I hate to sound like an echo of other metalheads, but ive been fucking with Sleep Token heavy since The Summoning
such a good song
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New Ghetto Ghouls EP. Three tracks paying homage to horror movies with rats as a theme. How fucking cool is that, huh? I’d say it’s totally awesome!
New Immortal sounding like Immortal, love to hear it.
Album drops on May 26.
Haiduk - Sea of Fire
Went to Inferno Festival for the first time since 2016, 2017 or something like that, and had a blast. It’s the best line up they’ve had for years, so my girlfriend and I decided to go (she had not been there since 2012 or so).
Mutilated Tyrant - Bad? No, but pretty mediocre. There was no flow whatsoever, and it felt like they were just playing medleys.
Dark Funeral - Was pretty fun for about 20 minutes, then it got more and more boring. They’re not the most varied band, and they should add more variation in songs live. They didn’t play a single song from the masterpiece Vobiscum Satanas, and only one song from The Secrets of the Black Arts which was disappointed. They did however play In the Sign of the Horns from their debut EP Dark Funeral, which was really cool. But yeah, it got boring after 20 minutes.
Nervosa - I’m not the biggest fan of these death/thrashing girls on album, but this gig was really cool. The sound could have been better, but they gave their all and did really well.
Cannibal Corpse - Brilliant, just god damned brilliant. Cannibal Corpse isn’t close to being my favorite death metal band, and their type of death metal isn’t really what I listen to the most either, but what a great fucking live band. Everything was just fantastic! Corpsegrinder is one hell of a frontman. Not seen them since 2015 (where they played a small venue in Trondheim), and while not as good as then, still fantastic.
Emperor - Second best gig of the entire festival. When the intro to In the Nightside Eclipse started playing I think most of us understood exactly what was going on, they were playing the album in its entirety. And it was mindblowing! The sound was fantastic, the band is super tight and they just nailed everything. Then they played four songs off Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, and one off IX Equilibrium and Prometheus. Truly a brilliant concert!
Odium - Odium was a short lived symphonic black metal band that released one album, one demo and one single, and nothing more. They delivered exactly what I wanted: cheesy symphonic black metal. Straight-forward. Thought it was a great gig.
Wolves in the Throne Room - Pretty solid, but they spent just way too much time on ambient and soundscapes. When you have 45-50 minutes and your songs are 10-15+ minutes long, you really shouldn’t drag things too much. It was good, but a bit of a let down anyway.
Lili Refrain - I’m not familiar with this woman, but this gig was fantastic. She uses electric guitar, vocals, percussions, synth and loops in real time, with nothing pre-recorded, and just does it all on stage. Impressive as hell, and one of the best gig of the festival.
Godflesh - Two guys standing on each side of the scene with a bass and guitar, and not doing much except playing. But it was massive, like getting hit by a fucking train. Heavy, brutal, atmospheric and just great.
Masacre - Colombian legends Masacre did not disappoint. Furious death metal with a fantastic frontman, and good sound as well. Was great!
Amorphis - Watched about 4 songs before we left. It did sound really good, but there’s something about them that bugs me. Maybe that they’re completely ignoring their death metal period, despite having a vocalist who’s an amazing growler. I don’t get it. It annoys me. Hah!
Vemod - Atmospheric black metal done right. I thought the stage was a bit too big for them, but the gig was fantastic anyway.
Sakis Tolis - Solid, if not super good. It Rotting Christ light. Simple as that.
Arcturus - Great gig, but they were 10 minutes late and did not get through their set, which was disappointing as we got nothing off their debut aka best album. Enjoyed it tho.
Gaerea - By far the winner of the festival, and hands down one of the best gigs I’ve witnessed. I had not heard them before, but was told by a friend to check em out, so that we did. And we did not regret it, as it was PHENOMENAL! Crystal clear sound, super tight and with a vocalst and frontman that was just out of this world fantastic. He was one a whole other level than the rest of the frontmen. Pretty much THE perfect gig!
Urgehal - I had to go after four songs, because it was super fucking boring. I don’t get how you can be this boring live. Unbelievable!
Crowbar - Didn’t plan on seeing them, but I did and it was pretty good. A whole lot better live than on album.
Uada - Pretty good, but they were a lot better last time they played Inferno (and they played the smaller stage). They did not manage to own the big stage, and it felt kinda empty at times. But it was still alright.
And that’s it. Missed Abbath, Unleashed, Dold Vorde Ens Navn, Stormruler, Harakiri for the Sky, Dordeduh, but that happens on festivals like this. Hah!
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The previous Immortal track, War Against All, was really good and would fit well into the previous album. The new song, Wargod, however, don’t do much for me. It sounds like Tyrants without the mighty riffs or groove of that song. Hopefully it’ll fit well into the album as a whole.
This is easily among the best albums so far. It’s taken Putrid Yell 11 years to get out their debut, having released a couple of demos an a few splits. But it’s here, and the music is as good as the cover art. This is pure early 90’s Swedish death metal worship. Think Dismember, God Macabre, Entombed, Carnage, Nirvana 2002 etc. The songs, the vocals, the production. It’s all top notch if you’re into that early Swedish death metal sound. Brilliant album!
Played my first Wacken metal battle (Norway) with Ghetto Ghouls yesterday, and we won. So we’re going to Germany to play on the metal battle stage in August. That’s pretty fucking awesome tbh.
Norway Winner
Trondheim’s very own @ghettoghoulscrew has won Metal Battle Norway 2023 and will be representing the country at this year’s Wacken Open Air. The band’s exciting blend of thrash and punk rock impressed the judges and earned them a spot on the line-up. Fans can expect an electrifying performance from Ghetto Ghouls, who are sure to deliver an unforgettable show at one of the world’s most prestigious metal festivals. Congratulations to the band on their well-deserved victory!
Wacken Metal Battle made it official today. I still can’t believe this shit.
New Immortal is out, and I am not gonna lie: this shit is super disappointing. Sounds pretty bland and uninspired at times. The Pure Holocaust-esque No Sun, Battles In the North-esque Immortal, Blizzard Beasts-esque Thunders of Darkness and Northern Chaos God-esque War Against All are top notch bangers, but rest sounds bland and uninspired and makes the album as a whole mediocre. And there’s way too many mediocre and standard triplet-riffs found throughout the album.
I don’t have a feeling it’s a grower either, but time will tell. So far I’m really disappointed.
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I found Tales From the Thousand Lakes by Amorphis the other day and is such a… fun? album for me. I could listen to 90s cheesy synths everyday, I’m a dungeon synth lover after all 
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I’ve been exploring Chinese metal recently, and I (almost) accidentally came across a recent study posted at the University of Oslo, titled “Heavy Metal with Chinese Characteristics - A study of the Heavy Metal music scene in China”. I thought it was an interesting read, especially since I’m already familiar with the bands mentioned in there. I figured I’d share it.
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Just saw Mayhem have a new live album coming out in September and I’m listening to Daemon and wow, really good.
Mayhem’s Daemonic Rites and Behemoth’s In Absentia Dei have changed my mind about live albums, probably the best since Rob Zombie’s Zombie Live, and before that the epic that was Linkin Park Live in Texas.
Mayhem’s Mediolanum Capta Est is another sick live album if you wanna try it out later! It’s with their previous vocalist Maniac (who really lives up to his name, haha) and they mainly just do old material and from the Wolf’s Lair Abyss EP (which was new at the time). There’s also a track featuring current frontman Attila so that’s fun. If the guitars were a bit more prominent in the mix, it would be the perfect black metal live album imo.
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I’m not really big on live albums, but Mayhem’s Live in Leipzig is a classic. It’s raw and highly atmospheric, and it actually captures a live feeling, which is something I feel 98% of live albums doesn’t. Most end up sounding way too polished, which is not surprising considering how much studio magic goes into the vast majority of live albums.
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I always slept on first generation black metal; listening to In Memory of Quorthon and holy shit Bathory are fucking amazing.
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Thy Art is Murder’s new live album is amazing.
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The first Peste Noire album is damn close to a masterpiece and Horna has quickly become my new favorite black metal band.
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I always get excited for new Wolves in the Throne Room, before they remind me that they haven’t been an interesting band since I was in high school. Will check this when the EP drops - but this song bored me out of my skull, and Side B sounds like it’ll be a chore
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New album Godlike 9/15
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Holy shit. Lorna Shore who?
