leander kills

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 272 (2.25.2023)

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playlist - mixtape

Yeah…sometimes life just comes up and not only bites you in the ass, but grabs a hold and throws you down in the ditch, pisses on your head and laughs as it walks away. So this week’s edition – the 272nd – of the Nine Circles Playlist is coming a little later than it should, and that’s all on me. So I’m gonna make the preamble short and just get right into the meat of the matter, starting with a doozy from the new Venomous Concept album. I love the more punk and post-punk elements on it and hope you will, too. Looking through my recent vinyl acquisitions we’re also gonna drop a pair of 90s classics from Eucharist and Amorphis so you can all feel that weird snare and the cold ice blue of Finnish metal.

The rest of the staff will keep things on par with the usual varied insanity. So get your ears ready for music from the likes of Usnea, Klone, Polymoon, Grave Pleasures, Birdflesh, Lotus Eater Machine, Gravpel, Ulthar, Leander Kills, Dååth, Botanist, Big|Brave, Anatomy of Habit, and the newest from VoidCeremony. But that’s not all: you get some old emo from Marietta, some more In Flames love, older tracks from Opeth, Spectral Lore and Madder Mortem and a few more surprises, not to mention the ALWAYS appropriate Joy Division to close things out.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week…

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– Chris

Scholar of the First Sin: Hera’s Best of 2022 — The Outliers (Honorable Mentions)

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Best of 2022


EOY list season is upon us, which means that many will be scrambling to put together lists that are both cohesive and, objectively, correct. Although I knew that 2022 might not be able to compete with 2021’s sheer musical quantity, 2022 had more quality releases. It’s gotten to the point where I now have an entire separate list of albums just to catch up with.

It’s also one of the many reasons why I have decided to expand the honorable mentions list, as I found myself with 28 albums that I had enjoyed but didn’t know what to do with them. After somewhat coming to terms with the 20 I want to officially present in my planned EOY list, I decided that these eight deserved some words from me, as I, once again, have a lot to say.

It’s time to touch the painting sitting in Anor Londo.

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 246 (8.27.2022)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

This week Mastodon released a 90-minute documentary detailing the creation of our combined favorite album of 2021 (not to mention my personal favorite) so I’m leaving it to others to populate the playlist this week, lest you get nothing but the fearsome foursome in here.

(I might add a track or two, anyway. Prerogative of the writer, and all that)

Lots of good stuff on tap this week, including a new track from masters of metalcore Botch, new music from Tribal Gaze, The Halo Effect, Russian Circles, Devil’s Witches and Guapa (one to definitely watch out for). There’s also plenty of classics if that’s more your taste, including killer cuts from Twisted Sister, Running Wild, and Praying Mantis, a band I haven’t heard in FOREVER so thanks, Buke! All that and more…plus some Mastodon, of course.

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Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris

The Nine Circles Audio Thing: Best of 2020

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Best of 2020

For this episode we go all in with most of the staff for our best of 2020 picks. We hit the high notes of what tickled our fancies for the year that was a shitstorm and even welcomed in a new member to the family. So, buckle up for an epic episode that has a wealth of stuff you may have missed and be sure to take notes, artists we mention need your support so open up those wallets and purses.

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Scholar of the First Sin: Hera’s Best of 2020

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Best of 2020

If you remember from last year, I had this to say as I closed my 2019 EOY list:

In the meantime, 2020 looks to be tumultuous as well, but things are looking up, as I have music to look forward to and scream about at some point. Maybe, at the end of the year, I can tell you if I have succeeded in making more selective choices in music.

2020 gave us a roundhouse kick to the collective bollocks, didn’t it? In my case, it kicked me in the face and didn’t let me listen to anything – this pandemic has been bad for my mental health, and it didn’t help that grad school has continued to essentially take all my time and joy away from me. After September of this year, I just went off the radar musically and I found – much to my detriment – that I could only listen to albums I had originally invested a lot of time in. As such, my favorite albums this year are all touchstones of comfort, albums that I enjoyed heavily throughout the year. However, there is an album that made its way through these touchstones and was able to move to a spot that I didn’t think it would reach.

Welcome back to the pit of despair that has exacerbated my depression EOY list season!

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