That Metal Thread

[Sirfaggot]

I personally don't really like the earlier records. As far as Sigh is concerned Gallows Gallery it not only their best album but also one of the best Heavy Metal records in general.

I briefly checked it out but Sigh's discography usually takes a while to grow on me. The record I recommended took about eight months to "click". Sounds good, though; I like the more prominent snare and the organ is a welcome addition. Why don't you like their earlier stuff? I suppose there's something impulsive or, dare I say, haphazard about the sampling and instrument use during some instances in Hail Horror Hail; there's definitely a "throwing all the shit we have at the wall" vibe in some sections that would understandably put some people off.

 

[I Know 孤独のせい]

Why don't you like their earlier stuff? I suppose there's something impulsive or, dare I say, haphazard about the sampling and instrument use during some instances in Hail Horror Hail; there's definitely a "throwing all the shit we have at the wall" vibe in some sections that would understandably put some people off.

The "art" of just throwing random shit together and see if it works didn't really come together to form a coherent mess until Gallows Gallery. That's were the songwriting and all the random instrumentation not only started to work on a per-song basis but also for the entire album. The band in general for me tends to whiplash constantly, and you never know if the album will turn out good or just as an incoherent mess. I think the issue with Sigh is less just outright bad music but more often than not they just can't trim all the unnecessary fat so their music works.
I think they have four albums were they were able to contain their madness just enough to record some great music. Everything else mostly just stumbles under its own weight.

 

[Man vs persistent rats]

Youtube has sent me down a 90s death metal rabbit hole once again:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Xcn1X3IFR-8https://youtube.com/watch?v=NmSoK_9lupshttps://youtube.com/watch?v=zSDjR4PuNfUhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=mbq9igB4QVchttps://youtube.com/watch?v=w8lGSdZMA3Ehttps://youtube.com/watch?v=3TP_r9OnMl0https://youtube.com/watch?v=l0_PILa5PfYhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=8wLFqTUy6pcinject this shit directly into my veins bro

The LordStormcrow channel has to be one of the most important uploaders on old Youtube. The algorithm is great at helping dig up deep cuts, but it was this guy who uploaded so many of them in the first place.

Some of those uploads you listed are iconic to me as a Youtube metal sperg, these ones too:

Spoiler

 

[Dan of Steel]

The LordStormcrow channel has to be one of the most important uploaders on old Youtube. The algorithm is great at helping dig up deep cuts, but it was this guy who uploaded so many of them in the first place.

Yeah I remember 15+ years ago before channels like that if you wanted to find obscure bands that had only released like one in the 90s and that was it, you either had to find blogspots with Mediafire/MegaUpload links, or torrents of some kind like Soulseek. I preferred the blogspots because the good ones would usually have the album/demo art and a little bit about the band to get you interested.
That’s how I found Catacomb and Immortalis and a bunch of others but thankfully because of the amount of people that use YT, some bands can blow up in the algo which is great. That Catacomb upload having half a million views is nuts. It’s nice to see old bands get recognition like that especially since I’ve been on a big death/doom kick lately:

 

[Man vs persistent rats]

Yeah I remember 15+ years ago before channels like that if you wanted to find obscure bands that had only released like one in the 90s and that was it, you either had to find blogspots with Mediafire/MegaUpload links, or torrents of some kind like Soulseek. I preferred the blogspots because the good ones would usually have the album/demo art and a little bit about the band to get you interested.
That’s how I found Catacomb and Immortalis and a bunch of others but thankfully because of the amount of people that use YT, some bands can blow up in the algo which is great. That Catacomb upload having half a million views is nuts. It’s nice to see old bands get recognition like that especially since I’ve been on a big death/doom kick lately:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=qpaBLRqmkA8

God Forsaken and Decomposed were big discoveries for me when I found out that death metal was allowed to be slow. Bands like Cianide were quite obscure 15 years ago compared to how respected they are now.

The issue with death/doom is that it seems to mean two different things: the genre of Anathema, Saturnus, Morgion, etc, but also simultaneously refers to death metal that is either slow or has doomy elements. Bands in the latter category rarely come up in death/doom discussions and tend only to be listened to OSDM fans, but they aren't necessarily easy to identify until you actually listen to them.

Some other things you may well already know, but I include in this "slow DM" category:

Spoiler

I also like the earliest material of the better known death/doom bands, as they tend to be considered "too death metal" by doom fans, so are often overlooked by both sides. My Dying Bride used to be sickos.

 

[Asian tech support]

New-ish Bloody Valkyria. Missed this one by a solid month and change.

 

[Thousandislandstare]

 

[Gian-Luca Caluga]

My Dying Bride used to be sickos.

Out of interest, what do you think of 34.788%... Complete? It's my favourite of theirs, because they did some different stuff on it, but everyone went fucking mental at them. So they eventually wrote Songs of Darkness, Words of Light, which was deliberately the most generic, forgettable doomy death possible... and people loved it.

They always seemed to be trapped by expectations, and never managed to get away from them, unlike Anathema whose mid-period albums (Fine Day and Natural Disaster) did really well for a Music For Nations band.

Until Sony bought it, obv.

 

[Man vs persistent rats]

Out of interest, what do you think of 34.788%... Complete? It's my favourite of theirs, because they did some different stuff on it, but everyone went fucking mental at them. So they eventually wrote Songs of Darkness, Words of Light, which was deliberately the most generic, forgettable doomy death possible... and people loved it.

I wasn't a fan of it at the time, but I agree that since The Light at the End of the World they became very formulaic. Have you heard High Parasite? It's where they may have ended up if they went down the alt metal pipeline that so many other bands at the time did (Amorphis, Katatonia, Sentenced, Paradise Lost...).

I did like alt-rock Anathema for a while but lost track of them after A Fine Day to Exit.