Category: Long stuff

Heavy metal needs it’s one-offs. Which is why it needs the real Dimmu Borgir back

~ Tom ~ 1 Comment

Dimmu Borgir’s last album, 2018’s Eonian, their first new music in eight years, was great. But it wasn’t really a Dimmu Borgir record. And while heavy metal is full of bands who ride very close to the band that inspired them the most, it has in truth always been most clearly defined and sustained by those bands who can’t be mimicked accurately.

Which is why it really needs the “proper” Dimmu back and doing what made them them.

Continue reading “Heavy metal needs it’s one-offs. Which is why it needs the real Dimmu Borgir back” →

What you get out of an album isn’t just about how good it is – it’s also about your relationship with the band’s back catalogue

~ Tom ~ 3 Comments

There’s a Melvyn Bragg line that Mark Kermode has brought up in his film reviews: that how you react to something is affected in part on where you are in your life when you encounter it. And obviously, that’s true in music too.

But it in music, it’s even more complicated than that. What you feel about a particular album can be hugely dependent on the relationship you have with what the artist has done before – even in cases where you already liked them, and where you think the album is good – not necessarily how good the album itself is. Naturally, the best way to demonstrate this is with examples, so I’ve dug some out from 2020: Code Orange’s Underneath, Oceans Of Slumber’s self-titled album, Anaal Nathrakh’s Endarkenment, and Unreqvited’s Empathica.

Continue reading “What you get out of an album isn’t just about how good it is – it’s also about your relationship with the band’s back catalogue” →

No band in heavy metal has changed as successfully as Enslaved while still keeping their identity

~ Tom ~ 3 Comments

Enslaved’s 15th (FIFTEENTH) album, Utgard, is out today, and (spoilers) it’s bloody excellent. It’s one of their absolute best records in a 27-year recording career that’s almost without blemish, and it is achieved by changing direction.

This really is not news, however, as this has happened multiple times throughout their run, and is often what defines their best records – and throughout all that, at no point have they ever stopped feeling like Enslaved. And it is time they were acknowledged as the best band at shifting gears heavy metal has ever had.

Continue reading “No band in heavy metal has changed as successfully as Enslaved while still keeping their identity” →

One bad album should not ruin your favourite bands – but what if it’s as bad as Nightwish’s HUMAN :II: NATURE?

~ Tom ~ 1 Comment

The last decade of being a Nightwish fan looked briefly like being more of a nightmare, but then blossomed into a golden age. Imaginaerum was astonishingly good, then when Anette left, the band fell on their feet by recruiting Floor Jansen – their best singer yet – then didn’t put a foot wrong live, and put out the excellent Endless Forms Most Beautiful to show they didn’t even need bedding in time.

Then they released HUMAN :II: NATURE. And I’m wondering how long it’s going to be before I can stick up for them again.

Continue reading “One bad album should not ruin your favourite bands – but what if it’s as bad as Nightwish’s HUMAN :II: NATURE?” →

How Unleash The Archers got me more excited by doing an album I like less

~ Tom ~ 3 Comments

Unleash The Archers blew my socks off with their last album, Apex. Understandably, I was itching to hear their next one. And once the follow up, Abyss, arrived, I found myself even more enthusiastic about the Canadians than before.

They stand out as one of the best things to happen to power metal in Odin knows how long – but they’ve done it by releasing a record I like less than the last. And it’s partially because I suspect you will like the new outing more than I do.

Continue reading “How Unleash The Archers got me more excited by doing an album I like less” →

Mental illness tried to kill me, and destroyed my ability to listen to music – until Abbath saved it

~ Tom ~ 1 Comment

Close followers of mine on Twitter may have noticed that I’ve tweeted bugger all about new music for about a year.

This is for a simple reason: shitty mental health. The kind of shitty mental health that can fuck your entire life up very quickly, and becomes a genuine threat to your life.

And just when it seemed to have got to its worst point, it got yet worse, and robbed me of my ability to listen to music – and music was the one thing that had never let me down.

Continue reading “Mental illness tried to kill me, and destroyed my ability to listen to music – until Abbath saved it” →

Music is easier to love when it’s not surrounded by noise – a lesson from Wolves In The Throne Room

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes being a black metal fan is a bit like being the manager of an unfashionable football club; you’re frequently surrounded by people telling you exactly what you should think and explaining why you’re wrong, while you remain staunch and steadfast in your beliefs (even if they’re part of what’s making you unpopular), and it’s a damn sight easier when all the bullshit quietens down.

Put another way, Wolves In The Throne Room have gloriously reminded me how much easier it is to simply enjoy something when the circus has moved onto fresher pastures.

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Sometimes the best bands are the ones that had to work to win you over

~ Tom

It’s easy as a shit after a curry to stick to your first opinion about a band. Anyone can take one listen to a band, say “yay” or “nay” and never revise that inclination until the band release a Cold Lake. But sometimes the ones that can form the strongest attachments are the ones who you didn’t initially get on with. Continue reading “Sometimes the best bands are the ones that had to work to win you over” →