Justin Vernon - Hazelton [2006]

Boy, I have not posted here in a long time. I have been insanely busy with my review blog, Curse of the Great White Elephant, as well as my job... such as it is. Anyway, I hope to post more often here, since Persona is my homeboy and I like his blog. I promise to post lots of shitty obscure Death Metal from the 90's and even shittier Incantation worship bands in the near future. But for today, I have something different and exponentially better.

For the uninformed, this album cover gives off a total chubby white nerd-rapper vibe. Thankfully, this is not a collection of Nintendocore beats and Yoda raps(fucking white boy rap, am I right?), but instead the solo work of American Folk Singer-Songwriter/Kanye West homeboy Justin Vernon. Vernon is best known as the vocalist/egotistical spotlight hog of Bon Iver, who suddenly got all popular and shit(what's with that?) Vernon has made a very impressive musical career by piggy-backing even more talented musicians and songwriters to newer heights of glory and popularity. Starting with Mt. Vernon, a band comprised of probably the most talented teenagers in history, then moving on to the Cook brothers in deYarmored Edison, before standing on the shoulders of Sean Carey and co. of Bon Iver to become a superstar of Indie hipsterfags.

The thing is, Vernon might be an egotistical dude who uses those around him and absorbs all the praise and spotlight, but he really is one fuckall of a songwriter. Hazelton is one of two albums Vernon has done under his own name, writing all the material. And it is by far the best thing he has ever done, period. Better than Bon Iver, better than Volcano Choir, better than all of it. Hazelton's is so brilliant, it is closer to an experience than a mere musical album.

A free-flowing, basically genreless piece of low-fi pathos, Hazelton is by far the wettest, most heart crushingly sad album I have ever heard. Yet what makes it stand out and above most sad Folk music is how uplifting it becomes, how it forces you to let go. When Vernon, backed by a full forced male gang vocal, screams a whisper for you to "lay down your end, " you are ready to give into the fullness and truth of his words. This is the kind of music that changes your perspective on the world around you, not merely color it. Basically, not to be missed by any music fan.

Next time, I swear I will give you some shitty Incantation worship.

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Antaeus - Blood Libels [2006]

All the good modern black metal seems to come from France, and this is no exception. Antaeus are quite well known, and are unfortunately 'On Hold' at the moment, according to the Metal Archives. This is just generally 'good fun'.

160 kbps

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Sunn O))) & Boris - Altar [2006]

This collaboration album from 2006 is, to my mind, Sunn O)))'s best work, and one could probably say the same for Boris. The album features just over 50 minutes of relaxing, and at times blissful drone.

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Drudkh - Blood In Our Wells [2006]

Drudkh are maligned somewhat nowadays for 'being no more than a Burzum clone' and thus 'giving rise to all this hipster black metal twaddle'. I feel it necessary here to give full disclosure: I like hipster black metal. Sue me. The point is that this is more than strictly a Burzum clone, and certainly makes more satisfying music than most of the 'hipster' hordes (although naturally there are some excellent bands within the scene). Sure, the vast, feedback-enhanced soundscapes are at times reminiscent of Hvis Lyset Tar Oss in all its glory, but Drudkh do add elements of their own - subtle hints of the folk music of their native Ukraine, and more apparent drums than those who came before them. Are the similarities to Burzum apparent? Sure. Do they constitute all of the music, insofar as to make it not reach an excellent and not wholly derivative standard? Don't be daft.

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Life Is Pain - Bloody Melancholy demo [2006]

This is depressive black metal at its finest. Sure, it's the sort of thing which is tr00-kvlter-than-tr00-kvlt, being a two-man act's only demo ever, but upon studying the members' other bands, things make a little more sense - Lifelover (bears little resemblance), Hypothermia (pretty similar), Deep-Pression (similar), and Trist (again, similar). This trumps the lot though - its relatively short length stops it from becoming nauseatingly repetitive, a plague which haunts many DSBM bands.

N.B. I think there is an odd sample halfway through the second track - whether this is supposed to be there or not I'm unsure, but it certainly sounds well out of place.

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Joanna Newsom - Ys [2006]

Both defining and rejuvenating a folk genre devoid of any real bite in this 21st century, Joanna Newsom's second record is, by all means, a modern day classic that rivals the spirit of even the most highly regarded songstresses. The songs range from 7 to 16 minutes, each one rambling through page after page of lyrical tales depicting ever-present themes (love, nature, happiness) and sticking to the essentials of ancient poetry, in a linguistic and grammatical sense. The harp and piano accompaniment of Newsom's debut are expanded to a whole orchestra, directed by Van Dyke Parks, fleshing out what was once a bare sound into a dynamic new beast of a unit. Newsom's voice combines the childlike innocence of Bjork with the deific rings of Kate Bush to great effect, creating a balanced response, but not an obstruction, to Parks' incredible orchestration. This really is essential stuff and is personally one of my favourite albums of the modern era, if not of all time. 

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Jesu - Silver EP [2006]

Justin Broadrick. The man just about defines 'eclectic'. This is his drone/shoegaze project Jesu, which, as usual for Broadrick, manages to sound like nothing produced in any of the above genres. This release is short, being an EP, and actually somewhat poppy, with some vocal moments that almost remind of the pop-punk of Blink 182 (but not to too great an extent). A very good EP, and a perfect introduction to the music of Jesu.

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Daylight Dies - Dismantling Devotion [2006]

Just this post, and I promise I'll stop posting metal with a romantic feeling for a while. Daylight Dies aren't your average Paradise Lost clone, however - in fact, they sound little like the Yorkshire band. However, they still manage to evoke the same feeling of suffocated romanticism through their blend of death/doom. Dismantling Devotion is an excellent album, and one that could appeal to fans of diSEMBOWELMENT as much as those of My Dying Bride and their ilk.

~250 kbps VBR

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Converge - No Heroes [2006]

This was the first Converge album I heard, even before their classic Jane Doe, and it's my favourite of theirs, even ahead of their classic Jane Doe. To me, their chaotic brand of hardcore punk hit its peak here, and with a slight deviation into mathy territory with Axe To Fall, I don't see a return to this style coming soon.

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500 POSTS! Celtic Frost - Monotheist [2006]

So I thought I'd post something a bit special to me to celebrate 500 posts. This album not only holds heavy nostalgic value, being one of the first extreme metal albums I heard (waaaay back in... 2006), aside from Breeding The Spawn by Suffocation, it's also still pretty much my favourite album overall. Although the thrash tendencies of earlier Frost material are all but gone, this is blackened and doomy metal with unapologetic nods to all different kinds of music (there's even a bit of David Bowie in there - although that's less of a surprise after their cover of 'Heroes' on Vanity/Nemesis).

Honestly, I feel this to be an album that no person should do without. Get it now, worship it, don't come back until you've absorbed its wondrous beauty (actually, do, we'll miss you all otherwise)...

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Arkhan - M.A.C.H.I.N.E. [2006]

Best album from this incredible technical death metal band, destroying everything from Switzerland for a few years. The aim of the three swiss musicians was to combine their wide background of influences (death, black, thrash and Rock'n Roll) to create a heavy, groovy and powerful music. Uncompromising, brutal, fast but also sometimes old-school influenced, with great guitar solos, ... Arkhan is not pioneering in the genre, but they play what we expect from a death metal band : some headbangable stuff, some destroying riffs, some hoarse vocals, what could we ask after that? Are you ready for some hyper speed drum aggressions, intense and groovy guitar riffs and devilish vocals? Are you ready for the death metal M.A.C.H.I.N.E.? Faultless, brillant!

To buy the album (moreover, it is not very expensive...), mail to arkhanmetal@gmail.com.

MP3, 320kb/s

Mediafire

Enslaved - Ruun [2006]

So, with the three albums of theirs I've already posted, you can probably gather that I'm something of an Enslaved fan. This is the first album of theirs where progressive elements began to outweigh black metal elements, although BM is still very much present. It's a little harder to get into than much of their other output, but it is therefore more rewarding.

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Ministry - Rio Grande Blood [2006]

Ministry were sadly mourned upon their demise - they released one more album after this, but I haven't heard it. This is certainly more thrash metal-oriented than their earlier stuff, which suits a metal fan like me.

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Tool - 10,000 Days [2006]

Did I mention I love Tool? Anyway. "10,000 Days" is the most recent album from them (even though it was released five years ago). This piece of work further continues Tool's trend of becoming more progressive, with the overall sound of this album showing influences from Maynard Keenan's side-project: A Perfect Circle.

Oddly, some of the tracks on this album divide fans. The 11-minute title track is dismissed by some as 'a whole lot of nothing', whereas others (myself included) consider it among the album's strongest tracks, owing much to the atmosphere it creates. However, with straight-up metal songs such as "The Pot" and "Vicarious", most fans agree that the Tool machine is still going strong, even if the album's final two songs aren't really anything special. Definitely worth checking out if you liked "Lateralus".

M4a, ~320 kbps (VBR)

Link was taken down. Comment on this if you would like to see a reupload.

Negură Bunget - Om [2006]

This is the album that made Negură Bunget comparatively popular compared to their earlier days; that said, there is certainly a limit on how popular a band who mix slightly progressive black metal with Romanian folk music can become! An outstanding album.

256 kbps

Similar artists: Primordial, Falkenbach, Summoning

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The Meads Of Asphodel - Damascus Steel [2006]

N.B. This is an 'abridged' version which is missing the last two tracks.

The Meads Of Asphodel have always insisted on never doing things the conventional way. This is no exception - their BM base visits a multitude of other bases on its way, and includes a great cover (although the lyrics aren't faithful to the original) of 'Wonderful World'.

192 kbps

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Wolves In The Throne Room - Diadem Of Twelve Stars [2006]

Wolves In The Throne Room have, pretty much since their inception in 2003, been one of the key bands in the 'pine-scented' or post-black metal movement. Somewhat of an oddity in the BM scene in that they concern themselves with left-wing politics and environmentalism rather than the reverse, which can only heighten the enjoyment of some spectacular music.

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Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death [2006]

Perhaps a little bit controversial as the final choice for the first batch of Maiden albums to be uploaded to this blog, I will stand by 'AMOLAD' to the death as an excellent album. Really allowing Maiden's progressive leanings to come to the fore, it doesn't get boring throughout its 72 minutes.

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XXX Maniak - Harvesting The Cunt Nectar [2006]

This is the first pornogrind album I've uploaded, and don't be surprised if it's the last. Despite the usual tacky quality of the genre, this caught first my eyes as a 12 year old, and then my ears as I got into grindcore 3 years later. It's nothing exceptional, but good fun.

320 kbps

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Negative Plane - Et In Saecula Saeculorum [2006]

This is Negative Plane's debut full-length - they released a follow-up this year, but that hasn't quite caught me in the same way as this. It is one of the best black metal albums of the last ten years without a question.

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