The Extreme Metal Thread

[chrisbDTM]

word on the street is that The Faceless are breaking up after this next BTBAM tour. sure the latest album isn't up to par but im still bummed. Planetary Duality is one of my favorite albums ever

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Speaking of The Faceless, just saw this beastly clip with Alex:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAQqrqi2JAA#t=173

Regarding The Faceless breaking up, haven't heard anything about that. Heard any reason why?

[chrisbDTM]

just rumors here and there, just gossip for now. but it makes sense. Keene is the only original member and kinda took control of everything. Wes Hauch has some other projects lined up that he's been hinting at. Saw them live a little while ago and no one was into it at all, except maybe Rudinger

[gazinwales]

So has anyone heard of Equilibrium from Germany? They're one of the best folk metal bands imo.

Here's an awesome song from their new EP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjKJlKQ50wE

Yes I liked them since they released their debut album in 2005. The new EP is great too.

[gazinwales]

Carcass are back with their first album in 17 years and it's killer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMzPxHieFmU&feature=share&list=UUoxg3Kml41wE3IPq-PC-LQw

[adace]

Carcass are back with their first album in 17 years and it's killer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMzPxHieFmU&feature=share&list=UUoxg3Kml41wE3IPq-PC-LQw

I'm digging that one a lot too.

[Ultimetalhead]

Yeah, the new Carcass album was sweet. I feel like it pretty much bridges the gap between Necroticism and Heartwork (aka it pwns).

[adace]

I'm bored so here are a bunch of random 2013 album recs that haven't been mentioned here yet.

Nails - Abandon All Life
Quite possible the heaviest album ever made.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4nV8WV-EDY

Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance
Not really "extreme" but a great effort from a legendary band; their best in quite a long time actually.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyNOB-MBS50

Paysage d'Hiver - Das Tor
This is about as grim and frostbitten as black metal gets, folks. (Be sure to listen with headphones.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=150rYT2cDUw

Sleep White Winter - Dreamscapes
Ah so you thought Deafheaven had the blackgaze market cornered this year? Not so. This upstart band has released one of the best and most beautiful black metal albums of the year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmamVFd8I3o

Summoning - Old Morning's Dawn
After a rather lengthy absence, symphonic black metal Summoning have hit it out of the park once again with this vast, epic album. Old Morning's Dawn pretty much cements their place as one of my all-time favorite black metal bands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-wZTxJoDCQ

Caladan Brood - Echoes of Battle
Whoa, who would've guessed that there could be a similar band/album to Summoning and that it would not only come out in the same year as Summoning's new one but also sound about as good as Summoning? Definitely check out Echoes of Battle and Old Morning's Dawn. They're both amazing albums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4E6sTPlxeQ

Peste Noire - Peste Noire
Sure, the guy behind the music is a delusional, racist nutjob but that doesn't mean he's incapable of making great music. And trust me, it's really great stuff. Probably some of the wackiest black metal I've heard. It's not as good as the debut but it's a close second for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4kWa7lUFfI&feature=player_detailpage

Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury
Excellent experimental/industrial black metal. Really different from their first two albums, but possibly their best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7GO1XkFPk4

Immolation - Kingdom of Conspiracy
Nothing new here as compared with the last album, but awesome nonetheless. They're quickly becoming one of my favorite death metal bands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNRGcLkR0ds

Dark Tranquillity - Construct
The new direction these melodeath titans took on this album is just what they needed after the rather lackluster We Are the Void. One of the most unique melodeath albums I've heard and my third favorite DT album next to The Gallery and Damage Done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTkwuyb_PLc

Soilwork - The Living Infinite
I always thought of Soilwork as a second-rate, but good, melodeath band until I heard this badboy. This album is just incredible. A double album and not a single stinker in the bunch. Very likely my death metal album of the year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1uj4PntkOY

Amorphis - Circle
Some don't consider this "extreme" but it's close enough imo. As much as I like Tales from the Thousand Lakes and Silent Waters, I'm inclined to call this my favorite Amorphis album. Sweet, catchy melodies and plain awesome songs throughout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDpEBMHRp4g

Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods
AA got me into extreme metal in the first place so I must say I'm kind of a fanboy of theirs, but I think no matter who you ask this is a very solid and consistent album after the somewhat uneven (but still great) Surtur Rising.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z3spJ_z3Es

Carcass - Surgical Steel
DEM RIFFS. Excellent comeback for this phenomenal death metal band.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSsrKl6HtAw

Gorguts - Colored Sands
Not the easiest kind of death metal to get into but really rewarding once you do. Another successful comeback attempt by a legendary metal band.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk7nb-idmdI

Portal - Vexovoid
And if you thought Gorguts was hard to get into then this stuff is even more challenging a listen. There's basically no melodies at all and everything sounds like it was put in through a washing machine on spin cycle. Really dark, intense stuff if you're in the mood for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXQkTTl3nU8

Revocation - Revocation
Unlike certain thrash bands who have run out of ideas and decided to crap out a snoozefest of an album (Sodom ) this band keeps you on your toes the whole time with crazy, proggy time signatures and good ole raw aggression. 4 albums in and Revocation seems to be at their creative peak. Along with Vektor and Havok, Revocation once again prove their place as one of the best modern thrash bands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pcmzz8Bl2Y

Havok - Unnatural Selection
And speaking of Havok, while their 3rd offering is a bit of a step down from the amazing Time is Up, it's still a killer record that comes complete with a superb cover of Children of the Grave.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OGTvIeiYjg

Cult of Luna - Vertikal
One of the year's best post-metal releases and it's based around an awesome concept to boot (Fritz's Lang's legendary film Metropolis).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkHSvwKgJQA

Mouth of the Architect - Dawning
Another fantastic post-metal release; the vocals could be a bit better but that's only a minor criticism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4sMh3he1QY

Rosetta - The Anaesthete
More post-metal goodness. The drumming is just incredible throughout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kSOm7y-UfE

The Ocean - Pelagial
And the creme de la creme of 2013 post-metal. Dynamic, proggy, heavy and thoroughly engaging. Their best album yet by far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocq2sWK6CzM

Intronaut - Habitual Levitations
And in close second we have an already well-established band who decided to take a turn for the mellower but still come out winners (just like Baroness did last year). While still not as good as the previous two albums, it's still a damn fine effort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJEW2PHyspE

Persefone - Spiritual Migration
A massive, epic album that displays some of the most insane technicality I've heard in prog metal. I can easily imagine this being the more extreme version of Dream Theater.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6_sRDFideY

Night Verses - Lift Your Existence
Yeah, it's a bit of a stretch to call this metal but I've gotta mention it nevertheless. This is hands-down one of the best hardcore/post-hardcore albums I've listened to. It's not only catchy, but it's also dynamic and exciting as hell. This is far from some run-of-the-mill screamo band who can't play their instruments properly. On the contrary, the musicianship here is incredible and this band deserves way more recognition. If you or someone you know isn't really into hardcore then this is a great album to introduce you/them to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1E2nPKMG10

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

 

[chrisbDTM]

Lyle Cooper (ex-drummer of The Faceless) covers Blotted Science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jh4JZpsl-s

NASTY

[Outcrier]

Colored Sands is easily the best metal album of 2013 

[The King in Crimson]

I'm going to just do a rundown of all the extreme metal albums I've listened to this year.

Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury
Excellent experimental/industrial black metal. Really different from their first two albums, but possibly their best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7GO1XkFPk4

I thought this was top five when I first got it, but I'm not feeling it as much anymore. Maybe I overplayed it? I dunno, but it's not hitting me as hard as it was before. Still a very good album though.

Soilwork - The Living Infinite
I always thought of Soilwork as a second-rate, but good, melodeath band until I heard this badboy. This album is just incredible. A double album and not a single stinker in the bunch. Very likely my death metal album of the year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1uj4PntkOY

This was pretty good, but I don't think it needed to be a double album. There's about an album's worth of excellent material stretched out over two albums worth of music. I find I have this complaint of most double albums. 

Amorphis - Circle
Some don't consider this "extreme" but it's close enough imo. As much as I like Tales from the Thousand Lakes and Silent Waters, I'm inclined to call this my favorite Amorphis album. Sweet, catchy melodies and plain awesome songs throughout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDpEBMHRp4g

Good, but for some reason it's not making me want to replay it much. Easily better than Skyforger and The Beginning of Times though and "Narrow Path" is an awesome song. Amorphis always have at least one amazing song per album.

Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods
AA got me into extreme metal in the first place so I must say I'm kind of a fanboy of theirs, but I think no matter who you ask this is a very solid and consistent album after the somewhat uneven (but still great) Surtur Rising.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z3spJ_z3Es

Fantastically fun and catchy. It's almost impossible to not air guitar and grunt along with the songs. I don't know where this'll sit compared to the other releases of the year, but suffice to say it's a helluva lot of fun to listen to.

Carcass - Surgical Steel
DEM RIFFS. Excellent comeback for this phenomenal death metal band.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSsrKl6HtAw

Absolutely riff-tacular. That's all I have to say at this point (only listened to twice so far). "Thrasher's Abattoir" -> "Noncompliance..." is a fantastic run of songs.

Gorguts - Colored Sands
Not the easiest kind of death metal to get into but really rewarding once you do. Another successful comeback attempt by a legendary metal band.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk7nb-idmdI

Listened to this once. Very dense and... heavy. It will take quite a few more listens before I'm able to say anything remotely coherent about this and, to be honest, I just haven't been in the mood for it at all.

Portal - Vexovoid
And if you thought Gorguts was hard to get into then this stuff is even more challenging a listen. There's basically no melodies at all and everything sounds like it was put in through a washing machine on spin cycle. Really dark, intense stuff if you're in the mood for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXQkTTl3nU8

I could not get into this at all.

Revocation - Revocation
Unlike certain thrash bands who have run out of ideas and decided to crap out a snoozefest of an album (Sodom ) this band keeps you on your toes the whole time with crazy, proggy time signatures and good ole raw aggression. 4 albums in and Revocation seems to be at their creative peak. Along with Vektor and Havok, Revocation once again prove their place as one of the best modern thrash bands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pcmzz8Bl2Y

Some great riffing and technicality without being overly obnoxious about it. Catchy and abrasive with some surprisingly melodic sections as well.

Cult of Luna - Vertikal
One of the year's best post-metal releases and it's based around an awesome concept to boot (Fritz's Lang's legendary film Metropolis).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkHSvwKgJQA

What I really like about this album is how they mix the synths in with some of the heaviest fucking music. This album creates a very oppressive atmosphere and it makes me want to explore their past material (this is the first Cult of Luna I've listened to). Easily the best post-metal album of the year, IMO.

The Ocean - Pelagial
And the creme de la creme of 2013 post-metal. Dynamic, proggy, heavy and thoroughly engaging. Their best album yet by far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocq2sWK6CzM

Everyone seems to love this album, but for some reason, I'm just not feeling it. I can't even explain why, just that it doesn't stick with me all that much. The only real complaint I can levy against this album is that the harsh vocals are kinda weak. Not bad, but they're clearly my least favorite aspect of the album. Everything else is good, but it's just not doing much for me.

Intronaut - Habitual Levitations
And in close second we have an already well-established band who decided to take a turn for the mellower but still come out winners (just like Baroness did last year). While still not as good as the previous two albums, it's still a damn fine effort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJEW2PHyspE

This was definitely a grower of an album. At first I was disappointed by the dropping of the harsh vocals, but I don't mind as much anymore and I can appreciate the songs for what they are rather than what I wanted them to be. Still, not as good as the previous two but it's certainly worth it to give this album the chance even if you may not like it at first.

Persefone - Spiritual Migration
A massive, epic album that displays some of the most insane technicality I've heard in prog metal. I can easily imagine this being the more extreme version of Dream Theater.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6_sRDFideY

I like the music but I have two knocks against this album: 1) It's way too long. I find myself getting exhausted of it about 3/4 of the way through and just waiting for it to end. 2) I'm not a fan of the vocals. The technicality, heaviness and weak vocals make it difficult for me to latch onto anything on this album. So while I can appreciate the music, it's in a more detached "That's neat" sort of way. I'm going to give this a few more chances though, as there's some pretty neat music in here.

Some other extreme metal releases I've listened to this year:

Fleshgod Apocalypse - Labyrinth
Probably better than Agony, IMO. They've managed to almost perfectly balance the technical metal aspects with the epic, symphonic arrangements. Agony leaned more towards the arrangements to the point that the metal portions were... not bad exactly, but not that flashy or wow-inducing and, honestly, the symphonic arrangements, for as prominent as they were, weren't that interesting either. Don't get me wrong, I liked Agony, but Labyrinth is a big step up, except for the production. The production job is awful, awful, awful and it makes it difficult to appreciate parts of this album. I know extreme metal doesn't have a history of having great-sounding albums, but Labyrinth is bad for different reasons. It's excessively loud and another unfortunate victim of the loudness wars. If you can get over that and appreciate what's buried beneath the morass of compression, this is worth checking out.

The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer
This is a great followup to Option Paralysis and it might even be better. It's certainly more consistent, except OP doesn't have anything as banal as "CH 375 268 277 ARS" and I think it might have a few more standout songs, but One Of Us... is pretty damn excellent all around.

[Dark Castle]

That awkward moment when people compliment your Pig Destroyer shirt, and then go on to ask if they're a local band from South Dakota.
 

[AngelBack]

The Faceless
Whitechapel
Cattle Decapitation
The Ocean
Thy Art is Murder
Chelsea Grin - probably my fav right now
Atilla
After the Burial

[Zantera]

Metal-albums from 2013 that I highly recommend:

Kayo Dot - Hubardo
Oathbreaker - Eros/Anteros
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury

[Dark Castle]

Anybody here listen to Portal?
Finally starting to get into them, had trouble doing so because their music is so thick'n'busy, but it's starting to click and I'm loving it! 

Metal albums I recommend you listen to from this year

2013
_____
The Ocean - Pelagial
Suffocation - Pinnacle of Bedlam
Rivers of Nihil - The Conscious Seed of Light (out next week)
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury
Portal - Vexovoid
Revocation - Revocation
Shining - One One One
Lord Dying - Summon The Faithless
Howl - Bloodlines
Anciients - Heart of Oak
The Black Dahlia Murder - Everblack
Fallujah - Nomadic
Inter Arma - Sky Burial
Carcass - Surgical Steel

[Elite]

The Ocean - Pelagial
Deafheaven - Sunbather

Both in my top 10 of the year. Pelagial is even top 5, absolutely stunning record.

[adace]

Anybody here listen to Portal?
Finally starting to get into them, had trouble doing so because their music is so thick'n'busy, but it's starting to click and I'm loving it! 

Yeah, their new album Vexovoid is pretty good. Very dissonant and brutal.

Some more extreme albums from 2013 I'm enjoying:
Inquisition - Obscure Verses for the Multiverse (technical black metal with Immortal-esque vocals and awesome, hypnotic riffs)
Eternium - Repelling a Solar Giant (symphonic blackened death, riyl Septic Flesh, Emperor, Dissection etc.)

2013 extreme albums I'm looking forward to:
Ihsahn - Das Seelenbrechen
Protest the Hero - Volition
Toxic Holocaust - Chemistry of Consciousness
Falkenbach - Asa
Kataklysm - Waiting for the End to Come
Germ - Grief
Pestilence - Obsideo

[The King in Crimson]

Anybody here listen to Portal?

5 minutes of it.

That was enough. 

[Dark Castle]

Anybody here listen to Portal?

5 minutes of it.

That was enough. 

I know how you feel, when I first listened to them, it seemed like one big mess. I can't expect you're going to change your mind, but it's a fun album to put on and give another chance, if you ever feel like it 

[Riitasointi]

It's really nice, and unexpected, to see some love for The Faceless on this forum!  To me they are one of the most enjoyable bands to listen to when I'm in that brutal metal mood. As a guitar lover I absolutely adore most of their stuff, especially Keene's melodic yet technical and tricky solos. I like all their albums but like the majority of the fans I prefer Planetary Duality to basically everything  That album contains some of the best and simply funniest and most entertaining songs I've heard in any of metal. Also like the clean vocals presented on the latest record!

As for the rumors of them breaking up (only read them now in this thread), I guess it makes sense. The whole band has become more like "Michael Keene and the boys" by now, I understand if the other guys want to pursue other musical goals. That could work for Keene himself as well because then he could really concentrate on making his solo stuff (which The Faceless basically is already but still)

[Dark Castle]

They're not breaking up, Keene had an interview, Evan has an oppurtunity to play with one of his favorite bands, so he's pursuing it, but he's still in The Faceless, and Keene said that they had a lot of stuff in the works 

[Riitasointi]

They're not breaking up, Keene had an interview, Evan has an oppurtunity to play with one of his favorite bands, so he's pursuing it, but he's still in The Faceless, and Keene said that they had a lot of stuff in the works 

Oh thanks for the info! Great to hear that, hope we get a new album soon

[Dark Castle]

Anybody else excited for the new Kataklysm album? They put out a music video for the song Elevate today, what a stormer.

[adace]

Anybody else excited for the new Kataklysm album? They put out a music video for the song Elevate today, what a stormer.

Their last two albums didn't really do it for me for the most part, but the new songs are awesome. This could very well be their best album.

[Obfuscation]

Anybody else excited for the new Kataklysm album? They put out a music video for the song Elevate today, what a stormer.

I had forgotten they exist so haven't listened to them in a long time but will check their new song out.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Anybody else excited for the new Kataklysm album? They put out a music video for the song Elevate today, what a stormer.

Listening right now, sounds awesome!

[adace]

anyone up for some new Ihsahn? From the samples and reviews, Das Seelenbrechen is looking to be his most experimental work to date. Can't wait to hear it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92g3KGbZXU0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlAunHz0RIE

[Dark Castle]

anyone up for some new Ihsahn? From the samples and reviews, Das Seelenbrechen is looking to be his most experimental work to date. Can't wait to hear it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92g3KGbZXU0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlAunHz0RIE

I've liked what I've heard so far, but I'm curious to see if he'll ever top After. Eremita was pretty good, but like the new Protest The Hero album, it was simply pretty good.

[Obfuscation]

A fairly "new" tech death band though their first and only album came out in 2011 but I think they're really good and excited to see what they come up with next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0MkJtI3FvU

[Dark Castle]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=38625.msg1698632#new
Gonna link this thread here again, because their album came out, and you can stream it from Metalblade here if it's not on Spotify already:
NEVER MIND, stream has been taken off of Metalblade's website it would seem.
But still check the album out, Rivers Of Nihil's album is THE album you have to have this year if you ask me.
EDIT: Spotify link for you mofo's
https://open.spotify.com/album/2cTup7rAEsHvYqZ1Z0bhxo

[Obfuscation]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=38625.msg1698632#new
Gonna link this thread here again, because their album came out, and you can stream it from Metalblade here if it's not on Spotify already:
NEVER MIND, stream has been taken off of Metalblade's website it would seem.
But still check the album out, Rivers Of Nihil's album is THE album you have to have this year if you ask me.
EDIT: Spotify link for you mofo's
https://open.spotify.com/album/2cTup7rAEsHvYqZ1Z0bhxo

I've listened to Rain Eater and the album samples so far and its sounds really good. Will listen to it.

[adace]

Just had a listen to the new Ihsahn record. The first six tracks are solid, but after that the album really gets bogged down in experimentalism and doesn't go anywhere. Overall, I wouldn't call it a mess, but it is pretty uneven and not nearly on the level of Eremita and After.

That said, "Pulse," "Regen," and "NaCl" are some of the strongest songs he's written. In fact, they're probably the album's saving grace.

I might like it better after a few more listens, but for now I'm going with 7.5/10.

[Dark Castle]

Since I doubt a thread for them would go anywhere at all, has anybody heard Fit For An Autopsy's latest album? Came out last month and it's so good.

[Sycsa]

Ever since the drummer auditions, whenever I come across this term, all I can hear in my mind is "ass stream metal", courtesy of Derek Roddy.