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Best of 2023: Ian’s Honorable Mentions

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Best of 2023

Finally time for me to literally face the music, albeit in the best way possible. I always love this time of year, and as much as writing all the lists I do fills me with task-avoidance, I do look forward to looking backward. This year was an awful lot of peak highs and unfathomable lows, but, unlike years past, a lot of positive change has taken place at the end of it all, and I feel like that has colored my tastes a little bit. It was harder than ever to pick out the things I liked best this year because I didn’t fall back on a few select comfort albums to get me through the rough times. I kept myself moving, and that helped me take in and appreciate a wider variety of music than I normally do. I also, as usual, got the chance to review a LOT of awesome music that I was already looking forward to anyway, so you’re going to see a lot of my own reviews pop up in this and future lists. Sorry, not sorry. That’s just the perks of the job. Anyway, without further ado, let’s dive into the first of several attempts at bringing 2023 to a close…

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Album Review: Aara — “Triade III: Nyx”

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Astute listeners of the site will remember that my first ever album of the year pick was Aara‘s En Ergô Einai, an album that captivated me from the moment I first threw it on.  Since then, it has been an absolute whirlwind of momentum for the Swiss trio, with no less than four major releases since 2020, including Triade III: Nyx, the closing chapter of their trio of albums in tribute to Charles Maturin’s 1820 novel “Melmoth the Wanderer.”  Nyx may mark the culmination of the story the band are trying to tell, but in terms of what they have to accomplish musically, they appear to only be getting started.  Warning: there will be spoilers for “Melmoth the Wanderer” so if, uh, that’s something you are trying to avoid, read carefully I guess.

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 273 (3.4.2023)

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playlist - mixtape

We’re creeping ever so close to the release of 72 Seasons, so why not launch this, the 273rd edition of the Nine Circles Playlist, with the latest from Metallica. “If Darkness Had a Son” continues the streak of heavy, catchy as hell songs, and I for one can’t wait for the full album. I’ve been thinking a lot a lately about what we like, and how our tastes are informed by so many things, and I’m slowly getting to the point (or age, most likely) where I don’t give a flying f-ck about what’s cool or hip in a “scene” predicated on gatekeeping in both directions – it’s a drag and bores me to tears. How about this? I’ll like the underground indie band pumping out new and interesting tunes just as much as I dig the major label big boys still keeping things interesting decades later. Deal?

What’s the rest of the staff listening to? Lots of new music from the likes of Aara, Legion of the Damned, Out of the Mouths of Graves, Enslaved, Dawn Ray’d, Henget, Isolant, and Liturgy, not to mention a lot more both new and old, metal, and well…not so metal.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week…

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– Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 235 (6.11.2022)

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playlist - mixtape

Get ready folks…more sax-infused metal coming your way whether you want it or not. Some folks are sick of it, some folks love it…either way, you’re probably not going to be able to escape it. Just recently I’ve had the skronk of a reed instrument accompanying the likes of the latest from Imperial Triumphant (featuring Kenny G no less), a massive opener from the forthcoming White Ward album, and hot off the presses the new single from staff favorites KEN mode which absolutely slays. In other words, just another day for the 235th Nine Circles Playlist.

Elsewhere the 9C crew leave the orchestra instruments behind for some gnarled metal. Josh whips up a frenzy with new tracks from Hammer King, Inhuman Condition, Soreption, and some classic Slayer. Anton ups there ante with Aara, Panzerfaust, and High Castle Teleorkestra. Ian only brings one track to the playlist this week but it’s a whopper…if you’ve never heard the theme song from Home Improvement masked with the vocals of David Lee Roth, well…I welcome you to the insanity of Neil Cicierega. After mellowing things out a bit with some Elliot Smith, Vincent hits us with some Lantlôs and The Black Atlantic. Finally Angela closes the list with new music from Wake, recent Dopelord and Windhand.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 168 (2.13.2021)

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playlist - mixtape

Hello and welcome to another definitely on time edition of the Nine Circles Playlist in which I did not drop the ball and forget about this write-up. This week, we have an excellent new single from Stone Healer, some classic Bolt Thrower, and…Europe? Like “The Final Countdown” Europe? Yes, the very same. We can’t help that we contain multitudes.

All these, and more, at the link below.

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– Vincent