bloodbath – Nine Circles

Best of 2022: Ian’s Picks

January 4, 2023December 30, 2022IanLeave a comment

And so we’ve arrived at the big one, all preambles aside and sufficiently digested. These are the albums that stuck with me the most throughout 2022, and all of them hold their own special place in my heart, no matter what spot they occupy. I would say this list is somewhat in order. The top three are definitely the top three, although overall order is somewhat subjective and highly dependent on what I most recently listened to out of these picks, but rest assured that they are all superior examples of the music that came out over the previous twelve months. We had no shortage of great albums, and 2023 is already looking to be another year of great releases. So as we say goodbye to 2022 and look forward to the bright future, let’s take a look back on the best of the best, at least that I have found.

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Best of 2022: Angela’s List

January 3, 2023January 2, 2023Angela Block1 Comment

How is 2022 already gone? I think we are all still processing 2020—I know I am—but here we are embarking on a new year with new albums to enjoy and discuss. Before we move ahead, let’s take a look back at some impactful albums from this past year. I have posted my list of honorable mentions which is ultimately an extension of this list (check that out here) and am now here with my Nine Circles Top Nine (™ ™ ™). These albums accompanied me on many nature walks, commutes, and game nights. They served as background music while I cooked, cleaned, created, and worked at my day job. Needless to say, they have stuck with me throughout the year and resonated with me in big ways.

This is my 2022 soundtrack. I hope you enjoy it and also check out my colleague’s lists here as we all have diverse tastes and stellar albums to gush about.

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The Nine Circles Audio Thing: Bloodbath was September 2022’s Album of the Month!

October 12, 2022October 9, 2022ninecirclesadmin2 Comments

Once again it’s Album of the Month time and for September it was pretty much unanimous that Survival Of The Sickest from Sweden’s death metal masters Bloodbath got the pick. The usual gang of suspects are present for the discussion as well as MC Supreme Buke leading the charge. Much is made of just how good Bloodbath are this far along in their career and how they still reign supreme in any discussion surrounding Swedeath. Elsewhere, the gang spends a good portion of the runtime gushing over everything else they listened to since they last spoke. That and the usual banter back and forth on literally anything and everything.

In other words, just another episode of the Nine Circles Audio Thing.

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Album Review: Bloodbath — “Survival of the Sickest”

September 13, 2022September 12, 2022Chris4 Comments

If you needed any more evidence that Bloodbath were serious about getting back into the vintage, old school death metal sound that catapulted them into the metal conversation as more than just a “supergroup” take a look at that album title. It’s not enough that Survival of the Sickest, the band’s latest offering uses a sickly blue tint to stand out against the putrid, vomitous yellow theme of the album art, but – just like Molder earlier this year – we have that wonderful Arial font, complete with quotation marks. It’s indicative of the return to a deeper, squishier version of death metal, one that eschews its supergroup status to just get back to making some serious fun death metal.

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 248 (9.10.2022)

September 10, 2022September 10, 2022Chris1 Comment

My work is cut out for me this week. Ladies and gentlemen, today the Brothers Martinek™ celebrate a birthday. Which makes this playlist for them. Which means you’re going to get more Mountain Goats and Broken Social Scene and indie sad alt goodness than either you or I expected or intended.

Don’t worry, though. The others are still around with more extreme offerings…although who’s to say which is more extreme in the context of a metal site’s playlist? Bloodbath or My Bloody Valentine? Rotborn or Ride? Anyway, expect that as well as tracks from A Pregnant Light, Blackbraid, Judicator, Holy Fawn, Cloudrat, Black Anvil, Whitespade, Psionic Madness, Spitpool, Lamentations, as well as a slew of other tracks to kick your weekend off right.