tbt

Throwback Thursday: Agalloch’s “Ashes Against The Grain”

CoreyLeave a comment
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“Ashes Against The Grain” original slipcover artwork

While maybe not the most popular Agalloch work, there are still plenty of reasons to celebrate their third full-length album, Ashes Against The Grain. Obviously, the works of the black folk metal band out of Portland, Oregon are among the most important in my extensive library, and this is something I have reiterated many times. The quality contained in their catalog is undeniable. And while the final album with The End Records may not have been the band’s favorite (and if you dig enough you may discover that they borderline hate it), I’m still as captivated by it now as I was when I first heard it. Let’s take a closer look.  Continue reading →

Throwback Thursday: Summoning – “Stronghold”

OldThunderKYLeave a comment

Summoning_StrongholdFor all of its self-righteous elitism and snootiness, heavy metal has always had a blissful, cheese-filled marriage to the realms of nerdery and fantasy dorkiness. From the unfiltered, exaggerated bravado of power metal to the (slightly less embarrassing) infatuation with Lovecraft’s creatures in black and death metal, most metalheads — whether they want to admit it or not — have a weak spot for fantasy. For an amateur Tolkien scholar such as your’s truly, Summoning‘s 1999 album Stronghold is about as “Exhibit A” as it comes in showing how nerdy metal can be and get away with it.  Continue reading →

Throwback Thursday: J.J. Hrubovcak – “Death Metal Christmas”

JoshLeave a comment

Death Metal Christmas

Jingle bells, batman smells, robin…in case you didn’t notice it’s that time of year again when all the lights and decorations are pulled from the dusty old attic and put on the even dustier old tree. It’s also time for those horrendous old classic christmas ditties to be shoved in your earholes nearly everywhere you go. There’s simply no escaping it, just today I had to endure it on hold during a phone call. Thankfully I’ve got just the thing to make your holidays merrier in this edition of tbt, Death Metal Christmas by J.J. Hrubovcak.  Continue reading →

Throwback Thursday: Ozzy Osbourne – “Killer of Giants”

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Ozzy Osbourne - Killer of Giants

Earlier this month Ozzy Osbourne turned 67 and whether you love him or not he has amassed quite a career that has been a huge influence throughout metal. He began by blazing a trail with Black Sabbath before moving on to his solo career, which is still active. Of course there’s the ill-fated reality show and I’m just going to leave it at that. Anyway, I’ve got several favorites from his body of work in the eighties but for this tbt I’m taking a look back at the highly underrated “Killer of Giants”. Continue reading →

Throwback Thursday: Soilwork – “Natural Born Chaos”

OldThunderKYLeave a comment

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When yours truly was an awkward middle schooler cutting his teeth on Slayer, Iron Maiden, and Cradle of Filth, melodic death metal was a gateway drug into extreme metal. For some, Soilwork‘s divisive 2002 Natural Born Chaos spelled the beginning of the end for the Swedes’ long-running spree of albums that were fiercely technical but accessible, being just heavy enough to keep posers and teenagers away. But for an acne-ridden little Dustin, Natural Born Chaos was an album that opened wide the gates into death metal. Natural Born Chaos, like it or not, is a defining album for Soilwork and a prototype for where they would go on subsequent records.  Continue reading →