What are you listening to?

I believe some folks here would like to hear this...

Cult Finnish death metal band Scum is going to release their third album "Garden of Shadows". Album was originally recorded in 1996, and is getting released 20 years later!

 
Currently taking up most of my commute time in my car:

The 69 Eyes - Universal Monsters
Moonspell - Extinct
Sentenced - Crimson (my least played Sentenced album..)
 
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On a Barren Earth binge what with their announcement that they are going back into the studio. New music from them and from Sólstafir should help next year put a dent in the crap sandwich that is 2016.

Re-listened to On Lonely Towers, which I've had a harder time warming up to despite loving the first two BE albums and loving Hamferð. I've warmed up a bit more this time through, but I still think that the middle of the album goes on a bit too long and drags a bit too much. Jon's love of concept/story albums gives the album good narrative flow, but makes it harder to mix things up in the middle and makes me better understand why Amorphis chooses to break up their story-cycles in favor of musical variety when listening straight through.
 


Not sure how to classify this. It's doom/drone and on bandcamp it's classified as metal, but it reminds me more of Biosphere's Substrata (if it were far darker) or Köner's Daikan, because of the whole vibe primarily, cold, distant, apocalyptic.
Just give it a listen.
 
tuonelan said:
On a Barren Earth binge what with their announcement that they are going back into the studio. New music from them and from Sólstafir should help next year put a dent in the crap sandwich that is 2016.

Re-listened to On Lonely Towers, which I've had a harder time warming up to despite loving the first two BE albums and loving Hamferð. I've warmed up a bit more this time through, but I still think that the middle of the album goes on a bit too long and drags a bit too much. Jon's love of concept/story albums gives the album good narrative flow, but makes it harder to mix things up in the middle and makes me better understand why Amorphis chooses to break up their story-cycles in favor of musical variety when listening straight through.
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I really liked the Red River album (can't remember the exact name) and their first EP but I can't say I've been following Barren Earth much lately. I was initially drawn to them due to the Amorphis links ;)

I'm re-visiting Katatonia's 'The Fall of Hearts' in preparation for Saturday's show. Love this album.
 
I'm glad that Katatonia is still going and still producing good music. I absolutely loved them around the time they put out The Great Cold Distance but drifted after Night Is The New Day. Nothing wrong with what they are currently doing, it just doesn't match my mood. Been listening to their older stuff instead:



Enjoy the show. Ever seen them live before?
 
tuonelan said:
I'm glad that Katatonia is still going and still producing good music. I absolutely loved them around the time they put out The Great Cold Distance but drifted after Night Is The New Day. Nothing wrong with what they are currently doing, it just doesn't match my mood. Been listening to their older stuff instead:



Enjoy the show. Ever seen them live before?
Click to expand...


Yeah I've seen them once before back in 2008.

By the way, you've just posted a song from my all time favourite album of any band: Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gine Down, so thank you for that!

Katatonia are probably pound for pound my favourite band, or at least in the top five, although I was less enthused by the last couple of albums too until The Fall of Hearts came out this Year and won me back. I think the track Old Heart Falls is my favourite song in the world right now.

Current playlist:

Amorphis - Am Universum
Watain - Lawless Darkness
 
Katatonia's "The Fall of Hearts" is definitly my album of the year. It's beyond beautiful. I was very impressed by their unplugged tour in 2014. In Berlin they played in a church, goosebump atmosphere. When they played "Unfurl" I was literally reduced to tears. The concert this October wasn't quite as atmospheric, but great nonetheless. As far as "The Fall of Hearts" is concerned, my favorite track is "Decima".

 
The former Kats have not been idle, either. Daniel is now drumming for In Mourning, whose latest album, Aftermath, came out this year. And Daniel is not alone in working with Tobias from In Mourning. Tobias is also collaborating with Fredrik Norrman (October Tide, ex-Katatonia) on Thenighttimeproject, whose debut album also came out earlier this year:

 
Enslaved just announced that Herbrand has decided to leave the group as of the last NY by Norse performance. Sounds like a professional, no-drama decision on both sides. Major bummer, since the last Enslaved featured Herbrand's playing quite prominently and his vocals were in their finest form:

 
Nokkakolari said:
Katatonia's "The Fall of Hearts" is definitly my album of the year. It's beyond beautiful. I was very impressed by their unplugged tour in 2014. In Berlin they played in a church, goosebump atmosphere. When they played "Unfurl" I was literally reduced to tears. The concert this October wasn't quite as atmospheric, but great nonetheless. As far as "The Fall of Hearts" is concerned, my favorite track is "Decima".

Click to expand...


Love your passion for Katatonia, so I'm not trying to start an argument here, but...I have to say that this year's record was such a disappointment for me. The songs just don't go anywhere. There's a total lack of direction. Some of the songs just seem to end without warning and on odd timing. It really sounds like they just entered the studio to jam, record the result, and call it an album. I love this band but am beyond let down by this record. I am probably in the minority on this, though.
 
tuonelan said:
Exactly. Hard to replace him, and harder still not to. And a seriously cool dude, too.
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So strange... when I walked into this room here this morning, the first thing I noticed was that the framed photo of Herbrand, Ice Dale and me had fallen down from the window sill, which has never happened before. The door had been closed during the night with the cats safely on the outside, and there was quite definitely no earthquake, unless the shattering of a huge part of my own little musical universe counts as such.
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Heartbreak.gif


Sure enough, Enslaved is first and last Ivar's and Grutle's band, just like Amorphis stands and falls with Esa and Koippari. But Herbrand did for me what Tomi Joutsen did for so many present-day Amorphis fans: turned what previously been just another remotely interesting band into a personal top favorite, the sort that you listen to for consolation in distress and travel abroad for to see live. If only I had known beforehand that this month's shows would be his last with the band, there's no
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way I would have skipped the gigs in Oslo last week, especially the third one.

Might as well admit it straight, it's not exactly a secret that I have quite a crush on the man, never mind that the official sex symbol of Enslaved is Ice Dale (okay, wouldn't kick him out of bed either...
Tongue.gif
) . But far beyond superficial fangirlism, and rather more difficult to explain, is that to me there's something utterly soothing and healing in his voice. I first noticed this effect in 2008 when Vertebrae helped me through some minor challenges in life, but especially in 2012 when Riitiir basically saved me from having to apply for professional therapy. (Just listening to "Storm Of Memories" - here we go, not a completely off-topic post after all!) "Veilburner" was my #1 song of that year, on so many levels...

All of a sudden I'm not quite as eager anymore to hear what Enslaved will come up with next, even though I'm sure they'll continue to be a great band and I wish both them and Herbrand himself all the best for the future. But something inside me still hopes he may return some day (looks like wishful thinking now but hey - we all have seen a musician or two reunite with their former band even after far less amicable splits than this one!). One does not simply walk out of a definitive line-up.

SAM_3856.jpg
(Hamar, 23.10.2015)
 
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Someone actually documented the moment I fell in love with Enslaved. Not the most professional vid, but it captures the atmosphere:



I've written about this show on the forum before, but it really was one of my favorite shows of all time. I'd heard some Enslaved before I got tickets to see them and Opeth at The Glass House, but had filed them away as a black metal band without the poser-y satanism. Was completely blown away when they started into Ruun and I discovered both the Pink Floyd influence and the deeply mystical lyrics. Hearing Herbrand sing "Have you ever seen beyond the reach, have you ever felt the change?" hit me on a really deep level and suddenly it didn't matter that it was 36 degrees celsius in the room there because we were all transported by the music. Does that sound like a crowd that was on the edge of heat prostration?

Absolutely electric.
 
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