I use to go to a club called the fez In Reading on monday nights for their Rock night. we use to be the 1st one's in most of the time and the DJ sort of knew us and played more heavier stuff (we found out later he only had headbangers ball vol 2 the cd) machine head,unearth,cradle of filth and chimaira. once the club was full he wouldn't play any metal apart from Trivium. I ve never seen some many people run up to the stage and start headbanging to "pull harder on the strings of martyr". all these people have trivium or bullet or maybe madien shirts on brought from the local HMV. made me and my mates look stupid wear chimaria,devildriver,suicide silence,Emmure,behemoth,etc shirts on.
I don't go to the fez which is now called something else as I know the DJ still plays the same set every monday. my mate still goes and keeps telling me "i haven't been out for a monday for ages" even though on his facebook there are pictures of him in the club with dates on them. i don't care if he wants to listen to the same stuff every monday

do you guys have friends who listen to metal?
I have 2 friends who do but i swear one of them is going cold turkey on metal. he wears emmure,suicide silence,Parkway drive,etc t-shirts but when we go down to a club that has one room with sing a long stuff/mainstream (disturbed,drowning pool,metallica,etc) and another room that plays more heavier stuff (suicide silence,cannibal corpse,emperor,etc). I make a move for the hardcore room but end up sitting there on my own and thats not what i go to a club for.

So no one knows what I'm talking about?

Of course. Sabbat are fantastic. I'm actually paying money to see Arch Enemy to see Sabbat and Enslaved. Sabbat have AMAZING lyrics for a thrash band. Such as in "Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares?"

And about metal friends: Most of my friends are metalheads. Thanks to uni I now know at least 20 metalheads through there, and more through meetings in clubs. It's good because it means we don't have to put up with the vapid pop shite at parties and so on. Edinburgh's well suited for metal though, with an extreme metal club, a slightly more mainstream metal/rock club and several rock/metal clubs. We're certainly building our own metal scene too with us getting a huge increase in gigs over the past year due to the launch of GBH promotions.

I own Beneath the Remains, and as you mentioned it, realised i haven't listened to it in ages. And after listening to it today, i should listen to it alot more reguarly. Awesome album!

I have quite a few friends into metal but we all seem to have pretty different tastes. Theres still plenty of bands/songs we can agree on that we can listen to when at someones house.

I've noticed a lot of Iron Maiden talk on here, and no love for the two records which featured Blaze Bayley on vocals. A lot of people say that he didn't suit Iron Maiden, especially as they took on a different style from the Bruce Dickinson stuff, but Steve Harris was pretty accommodating and wrote around Blaze's voice.

Anyways, I'd reccommend any of Blaze Bayleys solo stuff, his latest album "Promise and Terror" is amazing, and the one before "The Man Who Would Not Die" is just as good. Then again, I'm a fan boy and would tell any metal fan to go pick up any one of his 5 studio albums.

Some tracks to listen out for:

God of Speed
Blackmailer
Smile Back at Death
Stare at the Sun
Robot
Watching the Night Sky
Born as a Stranger
The Man Who Would Not Die

All of his solo work is great Heavy Metal, but the new one I feel is the weakest effort (but this track is just pure gold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QBnxOo3Mdg).

yeh, im somone who got into Sepultura through Chaos A.D. & Roots, now ive firmly changed my stance and prefer their thrash orientated stuff. I think i prefer Arise to Beneath The Remains, but it's a toss up. Desperate Cry is one of the best thrash songs ever imo.

I've been listening to the Derreck Greene era stuff recently. The band have pretty much carved out their own niche now. Most fans can't see past the fact that Max isn't in there anymore. I think it's more a case of, you have to look at it as a new band. They lost their chief songwriter and vocalist, so the new stuff is a little different. They keep some of the Sepultura elements in place, but there's definatly a new twist on the sound.

I've been listening to Roorback...



it's a pretty good album. There's no denying though that the best tunes on this are the ones where they just let off the shackles and pick the speed up. The Rift is a fucking tune, get it.

I'm gonna go see the band in May, first time since '96! i'm looking forward to it.

have you got the 2 disc version? the 2nd disc has a brilliant exodus cover track

i used too, i sold it though when i needed money.

i'll try getting hold of it again.

I saw Sabbat when they re-united to support Cradle Of Filth. It was a warm up gig they did just before the tour started in Nottingham for just a fiver and they played for an hour and then mingled with the fans afterwards.

Apparently it was taped and I was very fortunate enough to be there front row centre..... But I'm losing hope on it ever being released.

Not like I'm bragging or anything.....

Purposely ignoring the Roorback discussions because of the awesome 'Angel' cover


Moving on to Random Iron Maiden songs of the day?

1. Chains of Misery- Fear of the Dark
2. Hooks in You- No Prayer for the Dying
3. Purgatory- Killers
4. Gangland- Number of the Beast
5. Deja Vu- Somewhere in Time
6. Deja Vu- Somewhere in Time
7. The Aftermath- X Factor
8. Revelations- Piece of Mind
9. Two Worlds Collide- Virtual XI
10. Gates of Tomorrow- Dance of Death
11. Thin Line Between Love and Hate- Brave New World
12. Back In The Village- Powerslave

Has anyone heard the samples of the new Burzum album yet? Sounds promising, Varg's vocals have certainly improved with age.

Also, new Darkthrone soon. Can't wait for a bit more old school Metal.

I co-promoted a sepultura show in london, also not bragging or anything....

Sounded a little too typical BM for me apart from track 5, now that sounds like some awesome Black Thrash track in the making.

New Alcest next month, not really metal as such but has elements and urinates over most metal anyway, probably looking forward to that more than any other album ever.

Fucking Yes!

so glad these guys got announced for Bloodstock, because i aint heard em before that (which is a abit embarrasing considering im a bit of an Opeth fan - this is the singers side project). Basically a place for the 'supergroup' to just bash through some straight forward death metal. This fucking crushes! i'm a bit picky with my death metal, i like mine to kind of mix traditional death metal with some added groove and nice headbanging moments if you get what i mean...anyway's this fucking has em in a plenty and i fucking love it.

Best metal album ive heard in ages.

Bloodbath are awesome I love that album. I also liked the 4 song ep they brought out just before it

Unblessing The Purity



Went to see Machine Head,Hatebreed,Bleeding Through and Man Must Die (who replaced all shall perish).

missed man must die becasue we didn't wanna stand out in the rain to long so we got there dead on 7 (when doors up) but we still had to spend 20mins making are way through the que. so when we got in at 7:20 the band where just leaving the stage (little bit pissed off casue i like the band alot and missed them last week in london casue my mate who had tixs had to work)

Bleeding Through I didn't like

Hatebreed I though I wouldn't like. heard a couple of songs but was convinced but I have to admit they are damn good live. not much talking to the crowd just straight to the metal

Machine Head where fucking amazing. the 3rd time i ve seen them at brixton and everytime I love'em. they may not be my favourtive band but i'd easier watch them play all down over Bodom

On the Sepultura front. a club in my area. Sub89 has them playing

I knocked back a Sepultura show in Glasgow. Also also not bragging or anything...

Anyway, nobody has addressed the issue of Dreamweaver or History of a Time to Come!

For my money, History had better tracks in terms of one-off, four or five minute, head down, full on thrash. You can listen to any track on the album and it stands on its own merit. Dreamweaver, on the other hand, is a great album when taken in its entirety. It's the kind of album you listen to from start to finish or not at all.

I was shocked (shocked!) to hear Skyclad on Radio 2 of all things the other day.

Big fan of both bands. Some of the most intelligent lyrics and wordplay in metal.

Anyone else have specific playlists for different gym days, or is that a personal peculiarity?

Yeah I should have done, lost £400 on that.
Still fun though, anyone catch fear factory on the recent tour? Kick ass says I.

nope, id have liked too though. The new albums is good stuff.

I'll be seeing em at Bloodstock in April

Check out the new High On Fire, guys.

Holy fucking shit this song is great!

Also post yer top 20 metal albums for shits n' gigs.

20. Neurosis - Through silver in blood
19. Melt Banana - Cell scape
18. Converge - Petitioning the empty sky
17. Opeth - Blackwater park
16. Iron Maiden - S/T
15. Slayer - Reign in blood
14. Black Sabbath - Master of reality
13. Black Sabbath - Sabbath bloody sabbath
12. Boris - Amplifier worship
11. Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
10. Black Sabbath - S/T
09. Botch - We are the Romans
08. Burzum - Hvis lyset tar oss
07. Converge - Jane Doe
06. Converge - Axe to fall
05. Neurosis - Souls at zero
04. Weakling - Dead as dreams
03. Guns N' Roses - Appetite for destruction
02. Burzum - Filosofem
01. Black Sabbath - Paranoid

What is the heaviest song ever recorded?

Serious question, I did a bit of research into this a couple of years ago for a radio show I do and came to the conclusion that is was Anaal Nathrakh's Pandemonic Hyperblast, which I then proceeded to play. The resulting e-mails were a lot of fun!

Anyway, it's been two years on, in your opinion has anything surpassed it?

Tbh, Dark Magus by Miles Davis is heavier than any metal song I've heard.

In honesty, I've not heard that much Miles Davis outside of a couple of tracks.

Depends on your definition of "heavy."

To me, heaviness incorporates an element of catchiness. It's not about making the lowest, loudest, fastest or most disturbing sound possible, it's about creating the desired mood, whether that's aggression, despair, hatred or whatever.

At the moment, on that basis, I'd be likely to go for "Lashed to the Slave Stick" by Nile. Ask me tomorrow and you'll probably get a completely different answer.

That is a fair point, how did I define heavy? I think I was going for how loud it was, but still being a track, and still being in the metal genre. So, for example, hardcore gabba wouldn't count, neither would some guy just generally making noise.

Here is Anaal Nathrakh's Pandemonic Hyperblast to show what I was aiming at. Apologies for some of the comments on the video, but I can't control Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6349Q-67eA

and it's tomorrow, what is the heaviest track recorded?

Give me a bit to pop some cold remedies and sit with my N900 on shuffle and I'll let you know...

So the new album is already avilable? Any links?

Rather shocked at Robu putting Axe To Fall over Jane Doe.

I wish Option Paralysis would leak already...

Heavy is very subjective.. for instance.. Earthworks by Kerbdog would qualify for heavy with its almost industrial riffage, but its not like the 'metal' above

Kerbdog-Earthworks

or some Celtic Frost

Circle of Tyrants

or something more melodic such as Megadeth

Black Curtains

or something more mainstream Feeder

Shade

Where do you draw the line?

Anybody checked out Fear Factory's latest album 'Mechanize'? Any good?

It's not too bad, kind of back to thier old sound but none of the tracks stand out at all.

On the topic of heaviness i'd have to say bands like Sunn and Moss, the bass filled droney bands that make you feel like your bowels will explode.

I’d agree with those two and add Bunkur and Monarch!. I also think most of Khanate’s stuff is worth a mention; they have made some of the most oppressively bleak music I’ve ever heard.

Fear Campaign and Powershifter are the two I keep playing from it.

I fucking hate Khanate, pretty decent drone ruined by some whiny bitch reciting his shitty poetry.

I love that album and agree it’s really heavy in places. If you haven’t checked out some of his other live fusion albums from that period then I’d recommend Agharta and Pangaea, not as heavy as Dark Magus, but two amazing albums.



They can be off-putting at times but overall I find the vocals fit well with the music.

Only 21 days my friend, from the previews on Amazon and the songs they played in Camden this is gonna be a monster of a album.

What did you make to Farewell, Mona Lisa?

It's amazing. Usually it takes a few listens with Dillinger songs to really get a feel for them but this blew me away immediately. I need a good quality download link now.

Anyone heard Blackjazz by Shining (Norwegian, not the Swedish black metal boyband) yet? It's pure madness and i'm shocked i never heard them before, a wonderful mash of Jazz, Prog and Black/Death Metal.

Linky to a song from the album.

Heard both, Pangaea is also pretty heavy shit. Not as balls out as Magus, though.

And yeah, a lot of people with similar taste to me seem to really dig Khanate, but I tried things viral a couple of times and I can not hack it at all. I like Sunn O))) as much as the next man, but Khanate aint for me.

Haven't heard Blackjazz yet, but I've heard In the kingdom of kitsch you will be a monster and Grindstone, both of which are good records.

This is my favourite tune of theirs. Fuck me @ that kick in!

For some reason i can't help but think of Stone Cold during the intro to that song, it is awesome and i'll be getting more of thier music.

i renewed my love for System of a Down yesterday.

I was big into System when they first came out, i remember buying the debut album on import in '98 because it hadn't been released here and it was the only way i could listen to it, fucking blew me away.

Toxicity did the same, i remember being in love with that thing for the whole year it came out...then Kerrang tv came along and completely ruined the band for me. Chop Suey single handedly turned me off the band...i aint denying it's a great song...but that is single handedly the most overplayed music video in history. Add in the fact that when i heard it in clubs the DJ would always mute it at the end so the people in the club could sing the end bit (something that always drives me insane), and iwas completely turned off the band...maybe that's a little close minded, but that's what Kerrang tv does to bands.

Anyway's, after that album i never even heard Steal This Album and only gave Mezmerize a couple of whirls (didn't listen to Hypnotize at all). I Completely lost interest...never listened to any of the side projects either.

I stuck Toxicity on in the car yesterday though and it's fucking awesome, it blew me away all over again. I gotta get the other albums now and make up for lost time. It's crazy to think such a batshit crazy band ever made it as big as they did.

Ive stopped watching the commercial TV channels as much these days (there was a point where they would be on in the background constantly) and ive noticed my interest in bands come back because i aint getting that oversaturated feel i get when i watch the tv.

System of a Down are great!

Any fans of Vader on this forum?

I'll be off to see them in Glasgow tonight, and I believe they'll be playing in Leeds and Nottingham over the weekend.

Litany is my favorite Death Metal album of all time, shame a lot of thier music is sub par though as they have the potential to be amazing.

Remember, it is Metal Night on BBC4 tonight!

Yesterday, they showed Flight 666. Tonight, its a whole evening devoted to metal and peformances.

New Maiden Album has also been announced, to be called 'The Final Frontier' Album/tour details

I was in a similar situation with SOAD a while ago. They turned into "everybody's new favourite band" even though all they knew was the "Angels deserve to die song".
I love when you go back to a band after a while and have forgotten how amazing their stuff is.

If you haven't heard "Hypnotize" i highly recommend you pick it up.

Seeing SOAD at the Leeds Festival in 2003 is still the only time i have ever been afraid at a gig. The crowd was fucking MENTAL!

I'm in a pretty similar SOAD boat. Love the first record, one of the best from the late 90's for sure. I never liked Toxicity that much, mainly because I didn't like Chop Suey from the beginning let alone the over exposure that followed. Songs like Prison Song, Needles and Psycho are awesome though. I didn't like Mezmerise at all but I thought Hypnotize was pretty good for the most part. There's a decent album between them but just way too much filler and I just lost interest in them. That said, I really like Serj's solo album and there's a new version of it performed with a symphony coming out soon which Ill definatly be checking out. I really want to listen to War now.

SOAD's first album is great but it's all downhill from there.

I agree with Mr Seven.

Loved the first album, had a good mix of metal and humour and then they just kind of tailed off.

I am not saying the following albums were bad, but they just weren't as good as the first one.

- The Kombucha Mushroom People

Edit: Probably my favourite track from the first album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5ISdPUhJmE