insomnium

CANTO: Crypt Sermon, Harvestman, Entheos, and More

CoreyLeave a comment


As promised, it is in fact snowing. But hey at least my new tent showed up today?

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 320 (1.27.2024)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

The words you’re reading now constitute the third time I tried to write up this week’s edition – the 320th to be exact – of the Nine Circles Playlist. The other two versions were angry too angry to let stand because in the end (and I know this is a gross simplification, so apologies) 99.9% of the words shouted out into the reaches of the Internet matter for a microsecond before being consumed by something else. So rather than get into I’ll just say that with all that freedom maybe think about what you want to say before sounding like an utter tool, okay? In the end most of our opinions are inflated, and there’s little reasons to throw more shade and negativity out there. 

Sorry. This is a metal blog, so let’s turn it up and get back to our regularly scheduled programming.

We’ve got a lot on tap this week, including tracks from Slimelord, Haunted, more new Chapel of Disease, some new Skeletal Remains and Skraeckoedlan, classic cuts from Sentenced, Tiamat, and Borknagar, and more from the likes of Hulder, Hideous Divinity, Leander Kills, Job For a Cowboy and others…

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris

Best of 2023: Corey’s List

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Best of 2023


Well, here we are again. Another year of listening to metal. And then talking about it. Usually celebrating it. Sometimes arguing about it (way too much of that for some of us…). But when you’re embedded in this art on a different, more personal level, as we all are, that kind of comes with the territory. It’s how this blog came to be, what, a decade ago? Crazy how we’ve made it to this point, honestly. So, with all of that said, I’m once again proud to share my favorite albums from the year that was, which you will eventually find below.

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Scholar of the First Sin: Hera’s Best of 2023

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Best of 2023

Yes, I have come out of the well to shame mankind for their lack of knowledge.

Last year, I supplied a list of 20 albums, which took a lot of time to cut down – so much so that albums that were close to making the list ended up in my honorable mentions. However, this year, I decided to be more critical about the albums I wanted to place here, and now the list has been made.

Welcome to the remnants of the cutting room floor EOY list season!

Here’s the drill: there are 20 15 albums on this list, and I reviewed some of them. EPs, as always, are off the list, and I have also added the new rule of not adding metal-adjacent albums. This means that Insomnium’s brilliant Songs of the Dusk and Einar Solberg’s fantastic 16 will not be appearing here. As is customary the list is divided into four parts, which are as follows:

  • the Nebulous, where any of those albums’ placements could be placed anywhere at any time;
  • the Hypothetical, where the albums’ placements are more concrete, but can also be moved around;
  • the Theoretical, where the albums’ placements have been solidified; and
  • the Top album of the year.

Also, please note that I did previously submit a list to our benevolent editors that depicted an initial draft of albums I wanted to include on this list. However, since that submission, I have moved items around, and now, I believe my list is set in stone.

Without further ado, here we go!

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CANTO: Insomnium, Wayfarer, Amon Amarth, and More

CoreyLeave a comment


Making this quick (again) because I have to be somewhere else like 15 minutes ago.

  • Hey, a tour announcement that intrigues me. Insomnium returns to North America next April and May with Omnium Gatherum and Wilderun. Tickets for this absolute melodeath party go on sale this coming Friday.
  • And then a show I really want to go to but can’t! Wayfarer announced a record release show for American Gothic on March 29 at the Bluebird Theater in Denver. Tickets go on sale for that one on Friday as well. That album dropped back in October through Profound Lore and Century Media, in case you happened to miss it somehow.
  • Swiss industrial metal veterans Samael are releasing a live album on February 16 through Napalm Records, titled Passage – Live. Preorders are up now, and you can check out the live version of “Jupiterian Vibe” here.
  • In closing, we have a new music video from Amon Amarth for “Saxons and Vikings”, which features members of the heavy metal legends. That, of course, is taken from The Great Heathen Army, which is available through Metal Blade. Oh, and in case you missed it, they have a massive tour coming up in North America next year with Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, and Frozen Soul.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb