Darkane - "Rusted Angel" (1999)

This album is so overlooked and neglected it almost makes you cry. It deserves so much more.

This was Swedish metal band Darkane's debut album, the only one to date that had Lawrence Mackory (a man whose vocal lunacy easily rivals Devin Townsend, Mike Patton and Paul Baloff) behind the mic. The album was greeted with glowing reviews upon its release, but the label soon went bankrupt and the album became impossible to find. That is, until 2004 when Regain did the world a favor by re-releasing it.

I guess Darkane could fall into that tired old "melodic death metal" genre, but there is so much more going on here. In Flames it sure ain't. Rusted Angel has the intensity of Slayer's Reign In Blood, the harmonies and dark moods of Testament's The Gathering and the barking mad insane asylum antics of Strapping Young Lad's City. Big words, I know. But doggammit if Darkane doesn't live up to every one of them. And with Meshuggah/Strapping Young Lad producer Daniel Bergstrand at the helm, how could you possibly go wrong?

After this album Lawrence Mackory left to persue other projects and was replaced by Anders Sydow. Why the band chose him is anyone's guess. Darkane kept writing brilliant songs even after this album, but I never cared for any other Darkane albums simply for the fact that Anders' boring voice has nothing on Mackory's nutjob screams & growls. Honestly, it's like Mike Patton quit Faith No More and was replaced by that dude from Papa Roach. Sydow left the band not long ago, and hopefully his replacement won't be as generic.

All in all, this is a full-fledged masterpiece. With the combination of the ridiculously intense shredding, the mind-boggling drum work (watch your back, Gene Hoglan!), the occasional infusion of choral and classical elements, the flawless production that only sounds more powerful and "punchy" the more you crank up the volume, and vocals that could use a straitjacket, the result is almost too good to grasp.

Just listen the part at 1:16 into Bound where the drums and the guitars work in beautiful synced harmony while Mackory belts out "LISTEN TO THE SCREAMS OF AGONY!!!" at the top of his lungs. It's divine, my friends. Divine.

Easily one of the top 10 metal albums of the last 10 years. Metal Bastard approves!

(mp3) Darkane - Bound (highly recommended!)

(mp3) Darkane - Rusted Angel

(mp3) Darkane - A wisdoms breed

Buy Rusted Angel @ Amazon.com.

Darkane recording Rusted Angel:

Opeth - "The drapery falls" (Lamentations version)

5 Songs That Get My Juices Flowing #13

(mp3) The Mars Volta - Eriatarka
Available on De-Loused In The Comatorium (2003)

(mp3) Mastodon - Joseph Merrick
Available on Leviathan (2004)

(mp3) Led Zeppelin - Dazed and confused
Available on S/t (1969)

(mp3) Corrosion Of Conformity - Rise river rise
Available on In The Arms Of God (2005)

(mp3) Queens Of The Stone Age - Like a drug
Available on Lullabies To Paralyze (digipak edition, 2005)

Today's self-pwnage

When I earlier today waited for the bus to go back home from Norrtälje where I had just purchased a pair of slippers, I (in my dire and rather frantic need for a smoke) slashed my right index finger trying to pry open the plastic pack of lighters I'd just bought, making myself bleed like a stuck pig.

Then I finally got the pack opened (with my hands slippery and soggy from fresh, warm blood), only to discover it was the kind of lighters that look disposable at first glance, but were actually empty and you gotta fill 'em up yourself before you can use them, leaving me near tears and shivering from sheer nicotine abstinence.

Since the bus was leaving in mere minutes, there was no time to go back to the store to buy some band-aids, so I was left to sucking the wound and spitting whatever blood was pulsating out of my new wound and spending the entirety of the bus trip pressing said wound onto the pantleg of my black jeans in a futile attempt to stop the bloodflow. I've never felt more suicidal.

(mp3) Brick - Slapshot
Available on Volvoland (1998)

(mp3) Bad Religion - You
Available on No Control (1989)

Mastodon - "Leviathan" (2004)

Prog metal blah blah former members of Today Is The Day and Lethargy blah blah concept album yada yada Moby Dick. Blah blah.

(mp3) Mastodon - Island (highly recommended!)

(mp3) Mastodon - Megalodon

(mp3) Mastodon - Aqua dementia

Buy Leviathan @ Amazon.com.

The Supersuckers - "The Sacrilicious Sounds Of The Supersuckers" (1995)

The top 5 rawk songs of the 90's:

5. The Hives - Automatic schmuck
4. Backyard Babies - Powderhead
3. The Hellacopters - The devil stole the beat from the Lord
2. New Bomb Turks - Defiled
1. The Supersuckers - Born with a tail

I'd rather choose my soul to lose
than leave around one confusing loose desire
Don't know if I'll ever learn
Can't wait till I get my turn
to burn in the infernal hellfire
I'm waiting for my last ride while
the bugle of my backside blows a blues in 'B'
Hope I don't run out of gas
Bet my sacrilicious ass
ain't nothing down there that scares me

Oh, yeah, and you know I'm in league with Satan
and you know there can be no debating my hell-bound trail
I was born with a tail

I'm evil, yeah, and I run free
There's molten leather in me so lets get the hell
Got the goods, brother, bring it on
My mother done brought me up wrong
And you can use my dick for a walking stick as well

Oh, yeah, and you know I'm in league with Satan
and you know, there can be no debating my hell-bound trail
I was born with a tail
I'm on a hell-bound trail
Born with a tail
Alright

It's time to fly the finger, yeah
that middle digit brings your point in and drives it home
On my head there's no crown of thorns
This evil scout has earned his horns
I'm gonna hop on top of your mom before I go

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know
I'm in league with Satan
and you know there can be no debating my hell-bound trail
I was born with a tail
I'm on a hell-bound trail
Born with a tail

(mp3) The Supersuckers - Born with a tail (highly recommended!)

(mp3) The Supersuckers - Ozzy

(mp3) The Supersuckers - Don't go blue

Buy The Sacrilicious Sounds Of The Supersuckers @ Amazon.com.

Opeth - "Morningrise" (1996)

Bow your heads and raise your goblet in praise of teh godz ov methul! \m/

(mp3) Advent (highly recommended!)

Buy Morningrise @ Amazon.com.

5 Songs That Get My Juices Flowing #12

(mp3) Opeth - Godhead's lament
Available on Still Life (1999)

(mp3) Gadget - Crestfallen
Available on Remote (2004)

(mp3) Bolt Thrower - The killchain
Available on Those Once Loyal (2005)

(mp3) To What End? - The pressure is gone
Available on The Purpose Beyond (2003)

(mp3) Big Business - Focus pocus
Available on Head For The Shallow (2005)

Mountain - "Nantucket Sleighride" (1971)

Quick history:

Legendary heavy blues rock band that along with Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Pentagram, Grand Funk Railroad and a bunch of others created the foundation for what would later become known as heavy metal.

Formed in 1969, released three great albums (this being their second) before they split up, and then regrouped a year or so later and put out a shit album called Avalanche. Then they split up again or something (I don't really care) and regrouped once again and they're still going at it today, making music that doesn't in any way approach their classic masterpieces.

That pretty much sums it up.

(mp3) Mountain - Don't look around (highly recommended!)

(mp3) Mountain - Nantucket sleighride (to Owen Coffin)

Buy Nantucket Sleighride @ Amazon.com.

Celtic Frost - "Monotheist" (2006)

This was CF's big comeback record, and they sounded better than ever.

Monotheist sounds nothing like anything CF had done in the past, this was a much filthier, dirtier album with a claustrophobic feel unlike any other. This is better than Morbid Tales, better than To Mega Therion. The 7th best album of 2006 (right behind The Melvins, Mastodon, Cretin, The Mars Volta, Death Breath and Napalm Death).

I'm out of things to say about this, just listen to the fucking thing.

(mp3) Celtic Frost - A dying god coming into human flesh (highly recommended!)

(mp3) Celtic Frost - Drown in ashes

(mp3) Celtic Frost - Totengott

Buy Monotheist @ Amazon.com.

Deathspell Omega - "Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice" (2004)

This is the album that put mysterious frog-eating black metal maniacs Deathspell Omega on the map.

They'd released a few albums prior to this one, but they were all pretty standard Nordic style black metal and while good, not terribly interesting. With this one (the first of a trilogy, apparently) they took a much more experimental and avant garde turn. If I knew anything about musical theory, this is where I'd tell you all the intricacies of their craft, exactly how their music is built up and what makes Deathspell Omega special.

But since I alas cannot play one lick on a guitar, play one chord on a piano or even play drums properly (though I'm an awesome drummer when I get to play slowly - if any funeral doom bands out there need a drummer: contact me, I'm your man), I'll leave all that technical nerdery to the experts. All I go by is the gut reaction I get from the music. And while I prefer the Kénôse EP and last year's monumental follow-up album Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum, this album is pretty damn fucking good, and good example of why Deathspell Omega is the world's best black metal band at the moment. Yes, even better than Watain or Wolves In The Throne Room.

(mp3) Deathspell Omega - Sola fide II (highly recommended!)

(mp3) Deathspell Omega - Carnal malefactor

Buy Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice @ Amazon.com.

10 N.I.N. Songs That Get My Juices Flowing

(mp3) Nine Inch Nails - A warm place
Available on The Downward Spiral (1994)

(mp3) Nine Inch Nails - Letting you
Available on The Slip (2008)

(mp3) Nine Inch Nails - And all that could have been
Available on And All That Could Have Been (2002)

(mp3) Nine Inch Nails - Every day is exactly the same
Available on With Teeth (2005)

(mp3) Nine Inch Nails - The wretched
Available on The Fragile (1999)

(mp3) Nine Inch Nails - Reptile
Available on The Downward Spiral (1994)

(mp3) Nine Inch Nails - Capital G
Available on Year Zero (2007)

(mp3) Nine Inch Nails - 33 Ghosts IV
Available on Ghosts I-IV (2008)

(mp3) Nine Inch Nails - Happiness in slavery (live @ Woodstock '94)
Studio version available on Broken (1992)

(mp3) Nine Inch Nails - The great below
Available on The Fragile (1999)

This shit concerns YOU. Sit up straight and pay attention.

I'm getting a little tired of my bandwidth constantly getting exceeded, so this is what's gonna happen:

Starting today May 7th my bandwidth is restored and all mp3s on this blog (even those going way back to November last year) are available to download again. 24 hours from now I will delete any mp3 that's older than 14 days. That's the new rule from now on.

There's tons of amazing shit in the back pages (Refused, Tool, Tiamat, Soundgarden, two kicking albums by Daemon, Paradise Lost, Ministry, B-Thong, Misery Loves Co, Napalm Death, Entombed, two epic masterpieces by Opeth, Big Business, Cathedral, the almighty Peace Love And Pitbulls and much more), so go get em while you can.

They will all be gone tomorrow. This is your last chance to learn what good music sounds like.

And never ever ask me to re-post a deleted mp3 just because you didn't stop by during the two weeks it was up. Go cry to mommy instead. You snooze, you motherfucking lose.

the Melvins - "(A) Senile Animal" (2006)

Big Business + the Melvins = tr00

(mp3) the Melvins - Rat faced granny (highly recommended!)

(mp3) the Melvins - The hawk (highly recommended!)

(mp3) the Melvins - You've never been right (highly recommended!)

Buy (A) Senile Animal @ Amazon.com.

The good old days

Remember back when Steven Tyler was cool?

(mp3) Aerosmith - Round and round
Available on Toys In The Attic (1975)

Behemoth - At The Left Hand Ov God

I've changed my mind.

This is the video of the year.