The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 286 (6.3.2023)

Last week I was in the woods, contemplating where all the time went as my son celebrated his 16th birthday. This week it’s worse, because on Sunday I turn 50 fuckin’ years old. All I think about is where the time went, why every bone in my body hurts like someone took a hammer to all 206 of them, and why metal just can’t sound like it used to…

That last one’s a lie: metal sounds however you want it to, as long as you know where to look. And we got a bunch of it on this 286th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist. But you’ll have to see for yourself, but I’m not putting any band names in the post this week. Not even The Dirty Nil, which isn’t technically metal but none of us give a shit because the new album is so good and it’s all most of us in the 9C Top Brass have been talking about.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week…

Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 285 (5.27.2023)

Are you all enjoying the Memorial Weekend? I was so excited to get out of the hellscape that is my job I ran into the woods without doing this week’s playlist…something I promised myself I’d take care of early. So here I am, tin foil and wire hangers concocted in such a way I can bend the bandwidth gods just enough to tell you about the new Horrendous and more in this, the 285th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist.

That means I’m going light with my picks and letting the staff speak for the site with a bevy of heavy, so to speak. We’ve got tracks from The Bleeding, Krocophile, Anchoret, Phlebotomized, Allfather, Pallid Veil, Panopticon (cannot wait for their vinyl remaster of Kentucky which is en route), Killing Joke, and a whole lot more.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week…

Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 284 (5.20.2023)

Another Saturday, another playlist. The difference this time is the sheer amount of killer releases that came out Friday, from the covers EP by Ghost to the new blast of OSDM from Frozen Soul, to the welcome return of Yakuza and the fuzzed out mayhem of Gozu. The 284th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist is a good one, so strap yourselves in and let’s do this.

What else do your ears (and eyes for those who actually watch the videos) have in store with this week’s playlist? Well, we’ve got a bunch of surprises but how about new music from Mutoid Man, Lucifer, Blackbraid, the return of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard making metal and the Cavalera brothers reliving the early days of their former band? All that and more await just a click away.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week…

Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 283 (5.13.2023)

I’m not sure what the Venn Diagram looks like for metal fans, video game fans, and zealots fawning over the just-released new chapter in the Zelda franchise, Tears of the Kingdom but I know for a fact we have staff firmly in that cross section, which is why I am kicking off the 283rd edition of the Nine Circles Playlist not with my picks, but with Dan K’s. You’re welcome, Dan. I hope you’re playing your heart out today.

From there we kick things off proper with new music from Danava and a quartet of “S” bands: Sunrot, Shodan, Sisyphean, and Sarmat. Then it’s brutal fun from the likes of Werewolves, Jesus Chrüsler Supercar, A Pregnant Light, Spectral Wound, Body Count, new music from Blackbraid, a classic Opeth track finally brought to life live, and of course the new Paul Cauthen. Plus more than a few surprises.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week…

Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 282 (5.6.2023)

There are albums you immediately love, and albums you immediately don’t. Sometimes you come around, sometimes you don’t and sometimes you don’t even try. Last night after listening to the newly released remix of Heartless, one of my favorite albums of the last decade I decided to give Forgotten Days, my White Whale of *shrug* from Pallbearer one more try. Something clicked, and I found myself drawn into a record in ways I haven’t in a long time. Might have been the cold medicine, but suddenly there was a richness and depth I could never hear before, and now I happily can’t un-hear it. So you’ll excuse me if I click off the 282nd edition of the Nine Circles Playlist with the opening track of my new favorite record.

From there we move onto the sea with live music from The Ocean, and then the rest of the staff brings the noise with new tracks from Bear, Grant the Sun, Aridus, Erdve, and the might return of Corrosion of Conformity and Khemmis. Elsewhere we have tracks from Atriarch, Godflesh, and Wolves in the Throne Room. Still here? There’s also music from Death Goals, Trespasser, Thyrfing, a blast of Greek power metal from Sacred Outcry and to round things out we’re tacking on the complete new left turn space odyssey album from Krallice.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week…

Chris