IN ROTATION: Our most played albums in August 2019

GOTH MARK’S AUGUST’S IN ROTATION LIST

Greetings, dear readers and welcome to my contribution to the BAZ’s ‘In Rotation’ list. I took a gap from July’s posting because I’ve been suffering a terrible malaise with metal where in some respects I’ve “lost my mojo” and feeling somewhat fatigued; frustrated by the actions of people who are inventing problems that were never there in some bizarre quest for moralistic purity – we all know who “those people” are. Annoyingly, Last FM fails me and hasn’t been keeping track of what I’ve listened to and not syncing up with my usual apps (bloody technology). However, a night of insomnia a couple of nights ago brought back something useful (instead of mulling over things that I can’t do sod all about)…I actually recalled what I’ve been listening to! Now, if only I can found out what I ate before bedtime that triggered off those useful synapses…

Vesania – God The Lux:

The world needs to know more about Vesania. Why? Because they’re one of the best symphonic black metal bands out there comprised of key band members that are in really awesome bands in the first place (Behemoth and Vader, mainly – and played live in Dimmu Borgir). This particular album was purchased one bored weekend, and would you believe yours truly heard of Vesania before I ever listened to Behemoth? Anyway, this album is so good it remains in that hallowed category of “albums you should listen to before you die”. If you’ve not heard these of these guys, you seriously need to correct this glaring error.

Hellripper – Coagulating Darkness

A new discovery to me despite everybody being on the Hellripper hype train for some time now that I got into via the post punk side project Lock Howl. Clearly, James is one hell of a talented guy creating a bewitching blend of black metal and thrash metal with a sound akin to Impaled Nazarene crossed with Foreseen (definitely not a bad thing). Fantastic stuff.

Véhémence – Par le sang versé

You have to love black metal for its almost endless scope of ideas, themes, and instruments used to that make the whole genre deeply enthralling and invigoratingly fresh. Véhémence are a perfect case in point, with an excellent album based on medieval themes that’s completely barking mad and absolutely brilliant in equal measure.

Ninkharsag – Blood of Celestial Kings

A fantastic black metal band from Liverpool in the UK (just down the road from me), Ninkharsag are a particularly stunning and hard working black metal band that have indulged in some underground tours this year with similar acts, whilst yours truly has seen them support Hecate Enthroned. A bad that good, there should be a statue in Liverpool town centre for Ninkharsag, as well as murals for Carcass, Teardrop Explodes, Half Man Half Biscuit, Dragged Into Sunlight and Echo and the Bunnymen to name a few. The Beatles? Pah, “The Shitty Beatles” more like. Tiny was right about them in Wayne’s World (boy they suck)…

Mizmor – Yodh

Mizmor ended up getting a mention in my 2016 album of the year list in my own blog, but for some reason ‘Yodh’ only made the 5 “honourable mentions” out of my 20 albums chosen for 2016. A bit stupid of me, really – because it’s a fantastic mix doom metal, and black metal that should’ve been higher up the list. I’ve yet to hear if the new album is better, so stay tuned for that analysis…

Wildcard albums of the month: The Psychedelic Furs – Forever Now & Mirror Moves

“Da Yoof” will probably have heard of The Psychedelic Furs because a track was in some sodding Netflix show or in some bloody Playstation/Xbox game, I’ve got a strong hunch from somewhere that I can’t explain. However, The Psychedelic Furs are much better than that – being a band that influenced art rock, an early example of post punk (rapidly becoming my favourite subject), and new wave scenes equally. Naturally, Mirror Moves – a favourite Liverpool nightclub specialising in lesser known, and well known 1980s new wave and post punk equally – has imprinted itself heavily into my brain aided by copious amounts of alcohol and throwing “phat shapez”, and educating me on amazing music that was hitherto unknown. An addictive and glorious collection of epic songwriting and hugely atmospheric songs, reminding me of when the world was a much better place.