pharmacist – Nine Circles

Best of 2022: Chris’s List

December 30, 2022December 30, 2022Chris1 Comment

We’re going to keep the intro brief on this one. Year after year I struggle to find the words to open this post, where I ostensibly count down my favorite 25 metal albums of the year. Typically the first thing I do is check out the previous year’s entry…read and see if the themes are still relevant, if there’s anything I want to refine or emphasize for the current year. And for the first time, I didn’t find anything worth changing. Yes…I may have finally nailed it with my 2021 Best Of introduction.

By now you’ve (hopefully) read my post talking about nine albums that didn’t make my but could have, and my 15 Honorable Mentions and how the very concept of an honorable mention seems to contradict itself when the music is so good. I would usually say that was all prelude to this, but that’s a lie. You know, and now I do as well. In the end, all we can do is recount the things we love, and hope it inspires something in you.

So if you will, a request: go back and read that intro to 2021. And then check out the albums listed below for this year. Don’t worry about rankings, don’t worry about omissions. Just check out the music, and let it hopefully inspire something in you.

All of these albums did that for me.

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Nine (or so Heavily Qualified) Circles ov…2022: A Mid-Year Report

July 12, 2022July 12, 2022Chris3 Comments

Okay, so I may have only formally reviewed 11 albums by the mid point this year, but that’s one more than I was at last year, so victory! However, that doesn’t count the 30 other albums covered in earlier editions of Nine Circles ov (like the Stoner Metal one, or the promo pile one, or the non-promo pile one) or Second Circle. Not to mention my folders telling me I’ve listened to 151 metal albums so far this year. It’s scratching the surface, I know…but at least there are quantifiable metrics for you to assess whether or not I’ve met my acceptance criteria to mark this feature as Done.

And now that my work life has completely blended into this post, let’s talk about how massive 2022 has been so far. We’re once again turning this edition of Nine Circles ov… into a dozen and I’m even going to throw some bonus mentions into the mix. Are these my absolute favorites of the year? Kind of: I wanted to highlight some albums I haven’t seen a lot of coverage on as well as some definite big guns I really dig so far. So what I’m saying is, here’s a big list of stuff I love. Maybe you’ll love it, too.

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 229 (4.30.2022)

April 30, 2022April 30, 2022ChrisLeave a comment

Happy Walpurgisnacht. That’s a thing with the metal community, right? I can’t keep up with your predilections. I think I hit the wall a few days ago listening to new music, stuff bouncing off me with little to no connection. Does everyone go through this? I’m sure it will come back, but for now I think I’m going to leave the 229th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist to the staff who have been going slow, hard, and deep into the metals for your weekly listening pleasure.

Vincent takes the lead this morning with some new Terzij de Horde and a little nugget from the last Deafheaven album. Then a surprise appearance from our Literati Overlord who has been over the moon with the new single from Saor. He also throws in some Nite, Dark Funeral, and a cut from site fave King Dude. Have you ever known Josh not to bring the ridiculously heavy? This week he comes in hot with Scepticflesh, Black Void, Unholy Pestilence, and Kanine. Anton can always be relied on to present new music, and he doesn’t disappoint with tracks from Spook the Horses, Final Light and Path of Might. Angela looks to challenge Josh for heaviest music with something from the new Mizmor/Thou collaboration, some Primitive Man (making its second appearance in two weeks), and a buzzing dose of punk and hardcore from the great Fucked Up before wrapping with some Astronoid. Finally Buke takes us home with a bevy of songs, including Iron Maiden, Pharmacist, Power Trip, Tom Waits, UFO, and some new Rammstein to close it up.