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Thread: Best Releases Of 2020 - So Far

  1. #76
    Member HilltopMan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheH View Post
    The other way around of course ("Quel Che Disse Il Tuono" is the band)
    Sorted - thanks!

  2. #77
    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NogbadTheBad View Post
    New Behold The Arctopus released.

    https://beholdthearctopus.bandcamp.c...ptic-overtrove

    I'm liking this a lot.
    I wanted to say something here as well.

    I have always liked and enjoyed these guys, but with this one and their new drummer, who seems to treat his kit on this one more as 'orchestral bells' than as a trap kit, they get closer to really thorny modern classical but using some of the metal vocabulary [they themselves refer to "For the new compositions, inspiration was drawn from the non-traditional setup of English free jazz drummer Tony Oxley, and the percussion music of 20th century composers Iannis Xenakis, Edgard Varese, and Elliott Carter"]

    I just bought this and I'm only half-way through one listen, but.... it's extremely, extremely ambitious and might appeal to people who haven't previously liked Behold.
    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
    www.cuneiformrecords.com

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

  3. #78
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve F. View Post
    I wanted to say something here as well.

    I have always liked and enjoyed these guys, but with this one and their new drummer, who seems to treat his kit on this one more as 'orchestral bells' than as a trap kit, they get closer to really thorny modern classical but using some of the metal vocabulary [they themselves refer to "For the new compositions, inspiration was drawn from the non-traditional setup of English free jazz drummer Tony Oxley, and the percussion music of 20th century composers Iannis Xenakis, Edgard Varese, and Elliott Carter"]

    I just bought this and I'm only half-way through one listen, but.... it's extremely, extremely ambitious and might appeal to people who haven't previously liked Behold.
    I particularly like the drumming with all the bells.
    Ian

    Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
    https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/

    Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
    I blame Wynton, what was the question?
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  4. #79
    I personally think it's really important to note how BtA - no matter how objectively interesting they'd otherwise might be - aren't truly true prog.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  5. #80
    Gergo Borlai - The Missing Song
    NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!

  6. #81
    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    I personally think it's really important to note how BtA - no matter how objectively interesting they'd otherwise might be - aren't truly true prog.
    Start a new thread on why they aren't!
    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
    www.cuneiformrecords.com

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

  7. #82
    ^

    I thought it a good read to note what they wrote on the bandcamp site about the "lack of development in metal since 2015" - as if development is still crucial and a mandatory asset of creative morale in rock (+related) music. I mean, uh, er... Did "prog" go anywhere in that timespan? Was it allowed to by its alleged fans? Isn't it they who decide what "prog" apparently "is"?

    Hell, I dunno anymore. There's so much goodness out there, so let's just stick to doing like ol' Barry White and "Let the Music Play". No matter the sub genre.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  8. #83
    In no particular order, except for the Constantine which is my favorite at the moment.

    Constantine “In Memory of a Summer Day”
    Triptykon “Requiem (with Metropole Orkest)”
    The Innocence Mission “See You Tomorrow”
    Mark Kozelek with Ben Boye and Jim White “2”
    Mark Kozelek “All the Best, Isaac Hayes (A Spoken Word Album)”
    Chip Wickham “Blue to Red”
    Oranssi Pazuzu “Mestarin Kynsi”
    Sparks “A Steady Drip, Drip Drip”
    Hallas “Conundrum”
    Cirith Ungol “Forever Black”
    Elds Mark “Elds Mark”

  9. #84
    ^ In Memory of a Summer Day is indeed a very, very good release. Great to see some love for it.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  10. #85
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    ^ In Memory of a Summer Day is indeed a very, very good release. Great to see some love for it.
    A beautiful record. A song like Spring seems to belong to the great gallery of late 60's prog/psych/folk. Constantine has managed to bypass all the retro nostalgia by the sheer power of his songwriting.

  11. #86
    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    I thought it a good read to note what they wrote on the bandcamp site about the "lack of development in metal since 2015" - as if development is still crucial and a mandatory asset of creative morale in rock (+related) music. I mean, uh, er... Did "prog" go anywhere in that timespan? Was it allowed to by its alleged fans?
    What it means is that the 'true fans' are a 'problem' in all styles of music.

    y'know, somehow, I already knew that....
    Last edited by Steve F.; 06-24-2020 at 03:05 PM.
    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
    www.cuneiformrecords.com

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

  12. #87
    Member Camelogue's Avatar
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    Have not listened or heard a 2020 release yet. I am still discovering 1970-2010......

  13. #88
    Quote Originally Posted by katondepena View Post
    Cirith Ungol “Forever Black
    One of my favorite bands of all time. Seeing them live a couple of years agο, in front of a thousand crazy metalheads, was a monumental experience. The new album is worthy of their past.

  14. #89
    Quote Originally Posted by NogbadTheBad View Post
    I particularly like the drumming with all the bells.
    if there is a cowbell, it's prog. Neil Peart uses it.

  15. #90
    Quote Originally Posted by Zappathustra View Post
    One of my favorite bands of all time. Seeing them live a couple of years agο, in front of a thousand crazy metalheads, was a monumental experience. The new album is worthy of their past.
    They’re one of my favorites too. I’ve been listening to them since ‘84 when King of the Dead came out, which is by far, my favorite by them. The new one is an amazing comeback. I absolutely love Tim Baker’s vocals, which are still great after all these years. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen them live.

  16. #91
    Quote Originally Posted by katondepena View Post
    They’re one of my favorites too. I’ve been listening to them since ‘84 when King of the Dead came out, which is by far, my favorite by them. The new one is an amazing comeback. I absolutely love Tim Baker’s vocals, which are still great after all these years. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen them live.
    Tim Baker is god! The hysterical falsetto is almost gone in Forever Black - alas, age - but he's as powerful as ever on the rest of his range.
    King of the Dead is an all time top-10 heavy metal album for me. A criminally underrated band.

    EDIT I am, and will be, checking your other choices and that Hallas album sounds right in my alley too.
    Last edited by Zappathustra; 06-24-2020 at 06:54 AM.

  17. #92
    Member Mascodagama's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zappathustra View Post
    One of my favorite bands of all time. Seeing them live a couple of years agο, in front of a thousand crazy metalheads, was a monumental experience. The new album is worthy of their past.
    I got One Foot in Hell on vinyl as a teenager back when it came out, and I thought it was a gas. Never got anything else though. What should I check out?

    For some reason the UK metal press - or at least Kerrang!, which I used to read - always had the knives out for them.
    “your ognna pay pay with my wrath of ballbat”

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  18. #93
    Quote Originally Posted by Mascodagama View Post
    I got One Foot in Hell on vinyl as a teenager back when it came out, and I thought it was a gas. Never got anything else though. What should I check out?

    For some reason the UK metal press - or at least Kerrang!, which I used to read - always had the knives out for them.
    My first was also One Foot in Hell, and it's indeed excellent. Still it pales in front of the absolute carnage that King of the Dead is. Since you like One Foot in Hell, this latter will blow you away. Frost and Fire has some great moments too, if one takes into account how early it comes into the picture. Their fourth never got a proper release I think and they folded in early 90's.

    They got a lot of pressure to reunite but the passing of their brilliant bass player made them reluctant to consider it, even for just a reunion show. They finally succumbed, and played Europe a couple of years ago, where there are indeed crowds that love this kind of music (Germany and Greece mostly).

    Don't miss their latest too, it has some killer tracks.

    As for the UK metal press, I have the same negative feelings that I reserve for -almost- all UK press...

  19. #94
    ^ From my days as a hard-rock fan during the 80s I can attest to how the British Metal media - and Kerrang! in particular - were about as reliable and convincing at that as someone like 'Classic Rock' is/was for general progressive rock music. It was basically all about "stylistic allegiance" and conformist tropes of "correctness", not least in relation to anything remotely developmental or even original. Fairly idiosyncratic 80s metal newcomers like Ungol, Demon or Acid Reign were pretty much shunned in those parts, and they absolutely hated early Napalm Death.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  20. #95
    Member Mascodagama's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zappathustra View Post
    My first was also One Foot in Hell, and it's indeed excellent. Still it pales in front of the absolute carnage that King of the Dead is. Since you like One Foot in Hell, this latter will blow you away. Frost and Fire has some great moments too, if one takes into account how early it comes into the picture. Their fourth never got a proper release I think and they folded in early 90's.

    They got a lot of pressure to reunite but the passing of their brilliant bass player made them reluctant to consider it, even for just a reunion show. They finally succumbed, and played Europe a couple of years ago, where there are indeed crowds that love this kind of music (Germany and Greece mostly).

    Don't miss their latest too, it has some killer tracks.
    Thanks. I'm going to get King of the Dead to start with!
    “your ognna pay pay with my wrath of ballbat”

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  21. #96
    Member Mascodagama's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zappathustra View Post
    As for the UK metal press, I have the same negative feelings that I reserve for -almost- all UK press...
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    ^ From my days as a hard-rock fan during the 80s I can attest to how the British Metal media - and Kerrang! in particular - were about as reliable and convincing at that as someone like 'Classic Rock' is/was for general progressive rock music. It was basically all about "stylistic allegiance" and conformist tropes of "correctness", not least in relation to anything remotely developmental or even original. Fairly idiosyncratic 80s metal newcomers like Ungol, Demon or Acid Reign were pretty much shunned in those parts, and they absolutely hated early Napalm Death.
    Yeah, if I start on the subject of the British music press (especially in the eighties and nineties) there could be a long diatribe involved. Ugh.

    I mean if you were a teenage metalhead in the UK in the eighties you had to read Kerrang! - that was the law - but even at the time the poor quality of much of the content was evident, and they were embarrassingly late to grasp and embrace the huge developments taking place in the music. There was a shameful period circa '83 to '84 when the mag was all about the worship of every second rate NWOBHM and US hair metal band out there, whilst the progenitors of thrash, death and black metal were ignored or, if noticed, derided. There was a particular feature entitled "The Janet & John Guide To Metal" where two hacks got drunk whilst listening to and ragging on the "worst" metal albums out there. Among those getting both barrels were Slayer, Hellhammer, Voivod, Kreator, Bathory...and Cirith Ungol of course. FFS, teenagers in Leeds knew better. Of course a year or two later Xavier Russell, one of the hacks involved, was busy arselicking half of the bands that had been the object of his prior scorn.

    And this is before we get to the NME and other inkies. Not going to go there, I think you know all this already.

    Even The Wire, which I subscribed to for a few years in the early nineties, and which self-consciously embraced avant-gardism, was riddled with writers who were just painful in the extent to which their critical agenda was driven by the desire to appear bien pensant amongst their own idea of the contemporary hip. There were some good writers - Ben Watson on free jazz, whose unembarrassed passion for his subject stood out rather starkly, springs to mind - but not really enough. Weasel Walter's comments on the rag are all too accurate, I feel. I stopped bothering with it circa '95.

    And that was very much as good as it got.
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  22. #97
    Quote Originally Posted by Mascodagama View Post
    Even The Wire, which I subscribed to for a few years in the early nineties, and which self-consciously embraced avant-gardism, was riddled with writers who were just painful in the extent to which their critical agenda was driven by the desire to appear bien pensant amongst their own idea of the contemporary hip. […] Weasel Walter's comments on the rag are all too accurate, I feel. I stopped bothering with it circa '95.
    I developed a love/hate relation with the Wire already from the outset of my reading it (ultimo '94). On the one hand there were adventurous and truly dedicated writers whose literary angles were absolutely worthwhile (be or not be prone to the post-modernist schemes of the day), on the other there were pitiful columnists apparently rigged from earlier joints at NME or MM who lacked both humility and basic capital of knowledge on the topics they were shredding. I still feel lightly embarrassed on thinking of that time they called Daevid Allen & Gong "[…] sorry old-time bastards" in their editor's note - before proclaiming all-is-forgotten once Allen teamed up with Makata Kawaboto/Acid Mothers Temple - or rather the other way around - and numerous musicians within the mag's own sphere of interest suddenly came out as fans of prog-rock and 70s hard rock.

    Hipster wind kept blowing eastwards and away from the leftfield, it would seem.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  23. #98
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    Ok so you have me intrigued I assume I should check King Of The Dead & One Foot In Hell.
    Ian

    Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
    https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/

    Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
    I blame Wynton, what was the question?
    There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.

  24. #99
    Quote Originally Posted by Zappathustra View Post
    My first was also One Foot in Hell, and it's indeed excellent. Still it pales in front of the absolute carnage that King of the Dead is. Since you like One Foot in Hell, this latter will blow you away. Frost and Fire has some great moments too, if one takes into account how early it comes into the picture. Their fourth never got a proper release I think and they folded in early 90's.

    They got a lot of pressure to reunite but the passing of their brilliant bass player made them reluctant to consider it, even for just a reunion show. They finally succumbed, and played Europe a couple of years ago, where there are indeed crowds that love this kind of music (Germany and Greece mostly).

    Don't miss their latest too, it has some killer tracks.

    As for the UK metal press, I have the same negative feelings that I reserve for -almost- all UK press...
    The concerts in Europe (from 2017 and 2018) are documented on the 2CD/2DVD release "I'm Alive". It is quite an experience to see them finally live and more so to see them in three concerts. It seems they have quite a following in Europe. Have not had a chance to listen to the new album yet, but eventually will get to it ... a long waiting line there, not that I am complaining
    "Confusion Will Be My Epitaph"

  25. #100
    EH3 - Improve Reality (Erland Helbo, Frode Berg, Erik Smith -The number 3 is actually a backwards E)
    NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!

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