Hello everybody, hope y'all doing as best as you can and the different commitments each person has are allowing you to do as good as you can. Anyway my music collection is growing and this is the reason once again for the making of this post, to present to you new metal music albums I've received. I'm going to leave out some albums for now while I'm going to present a few others.
I'm going to start with a vinyl record I got and is the latest album from the band Clouds under the title Despărțire
I already own this album on cassette tape and immediately got excited with that release also on cassette, since there's a resurrection of cassette releases in the last few years. Seeing though that it 'be released on vinyl I couldn't leave out the chance to get it on vinyl too. There's music that you know it's worth having on wax. I want to support the artists I like because they're giving themselves in what they're releasing and Daniel Neagoe who formed this band and vocalist here does exactly that.
Next up are Metallica with their self titled Metallica album otherwise known as black album. Again on vinyl, this must be multiple times re-released, not to mention that two years ago when it was reissued I had seen this vinyl being the Walmart version and immediately was drawn to the vinyl color presented and since I didn't have it on vinyl I must had it. But not wanting to import it from the U.S and pay the import tax I ordered the cassette version instead (which also didn't have). Not long ago I was browsing a local shop and label here wanting to buy sleeves for a few of my vinyl records and I saw this vinyl being sold. I got excited again and I sent a question whether it was the Walmart version and received a positive answer. So I placed my order including the sleeves I wanted, but the sleeves were sold out so I got the vinyl record alone :)
This album for me is a delight to listen to from beginning to end. My only complaint is that the copies are Clear with Black Marble, however Some Blacker Marbled and the one I got is the darker one.
Moving on, the next vinyl records I'm presenting is from the Greek pagan black metal band Kawir and their album Ισόθεος (Isotheos). The meaning of the album's title is Equal to God and it was used as an honorary designation mainly in the Homer's epics for important heroes.
I wanted to get this album from the time I first listened to it but other things were getting on the way. But last year their label reissued their back catalogue and so I got the vinyl plus the cd version of the album.
As seen in the back cover that the song titles are, on the D side there are three songs from this album played live. Interestingly the first track Hymn to Winds is taken from a live performance of the band which I had attended and also recorded this song, you can watch it below
And now Insomnium's turn. I have such enthusiasm for this band. Here we have their latest release under the title Anno 1696.
It's a concept album.
Anno 1696 is a gateway into another world. This time around, Insomnium tells us a tale based on a short story by Niilo Sevänen (bass/vocals), woven with sorrow and the last crumbling vestiges of hope, plus wrath and morbid lullabies. Welcome to 1696. Welcome to hell. This is an age of unrest. The age of great famine in the North. The witch hunt is in full swing all across Europe and the gruesome witch trials have even reached the remote and majestic landscapes of Finland and Sweden. "The Torsåker witch trials were a horrible source of nightmarish inspiration," Sevänen says of his ghastly muse. "All that talk about 70 women beheaded in this small Swedish parish? It's real stuff from history!" he groans. "And as if that weren't enough, there are also some very dark tales of cannibalism and child murder from the years of the great famine." Stories don't get any more metal than this.
Next album in line is from the Australian band Austere and their latest release Corrosion Of Hearts. I didn't know them and got to listen to this album by following their label and read the label's promotional email and the reviews it mentioned that the album received of how good it is, best release of the band so far being only their second offering.
Indeed I just didn't let the opportunity slip away to get a physical copy myself, so I got the deluxe edition CD book including a bonus track (no. 5).
Having reached almost the end, I now present Saturnus' latest offering under the title The Storm Within.
I have never been a close listener to this band, although I had some contact with them in the past. It has been a mistake on my part I now know. Reading the words on their official website gives a good imprint of where the band is
This new work is bring about a great sense of atmosphere coupled with a new intensity for the band; a powerful approach to the band’s signature sound along with a heavier performance inspired by the amalgam of our personal experiences, emotions and feelings, where the signature lines and melodies are present. This is a strong solid statement, bringing a new beginning and where old meets new, guiding the listener through our journey, our struggles, our battles and the desire to keep the flame alive, and transferring the desire of facing our demons, the deepest of longing, and the haunting isolation one can feel as if you were cast adrift in the middle of a true storm and entering the unknown.
The essence of this work is capturing our own inner storm, our tough struggles and our emotional battles as we keep on fighting and writing new chapters in our story, closing the circle on previous phases as well. A gathering of epic passages and solemn tones sounding like the strikes from the hammer of doom.
The beauty found in the darkness and sorrow conveyed through soaring melodies, haunting atmospheres and dark poetry to move the soul through all emotional states from the great darkest anguish to the great hope.
This first single “THE CALLING”, deals with the weight of the past; even when there’re sparks inside us that drive us forward, feels heavy on our shoulders. It’s this burden that fuels our present to turn it into poetry for the brave. An ‘inner-awakening’ is needed for a proper horizon, but always shadowed by our own blood, contaminated by difficult times and forgotten shores. This anthem let us know the story of those turning sacrifice into strength, into a change of perspective to move on, calling to those who yearn for a change. A perfect single for all new storms to come.
I got this cd album along with the previous presented together from their label.
Almost forgot but just remembered to include two more releases, starting from Ereb Altor and their latest release under the title Vargtimman.
I again didn't have any contact with this band before but this music really catches my attention. Epic with roots in the tradition of their place and extreme with black tones, speaking of Viking/Norse metal, they are among its main exponents and the most authentic.
Now last but not least come Villagers Of Ioannina City, a band from Greece again, the album to present is a live album under the title Through Space & Time (Alive In Athens 2020).
Experimental psychedelic rock band from Ioannina City in Greece, formed in 2007.
They play a kind of post rock with a big dose of Greek folk traditional music from Epirus. The region’s musical tradition is characterized by polyphony and the use of clarinet. The band’s sound fuses traditional music into modern psychedelic forms, creating a unique sound.
The live appearance that was shot and released too took place after they had released their fist full album in english, not changing their main musical direction in its core, only adding english lyrics. I was there too in that live appearance and this appearance the band uploaded to YT in its entirety and can be watched below
They're honest in what they do and always give the best on stage.
I got one of the 3LP versions in order to keep the memory alive that this happened. Wish them all the best they can achieve.
Finally reached the end now, Thank you for spending the time to look here and maybe listen to the music too. Kind regards to everybody!