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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 245 (8.20.2022)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

After years of seeing that cassette logo at the top of every edition of the Nine Circles Playlist (brought to you now for the 245th time) I finally caved and bought a cassette deck for my stereo system. I have a few tapes lying around from niche labels filled with strange and discordant sounds, so why not? Maybe I’ll even find those old mix tapes I used to have in college and see if they’re still in a playable condition…music as archeology, you know?

I don’t know if anything in this week’s playlist is available on cassette, but I can provide definitive proof you can find it on YouTube. The gang brings in tracks from Sarattma, the return of Toxik, as well as new music from Clutch, Revocation, Conan, Conjurer, Lathe, Ripped to Shreds and An Abstract Illusion. We throw in some shoegaze and indie from My Bloody Valentine and Broken Social Scene to break up the extremity (although I still think MBV’s Loveless is one of the most extreme albums to ever come out) before wrapping it all up with some classic tracks, including a live cut from Opeth, some Testament, Merauder, and Watchtower, among others.

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Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 242 (7.30.2022)

JoshLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

Yep, you get me again for this, the 242nd edition of The Nine Circles Playlist. And we’ve got a good one for you this week as Vince drops a new one from A Pregnant Light and a little something from Enslaved, Ian drops a track from Imperial Triumphant and channels Vince with a The Mountain Goats pick, Chris gives us the new one from Ghost and an Asunojokei pick as well as another excellent Bill McClintock mash up “Holy Mary Jane,” Angela reminds us just how good the latest from Zeal & Ardor is, and I dig deep into the new Goatwhore and Lorna Shore. All that, and tons more in store right behind that play button below. So, did you piss off the neighbors last week? NO!? Well, you get another chance to do it right now…crank it.

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– Josh

Nine Circles ov…Surprises and Releases That Got Away From Us

Chris1 Comment
Abbath - Dread Reaver
boris - 1985
crown lands - white buffalo
destruction - diabolical
Ghost - Impera
hällas - isle of wisdom
Meshuggah-Immutable
michael romeo - war of the worlds pt 2
scorpions - rock believer

What can I say? Sometimes it’s not that the promo pile is brimming over with releases and you miss out on a few things, sometimes you just get so caught up you simply forget. You miss the signs that something you’ve been waiting for forever slips by (ahem, *Hällas*) or that one album your friend has been telling you is damn good and you need to hear it and…you don’t. Sometimes a band you love just ups and sneaks one past you without a word.

And sometimes…sometimes children…you don’t get a promo at all.

We’re not complaining; we’re a small site and we do this for the simplest of reasons, and whether or not that also happens to feed the vicious masochistic streak hiding below our tender skins well, so be it. So for this edition of Nine Circles ov… let’s check out a few that got away.

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 225 (4.02.2022)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

We’re back, and it feels like Spring is really starting to take a hold. I’ve been re-organizing my vinyl collection the past few days, figuring out just where the hell everything is going to fit and how I’m going to explain to my wife why I need to take over another room before the next stack arrives. First world problems to be sure, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use it to kick off the 225th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist, you know?

We’re gonna kick things off with some of the surprises I’ve discovered the last week, starting with new music from Michael Romeo, who brings the heavy prog I crave from Symphony X on his new solo joint. Anton ups the tech factor with some ripping new Inanimate Existence and follows it up with Luminous Vault and Lustmord collaborating with The Ocean. Josh digs into the dank earth of death metal to give light to Analepsy, Visceral Explosion, and Flesh Configuration before shaking things up a bit with Downcross and Real Steel. Vincent goes wide as usual with the newest single from Devil Master, Tzompantli, Falls of Rauros and deep cut from the Pieces of April soundtrack by Stephin Merrit. Hera returns to the playlist and brings Ibaraki, Ghost, Terzij de Horde, Playgrounded, Sadist, and something I’m assuming is called You May Kiss the Bride? I don’t know..it’s heavy though! Next up is Angela bringing some long awaited new music from Meshuggah as well as Frayle, Amenra, and Bhleg. Once again bringing up rear guard is Buke, and he’s chock full of great stuff, from the new Haunt single to some real old classic Opeth, Morbid Angel, Ripping Corpse, Autopsy, and finally some truly classic prog in the way of the might Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 222 (3.12.2022)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

Weird random though for the morning: although we’re often nostalgic for things from our youth, sometimes the things from our youth are not things from our youth, you catch me? I don’t know; I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Maybe it’s the music, so many new albums coming out that capture so succinctly the signatures of the sounds that came before it (*cough* Ghost) I’m caught in a revelry of the past. Don’t fear, though: I won’t let it influence the 222nd edition of the Nine Circles Playlist too much…

…but I will a little, kicking it off with a certain massive popular band who finally went all in on the hard rock/pomp of the 80s (*cough* Ghost). But man, if you haven’t also heard the latest from Drug Church get thee to a computer and rectify that post-haste. Hits the 90s indie hardcore rock so good, and they’re from my old stomping grounds of Albany, NY to boot. Elsewhere Anton brings up Siberia, Vital Spirit, and Autarkh III to get the nasty flowing. Vincent continues to champion site favorite Absent in Body and throws in some new music from Devil Master and Egregore as well as Bootblacks. Josh takes a break from his non-stop listening of Impera to get down with the OTHER site favorite Zeal & Ardor but also manages to make room for Corpsessed, King Dude, and a pair of outlaw country tunes, including the latest from Paul Cauthen. Buke can always be counted on with some choice classic cuts, and he does not fail this week, serving up some vintage KISS and Rainbow, but also hits with new cuts from Rammstein and Deathwhite (there’s some Anvil in there, too). And Angela comes in to remind that if the first quarter of 2022 was already stacked tooth gills with great music, we just got the new Messa, a new single from Conjurer, and the latest from Chelsea Wolfe.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris