayed Necros]

It's certainly worthy of a fucking top ten list of this past decade in BM, c'mon.

It's great, but there's certainly 10 albums from the decade I'd rather listen to.

 

[no country for old wainds]

only cause youve overplayed the crap out of it

 

[Lateralus14]

This page is good and true.

And Zeph's summary of Fas was perfect. I'm completely aware that it sometimes just seems totally random or poorly written at points, but after 40-50ish listens, I still enjoy finding little nuances and occasionally some order out of the chaos. The drums are certainly too loud but without them the music wouldn't be nearly as hard (and thus fun, for me I guess) to decipher so I'm not sure if I could actually say I even dislike that part. As a guitarist I also really enjoy the guitar work full of sweep picking that for once in music history doesn't sound like wankery.

 

[WCannibal]

Another reason why Fas is so difficult to understand is because of the unreasonable amounts of reverb.

 

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

Of course there is a structure in Fas. It's a bit bizarre but not even close to the least structured music of all time or anything. It has a form and a really consistent one at that.

MP: OK, perhaps for you yeah, for me, definitely not. I'm saying that people who are turning on it just because it's recently received wide acclaim (you know who you are if you are one!) are faggots.

WCannibal: No, not really. Yeah, there's a lot of reverb, it's fairly obvious it works with the open-ended nature of the songs and thus, it works for me. It doesn't seem structureless because of the suffocating reverb or production; it feels that way because of the sometimes illogical songwriting.

 

[Anticitizen One]

What I get out of Fas is certainly akin to a mental breakdown, inhabiting of dark mental corners and the loss of sanity stemming from knowledge. In other words, sounds exactly like the cover.

The cover paints a perfect picture of a man (or a psyche) falling, terror-stricken, all in a tangle and surrounded by nothing but blackness, shattering in the light of divine knowledge raining down from above. I am not even religious and Fas feels to me like an evangelist's palm to the forehead, blasting your subconscious mind with all the horror of sanity giving way to illumination. Like walking into a darkened cathedral, whereupon all the windows shatter and beyond is nothing but starlit void and existential despair.

How "complex" it is or whether it makes some kind of narrative sense isn't important. It certainly does "know what it's doing".

While on one hand I don't fault Addo_of_Nex for not appreciating it, on the other hand I personally think it's absurd to even think that a band like Averse Sefira even begins to compare to this. They do not offer this sort of experience.

 

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

Yeah, but they're well-liked and ANUS and probably other places have already wrote doctoral dissertations on why it is super-enlightening and full of boy-howdy imagery and metaphors so it's really pretty easy to side with them cuz they did the research. Into art. Right..!

If you've ever read or watched one of the Averse Sefira interviews, you know those guys are basically just pretentious cocks.

 

[WCannibal]

WCannibal: No, not really. Yeah, there's a lot of reverb, it's fairly obvious it works with the open-ended nature of the songs and thus, it works for me. It doesn't seem structureless because of the suffocating reverb or production; it feels that way because of the sometimes illogical songwriting.

I was talking about the fact that it's hard to hear the notes.

 

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

It's hard to hear individual notes separate from the gestalt in a variety of metal; a lot of it actually. I never noted it as a problem particularly on Fas.