What are you listening to right now?

[RickyRock]

RE: Avkrvst. Yes, there are a couple of growl moments. 30 seconds in one tune and 24 seconds in the other. I don’t care for growling style vocals but with this album they don’t last long enough to annoy me. Glad you like it Larry, this is indeed an awesome “disc”. As far as PT, and you not being a fan, you should still give the album Deadwing a listen. Desert Island disc for me! And the influences from that disc are all over the Avkrvst record.

[Sir Exar Kun]

MitchG wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 8:41 pm
Re: Extreme...I really didn't care for this band back in the day, and really disliked Cherone (both his voice and the way he carried himself...very similar to my feelings about LaBrie). But that first new single from the latest album really did blow me away, so I need to check out the album.
I always liked Extreme, even if the first two albums were a bit "goofy". The third one is a through-and-through wonderful album though - very inspired and really in essence a progressive hard rock album, more than a hair metal album.

New album: Been through it twice, and besides perhaps two-three great songs, it's pretty lackluster and not at all what I had hoped for. Sure, phenomenal guitar playing, and Gary's voice have held up pretty well, but musically it's just not doing it for me.
****I had heard the same thing about the new one ....... nothing special, and no need to buy. Sad considering the band's history. And I agree as you know, that Three Sides is desert island disc for me ....... superb.

Finally gave this a whirl last night.... Definitely underwhelmed. I loved the last disc (Saudades de Rock) as it was Extreme at their most diverse.... And a lot of fun.

This one has some decent songwriting, but the mix on it is NOT what I want to hear from the band..... It carries more of a muddy 70s analog sound to it.... When it first started playing, I actually thought I had a bad version or something, but no.... It just sounds like all instruments were recorded live in a small room together. Musically, it's got a few good tunes like mentioned above, but not enough to rise above the fuzzy guitar tones. Which is really sad, as Nuno's PLAYING on it is fantastic!

[Mardoch]

Conception - Flow Remaster
Still a phenomenal album, and the remaster really gave it the fresh coat of paint it needed.

[introclaus]

Been listening to the 2023 remaster of ELEGY’s “State of Mind”. Sounds is killer! It wasn’t bad to begin with but it sounds very strong now and music doesn’t sound 25 years old at all. I love all albums of theirs to be honest, even though I have a slight preference to the Houvinga era … I saw them live with Parry though and he was incredible.

[introclaus]

Conception - Flow Remaster
Still a phenomenal album, and the remaster really gave it the fresh coat of paint it needed.

110% agreed.

[LarryD]

Conception - Flow Remaster
Still a phenomenal album, and the remaster really gave it the fresh coat of paint it needed.

****Amen to that !!!!! Finally someone who listens to re-masters. It blows the original away, and that is a good recording originally ..............

[LarryD]

Been listening to the 2023 remaster of ELEGY’s “State of Mind”. Sounds is killer! It wasn’t bad to begin with but it sounds very strong now and music doesn’t sound 25 years old at all. I love all albums of theirs to be honest, even though I have a slight preference to the Houvinga era … I saw them live with Parry though and he was incredible.

****It appears that this is not available as a CD ..... Digital only. Since it is my favorite Elegy disc, I'm going to have to figure something out to get this one into my hands...... I hate having to stream it - I want the body !!!!!

[introclaus]

Thanks to the new single from MERCENARY (https://youtu.be/xn5NH9fRiAs) which by the way is really good, I decided to go back through their back catalogue… so many great albums, but the 4-album period from “Everblack” through “Architect of Lies” is one of the best in melo-death metal history. Classic stuff!

[introclaus]

AVENGED SEVENFOLD - Life is but a dream
I keep going back to this one and finding more and more stuff hidden in it that just blows my mind. Always enjoyed the band but never thought they had something like this in them - it’s huge and intricate. In a lot of ways it’s like FNM’s “Angel Dust” in a 2023 version if that makes sense? With each listen it climbs higher and higher on my year-end list.

[Mardoch]

Thanks to the new single from MERCENARY (https://youtu.be/xn5NH9fRiAs) which by the way is really good, I decided to go back through their back catalogue… so many great albums, but the 4-album period from “Everblack” through “Architect of Lies” is one of the best in melo-death metal history. Classic stuff!

That new single kicks ass! I lost track of these folks after 11 Dreams, but I'm gonna have to fix that.

[Mardoch]

Put on Everblack, 11 Dreams, and The Hours that Remain back to back. All killer albums. I need to fill out the rest, I guess.

Throwing on the Nospun after that since the Earwyrm video put me in the mood for it.

[LarryD]

Listening to next to nothing for almost weeks now ...... mostly Classical and New Age to help calm the senses. Anything more than that I can't handle. Having some health issues that are keeping me from enjoying what I normally listen to, but hopefully some time in the near future this will pass ....... I've got some stuff sitting here, just can't listen to it right now ......

[jhallum]

Three really good albums came out in the last few weeks that I've been listening to alot:

Voyager -- Fearless in Love
Feuerschwanz -- Fegenfeuer
Nuclear Power trio -- Wet Ass Plutonium.


All really good stuff.

[introclaus]

For the I-don’t-know-what-time in the past month or two I’m back listening to THE ANCHORET “it all began with loneliness”. This album is just everything I love about prog metal. Incredible.

[Sir Exar Kun]

Starting to work through the Evergrey discography on my drive time..... Had not listened to some of these albums in YEARS now. "Dark Discovery" remains a bit of a beginner's effort, obviously, and DAMN does Tom look YOUNG on that album!!! Looks like he's 14 or so!!! "Solitude Dominance Tragedy" is one I rarely go back to, but SHOULD. I know the magic kicked in for me at ISoT, but SDT really is a killer disc even if still a bit formative.

[GaetanL]

Starting to work through the Evergrey discography on my drive time..... Had not listened to some of these albums in YEARS now. "Dark Discovery" remains a bit of a beginner's effort, obviously, and DAMN does Tom look YOUNG on that album!!! Looks like he's 14 or so!!! "Solitude Dominance Tragedy" is one I rarely go back to, but SHOULD. I know the magic kicked in for me at ISoT, but SDT really is a killer disc even if still a bit formative.

For me it's the first five albums and "In Search Of Truth" is my favorite. Never really got into everything that come after.

[Mardoch]

Giving the new Orbit Culture some spins this morning. I wanted something dark and heavy and this is right on target.

[introclaus]

SIMPLE MINDS - Someone, Somewhere, In Summertime

Just absolutely amazing. I remember ~35 years ago (1987) listening non stop to this song on the “Live in the city of light” (original version was on their 1982 “New Gold Dream”) album. Simple Minds has had so many amazing songs over their career, but for me this one is their absolute masterpiece. Seeing (well, hearing) them do it to perfection again all these years later is incredible.

Also, just to make it relevant to this forum … Anathema called and apologized for having stolen their entire second half of their career from these guys In all seriousness, there’s a LOT of this sound that snuck its way into later-day Anathema for sure.

[Mardoch]

Listening to all of David Maxim Micic's solo stuff today. I started with the remaster of his first EP and have just been going through it all since. I love this dude's work. I think Bilo 3 is probably my favorite overall.

https://davidmaximmicic.bandcamp.com/al ... y-remaster

[introclaus]

KAIJU - K2
Nice djenty meets next-gen prog stuff. Lots of melodies. Mardoch, there's a Spiritbox influence creeping in here, so you should dig it.

[Mardoch]

KAIJU - K2
Nice djenty meets next-gen prog stuff. Lots of melodies. Mardoch, there's a Spiritbox influence creeping in here, so you should dig it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CDGDyd_Ru4

Oh yeah, I like this. I'll be checking these folks out some more for sure.

[Mardoch]

Finally checking out the new Pomegranate Tiger. It sure is interesting. I'm not sure how I feel about it overall, but it's not boring or samey like so much instrumental metal is.

https://pomegranatetiger.bandcamp.com/a ... t-is-error

[introclaus]

Finally checking out the new Pomegranate Tiger. It sure is interesting. I'm not sure how I feel about it overall, but it's not boring or samey like so much instrumental metal is.

https://pomegranatetiger.bandcamp.com/a ... t-is-error

This is one of the very few instrumental bands that I end up buying each time they put out an album. Both "Entities" and "Boundless" were amazing discs. I'm looking forward to checking out the new one.

[introclaus]

GRAVEYARD - 6
I enjoyed the previous disc ("Peace", 2018) quite a lot - in fact, it's the only of their albums that ever clicked with me. It seems like most people felt the opposite way, and this time the band went more "back to the roots", so I guess that means they weren't happy with it either. While I still hear some of the things I enjoyed in "Peace" on "6", I'm not convinced yet. I'll give it another spin or two, but I doubt it'll have same staying power with me, and perhaps this band was a one-time-fluke with me.

[introclaus]

JELUSICK - Follow the Blind Man
We kind of knew what to expect here, right? Melodic metal / hard rock with strong powerhouse vocals. Dino still sounds like Jorn Lande, Russell Allen and Jeff Scott Soto all in one tiny body. There are some cheesy ballads, some stomping rockers and some real shredders. Some of it sounds like what you'd expect from Sons of Apollo (especially the keyboards in the song linked below), which makes me think that Dino is gunning for taking over Jeff's spot in that band. Either way, "Follow the Blind Man" is a nice record - I like it.

[introclaus]

Wow - after 12 albums ELDRITCH change singers? Damn …
I always loved Terrence’s voice so I’m sad to see him go, but I’ve gotta admit the new guy has some amazing pipes. Musically this sounds a bit less prog and more melodic hard rock influenced, but it’s just one single so too soon to judge. I did get the full album in the mail this morning so I’ll check it out later.

[Mardoch]

I was listening to Sound Struggle's The Bridge yesterday and again this morning which sparked the desire to throw on the Nospūn album, so I'm doing that now.

[introclaus]

POLARIS - Fatalism
Great album! Metalcore with a proggy and semi-djenty edge. Superb melodies, great guitars and cool vocals (both clean and screams). Between this and Currents there’s been some good prog-core this year. The new singles from ERRA sounds good as well … this might finally be the year I begin to like that band.

[Sir Exar Kun]

Wow - after 12 albums ELDRITCH change singers? Damn …
I always loved Terrence’s voice so I’m sad to see him go, but I’ve gotta admit the new guy has some amazing pipes. Musically this sounds a bit less prog and more melodic hard rock influenced, but it’s just one single so too soon to judge. I did get the full album in the mail this morning so I’ll check it out later.

I was VERY skeptical about this, as Terrance was the sound of Eldritch for me.... That being said, I LOVE this tune, and the new singer is GREAT! This sounds fresh and energetic, and I cannot wait to hear more.

[Mardoch]

POLARIS - Fatalism
Great album! Metalcore with a proggy and semi-djenty edge. Superb melodies, great guitars and cool vocals (both clean and screams). Between this and Currents there’s been some good prog-core this year. The new singles from ERRA sounds good as well … this might finally be the year I begin to like that band.

That Currents album is very good! I lost sight of Polaris' album coming out, so I'm going to have to seek it out now.

[introclaus]

POLARIS - Fatalism
Great album! Metalcore with a proggy and semi-djenty edge. Superb melodies, great guitars and cool vocals (both clean and screams). Between this and Currents there’s been some good prog-core this year. The new singles from ERRA sounds good as well … this might finally be the year I begin to like that band.

That Currents album is very good! I lost sight of Polaris' album coming out, so I'm going to have to seek it out now.

I prefer Polaris - it’s the better of the two, but Currents is great as well.

[Mardoch]

POLARIS - Fatalism
Great album! Metalcore with a proggy and semi-djenty edge. Superb melodies, great guitars and cool vocals (both clean and screams). Between this and Currents there’s been some good prog-core this year. The new singles from ERRA sounds good as well … this might finally be the year I begin to like that band.

That Currents album is very good! I lost sight of Polaris' album coming out, so I'm going to have to seek it out now.

I prefer Polaris - it’s the better of the two, but Currents is great as well.

Having finished the new Polaris now I agree. Really solid slab of metalcore. Easily their best, in my opinion.

[introclaus]

DAMIAN HAMADA'S CREATURES - Unmeino Shihaisya
New Japanese power metal album - musically we're talking about Stratovarius/Helloween style ... fast and powerful, with lots of guitars and high pitched vocals (female singer, actually). Really good stuff.
Two things:

• Damian Hamada (ex-Seikima II) himself has actually no part in the band anymore ... I wonder why they kept the name?

• Sometimes it seem like Japanese bands care more about making their occasional English-language lyrics rhyme than for them to actually make sense. Example: I'm a sinner, I'm a swimmer

[prog_powermetal99]

Slaughter to Prevail - Viking

I meant to list this yesterday but put it under the wrong thread lol.... It's still suitable for today though since I always listen to it when I work out and put it on repeat..

[introclaus]

Slaughter to Prevail - Viking

I meant to list this yesterday but put it under the wrong thread lol.... It's still suitable for today though since I always listen to it when I work out and put it on repeat..

I've been getting more into the genre (deathcore) lately thanks to such bands as To The Grave, Lorna Shore and Chelsea Grin, but with Slaughter to Prevail, it's just the kind of deathcore I'm not into (including Suicide Silence, Carnifex...). Too "noisy" for me. It's very energetic, so I can totally understand why you like it for working out.