IN ROTATION: Our most played albums in February 2020

GOTH MARK’SFEBRUARY’S IN ROTATION LIST

February. Cold, wet, dull (if you’re in the UK like me). Flooding in Britain and the populace pondering on converting motor vehicles into boats, a reality TV start commits suicide and a bunch of two faced hypocrites online tell people to “be kind”, but throw other people under the bus for differing views with zero irony or perspective. Oh, and the end is near apparently – because we’ll all die of a virus originally caused by people eating bats – allegedy. Personally, I was holding out for giant meteorite, but now it looks like we’ll have to settle for this “epidemic”. I didn’t survive all those years of mosh pits, drunken nights out, dubious quality food, and near death experiece mountain bike accidents to “join the choir invisible” via some virus named after a rubbish beer.

Anyway, let’s have a look what tickled my ears in February eh?

Ninkharsag – Discipline Through Black Sorcery

Liverpool black metal titans bounce back with a new ‘promo’ EP, which is a taster for the upcoming second album ‘The Dread March of the Solemn Gods’. Sound be an absolute rager, if their debut ‘The Blood Of Celestial Kings’ is anything to go by. Ninkharsag are going to steal the black metal crown this year, and whip the rug from under many of the scene’s greatest bands and have them land on their arses. Hard.

Wardaemonic – Acts Of Repentance (review coming soon)

An extremely good top tier black metal band from Australia, Wardaemonic are due to release their new album on the 20th March and is a delightful return to form. Very enjoyable stuff indeed, and up there with the scene greats like 1349 (especially from the ‘Hellfire’ era); can be filed next to the top tier bands in your collection without sounding like the weakest link. This will catch people off guard when it lands, trust us on that.

Angerot – The Divine Apostate

Well, this is an interesting one. Death metal with a very Dismember-y guitar tone that is instantly pleasing, however it’s sort of a blackened death metal? There’s the aformentioned Dismember sound in the riffs, but there’s something vaguely Dimmu Borgir-esque going on in the mix which is perfect if you have a general malaise with death metal lately. One to get your hands on when it lands (27th March 2020 via Redefinding Darkness Records).

Strapping Young Lad – Alien

Got into these annoying late, but can be argued “Better late than never”. An industrial metal album that sounds as if it was made by, well…Aliens from another civilisation; mindbendingly intense and heavy with an almost black metal-esque ferocity, with insane musicanship and vocals from the legendary Devin Townsend. If you don’t own this, then you’re a tone deaf root vegetable. Incredible stuff.

Entombed – Clandestine

If I ever made a top 200 death metal album list, then Entombed’s ‘Clandestine’ is that high up the list it would be in the top ten. THAT gnarly guitar tone, that crunchy mastering, just….Bloody hell, how can anyone into extreme metal not like this album? Some nights, I often have insomnia and a top re-occuring thought is someone out there doesn’t like it. Imagine hating on music that much and being such a dullard? Also, bloody excellent music to heavy cardio work like running. Also, one of the first 10-15 metal albums I ever bought – got it on tape somewhere…

Wildcard album of the month: Roxy Music – Country Life

Well, we can’t all be strepsil sponsored vocals and shredding guitar riffs all the time and Roxy Music is just the ticket. Hugely infleuncial elegant sleezy rock excess that went on to influence all sorts of bands, however I doubt that much of it was metal (maybe the hair metal stuff?) – but nevertheless nobody was doing wild rock music with synthesisers, silly outfits, and copious use of oboe’s and saxophones in the early 1970s. And no, I didn’t get into them because of the album cover – an ex work mate loaned me their albums donkey’s years ago after talking in length one morning about 1970s prog rock when we should’ve been working one Friday morning. So there.

Until next time, keep it weirdcore.

Goth Mark