...and no I don't mean "Happy Birthday To You". I'll have some proper music please.
It is my birthday today, and I am another year older, and another year wiser er yeah, just another year older.
I am an awkward bugger for people to buy presents for, as I don't follow the usual trends of what people want, and if there is anything I actually need, I just go out and buy it myself. I don't even drink booze, so that isn't an option either.
Inevitably when family approaches me and asks for ideas I point them in the direction of my Amazon wishlist, which has a list of CDs I want. That way they know I will appreciate whatever they pick, and there is plenty of choice on there so it will still be a surprise of which album they actually choose to get me. 'Tis a win-win with very little stress involved for either party.
This was this years offering, and nice and varied it was too (I have a reasonably wide taste in music)
Album 1: Alien Ant Farm - ANThology
Now this shows my age lol. Alien Ant Farm burst on the Alt-rock/nu-metal scene way back in the early 2000s with the hit single of Smooth Criminal which was a cover of a track originally performed by Michael Jackson. It was pretty decent, but my fave song of the album was the follow up single Movies complete with an awesome and ridiculous music video. The rest of the album was great fun to listen too, and brought back memories of School (and 6th Form) and of much simpler times...
Album 2: Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment
Next up is a very different offering. The clue is in the original artwork featuring a Pig with Cocks in its eyes. Certainly grabs your attention. Anaal Nathrakh call themselves "blackened grindcore" and is a mixture of grindcore with elements of black metal thrown. It is as extreme and difficult to listen to as that sounds and with the harsh vocals, machine gun riffing and unsettling samples they create a very claustrophobic atmosphere.
They are one of my all time fave bands (I own all 11 albums), and although each release they try to be as confrontational and extreme as possible, each individual album has its own identity. With that said it is not simply a case of noise for its own sake, they hold a mirror up to to worst parts of our society (particularly the corruption in governments) and the lyrics are often politically charged
Album 3: Borknagar - True North
Now this was a surprise. I usually try before I buy, so I often download music, and if I really like it I then buy it (or add it to the aforementioned 'wishlist'). Or in the case of Anaal Nathrakh I had bout the 10 previous albums so I knew what to expect with the 11th album.
This album by Borknagar was almost picked at random. I liked the cover art, and there was label sticker that said "new album featuring epic progressive Black Metal". I like things to be loud and interesting so what the hell, and I added to the list.
I was expecting something similar to later-day Enslaved i.e. well produced Black Metal with progressive interludes... and then the first song from the album Thunderous started...
What the hell?! I was expecting something a bit more aggressive, those opening vocals are bordering onto Power Metal territory... while it was unexpected, it still sounded fucking awesome too!
'Proper' black metal vocals kick in at 1:45 and they are only used sparingly thorough out this song, and indeed for the rest of the album the vocalist mostly sticks to clean vocals.
And then the second track Up North started...
And I was hooked. Stunningly beautiful from start to finish, and the rest of the album continues in this vein. Gorgeous vocals, sublime melodies and epic soundscapes.
Absoloutely marvelous. And considering that Alien Ant Farm brings back memmories of youth, and Anaal Nathrakh is still one of my fave bands... this unknown, unexpected surprise from Borknagar is the pick of the bunch (at least, it is in my opinion).
I'm sure @slobberchops will find the album from Borknagar interesting too as it is only a small step away from prog metal ;-)
They are making me cook here (family), so I might blast the volume up and listen to all these while doing the chicken hehe...
EDIT: Thunderous has something and get's proggy at around the 6:30 mark. @steevc might like this.
I'm not sure they would have appreciated Anaal Nathrakh, that type of music is an acquired taste... can't go wrong with a bit of AAF though.
I did think that the Borknagar album would get your attention :-)
[I will try and do these music posts a bit more often, it makes a change from the other stuff I usually blog about]
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Cool stuff. I'd forgotten the AAF song and not seen the video before. I'm not too into screamy vocals, but I can take them in small doses if the music is good.
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AAF were one of the first bands I got into when I started listening to rock/metal... it was all over mtv2 at a time when mtv2 was actually decent (along with the likes of Linkin Park, Drowning Pool, Soil and Marilyn Manson)
Yeah I get that that the shouty stuff is not for everyone... at least in the Borknagar its used sparingly, almost for creative effect...
I love the shouty stuff, but even I can't listen to it all the time, need some softer more mellow stuff to balance it out.
Happy birthday and thank you for sharing your selection. I started with listening Alien Ant Farm 👌
Thank you! Can't go wrong with a bit of Alien Ant Farm 🤘
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