The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 272 (2.25.2023)

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…

Chris

CANTO: Usnea, The Acacia Strain, Sermon, and More


Don’t look now, but the Red Wings have won three straight. Oh wait, shit, wrong blog.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 251 (10.1.2022)

Second booster. Feel like shit (déjà vu?)…I’m not complaining, just stating the current state of my body at the moment. So let’s get to it for the 251st edition of the Nine Circles Playlist.

Kicking it off with a few recent discoveries for yours truly with new releases from Phobophilic and Toadeater (thanks BANGERTV) as well as a classic from Life of Agony. Then we have a blessing in the form of new freakin’ music from -(16)- as well as cuts from Gaerea, Yandere Chainsaw Regurgitation Factory, Frayle, City of Caterpillar (thanks Vince because I am loving this), and Panopticon, as well as music from Chat Pile, Wailin’ Storms, Foscar covering Alice in Chains, Devenial Verdict, and a host of classics from the likes of Yob, Cathedral, Baroness, and more.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 164 (1.16.2020)

playlist - mixtape

Clock on the wall says 1am and unsurprisingly cracking a bottle of Henry McKenna 10yr bourbon just feels right as I sample the picks we’ve assembled for this week’s playlist. Don’t judge me, no work tomorrow and after 40+ years of practice my eyes will open no later than 5am so put that in your pipe and smoke it. Anyway, we’ve got a stacked mixtape for this glorious Saturday and I’ve confirmed it’s, as they say, a banger. I bring some new Bloody Hammers and The Crown, Vince brings The Ruins of Beverast and Havukruunu, Didrik lays down a killer Woods of Ypres pick along with new Soen, Ian offers up a Møl cut and an Aara track, and Angela keeps the livestream Goatwhore feels alive as well as a selection from Divide and Dissolve. All that and a ton more awaits behind the play button below, so get after it.

– Josh

Best of 2017: Zyklonius’ List

9C 2017 EOY Header Image

Another trip around the sun, another stellar year for metal, with a wealth of riveting riffage, pulverizing beats, blood-curdling growls and blazing tremolos. Verily, this is an era of abundance, where it is impossible to stay on top of the deluge of top-shelf metal released every week. Best of all, quality seems to go hand in hand with quantity. If there ever was an antithesis to the contemporary temptation for instant gratification and disposability, every album I included in my mid-year stocktaking exercise ended up on my end-of-year list, having continued to impress and astonish me as time went by, testament to the spectacular songwriting, boundless creativity and killer riff delivery of the bands that conjured up these stunning works of art. And just when I thought things could not get any better, both seasoned veterans and hungry newcomers arrived, bearing gifts of seismic impact. I hope the following releases enrich your life, even if only with a fraction of the effect they had on me. Now, dig in! Continue reading