Wrath of the Weak - Wrath of the Weak & Persse

Artist: Wrath of the Weak
Album: Wrath of the Weak
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2006
Origin: USA

Minimalist, fuzzy, dense, intriguing black metal. For fans of Paysage d'Hiver, Darkspace, Lurker of Chalice, Weakling, Wolves in the Throne Room.

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EDIT: by request, here's Wrath of the Weak's new ep!


Artist: Wrath of the Weak
Album: Persse
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

I finally listened to this new EP, and I am enjoying it a lot. It seems to focus a lot more on the repetitive, ambient drone aspects, similar in some ways to Menace Ruine, though without the vocals and more of a black metal foundation.

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Gorguts - Obscura

Artist: Gorguts
Album: Obscura
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Year: 1998
Origin: Canada

This album is filled with technical weirdness and wankery to the max. It's one of the more unique death metal releases I've come across, and though it seems like it is somewhat influential, I don't think anybody has done something quite like this since. The note progressions are unintuitive and jarring, but I can't help thinking there is a complex mathematical order to the music. I really think everyone should at least have the experience of listening to the song The Faceless Ones - it just might be my favorite death metal song ever written. 9 metal-archives reviewers gave this album an average of 93%.

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Mephiskapheles - God Bless Satan

Artist: Mephiskapheles
Album: God Bless Satan
Genre: Ska (-punk)
Year: 1994
Origin: USA

Satanic ska! God Bless Satan has become one of my favorite ska (-punk) albums over the last couple years. The song-writing is excellent and very horn-focused, and the lyrics are humorous and sung with a unique voice. Many of the songs give me the urge to get up and dance to the swingin', blazin'-fast rhythms. All the tracks are catchy and fun, but Doomsday stands out as my favorite ("wu-wu-wu-wu-what's this button for?").

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Thy Light - Suici.De.Pression

Artist: Thy Light
Album: Suici.De.Pression
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2007
Origin: Brazil

The first and only release thus far from the one-man Brazilian black metal band, Suici.De.Pression's title should give anyone familiar with suicidal/depressive black metal an idea of what to expect. This is traversing the same musical ground as Coldworld and Nae'blis (whose music I've posted here already), with chilling atmosphere created through the combination of acoustic passages with black metal riffs. These riffs aren't quite the traditional Burzum-esque black metal fare though, as they take on an almost technical edge at times. I hope Thy Light is working on a slightly more polished album as we speak.

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The Pinstripes - The Decay

Artist: The Pinstripes
Album: The Decay
Genre: Ska
Year: 2007
Origin: USA

The Pinstripes play 2nd-wave "two tone" ska (with some 3rd-wave I guess... I dunno, it's one o' those waves) how you might expect, but with more punk energy and sometimes politically conscious lyrics. It's a really groovin' album, definitely one of the best ska releases I've heard in recent years. The sax, trumpet and trombone are all excellent and prominently displayed. If you like older ska like the Specials or horn-centric music in general, I think you'll like this a lot. To quote the band's myspace, "sounds like: GOOD".

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