tribal gaze

Best of 2022: Josh’s List

JoshLeave a comment

Best of 2022

I had this enormous amount of words set to open this thing but opted for… not that. We’ve all lived through another year so there’s no need to reiterate. Instead, I’ll say that 2022 was great for me. It’ll be one of those years I’ll look back on as one that changed things for the better and I’ll have extremely fond memories of it for reasons I can’t mention here. But, I’ll also look back on it as a tremendous year for metal. And it doesn’t matter what strain you dig as pretty much all of it had a banner year. I know it seems like we’re a broken record saying that every year, but 2022 was damn strong. If you don’t feel the same, please rewind and revisit and get back to me. Otherwise, welcome to all the things that made a huge difference for me throughout the year and what was my 2022 soundtrack, what made the biggest impact…whatever, you get the idea. This list of 18…, wait…you ask “why 18?” Well, branding of course. We’re Nine Circles so you’ll get my top 9 and my 9 honorable mentions… and a few special mentions. 9C, as it was. So, let’s do it…

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Initial Descent: September 11 – 17, 2022

JoshLeave a comment
Tribal Gaze – image courtesy of Sidney Stauts

It’s amazing the crap we deal with on a day to day basis. Utterly amazing…pretty much all I’ve got for an opener AND it’s only Monday. Go figure. However, we’ve got some aggressive tunes to soothe the pain this week in the form of a destructive death metal debut from Tribal Gaze and yes this is the the same Tribal Gaze that put out that barnburner of an EP last year. Next up is a long awaited diesel fueled rock storm from Clutch, an extreme and obtuse outing from Destrage, a consistently METAL outing from Wolfheart, and a crap ton more in the list that follows. Do what you do best and go show all these bands some love via whatever purchasing outlet you land on. It’s as easy as copy / paste from here and the rest is history. Happy hunting and we’ll see you here throughout the week.

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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

CANTO: Einherjer, Deadguy, Creeping Death, and More

CoreyLeave a comment
Creeping Death

Well today sure was weird, but at least I’m caught up on writing?

  • Einherjer, a name I haven’t seen in quite some time, have announced details surrounding their first live album. Norse And Dangerous (Live… From The Land Of Legends) is set for an August 5th release through Napalm Records, and a clip for “West Coast Groove” is available now.
  • Creeping Death have announced a North American headlining tour with 200 Stab Wounds, Tribal Gaze, and more. Those dates cover August 16th through September 18th, and you can find ticket information here.
  • Parkway Drive has marked a bit of a return with the new video for a track titled “Glitch”. It’s their first new material since 2018’s Reverence, so we’ll see where they take things from here.
  • We’ll close out with some new footage from Deadguy. Below is the clip for “Makeshift Atomsmasher”, taken from Buyer’s Remorse: Live From the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest. That’s available exclusively through, well, Decibel Records. Alright, I gotta run!

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

Best of 2021: Josh’s List

Josh2 Comments
Best of 2021

One more year and one more list. AND, I’m in pole position for main lists. How is that possible? Right, who cares… Anywho, 2021 was yet another dumpster fire globally, but personally it’s been a good year, for the most part. The road we’re on with supply chains and inflation has to hit a ceiling soon or dumpster fire won’t even begin to brand what we’ll be facing in 2022. But, before I get too far down the road we’re all too familiar with, ENOUGH of that shit. I’ve had it up to my ass with all of it. Metal, again, had a great year. Some genres fared better than others, as you’ll see in the list below, but overall it was a very good year, as Sinatra once said. All the anger and hatred and frustration pushed artists to a level of creativity, and for some a level of vitriol, we haven’t seen in a long time and I don’t expect that trend to change anytime soon. So, on that point, score.

List season. We all love them for one reason or another and love bitchin’ about them. It’s human nature. With that said, here’s all the albums that meant the most to me throughout 2021 and as usual, I’m in the top nine and nine honorable mentions format because, branding. Jump in and enjoy what made me tick this year.

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