u/Earl_of_Portobello

it feels to me like the Titanic centrepiece that is the title track gloriously ushers in the rest of the album, which then soars and builds so well together that although of course I appreciate the tracks individually it just feels like one momentous labyrinth, a landscape that pulls me in and reveals new pathways and textures with every play. I don’t claim TVSOR is their greatest album but I find it to be their richest. It’s like a treasure trove. Every time I go back, I find fresh gold in the mine.

So I was curious to know what people considered to be the absolutely quintessential oldschool death metal albums, as opposed to the ones that you personally like the most. For example I personally prefer blessed are the sick to altars of madness but I would never try and make the case that blessed is more important or more foundational or more essential. I guess another way of asking the question is if somebody said to you they were starting out getting into old School death metal which albums would you tell them they absolutely had to have or listen to?

My top 5 would be:

1. Altars of madness – morbid angel
2. Leprosy – death
3. Deicide - Deicide
4. Effigy of the forgotten - Suffocation
5. Left Hand Path - Entombed

Somebody recommended the bands candlemass, cathedral, and electric wizard. I didn’t really gel with Candlemass at all, I recognise the extraordinary musicianship but it felt too campy and melodramatic for my tastes. But I absolutely loved cathedral and to a slightly lesser extent electric wizard. I guess what I’m asking is is that a surprising reaction given that it’s all doom metal? Maybe I should persevere with Candlemass. I just listened to the first three albums. Does anyone have any recommendations of other bands with the a Cathedral vibe? thank you.

I was thinking about the very biggest bands from the 80s and the 90s and a lot of them fall into that hard rock/heavy metal grouping – Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Pearl Jam and Nirvana (okay, those last two are grunge, but they’re heavy-ish). So all those bands enjoyed a massive overlap in audiences and a sense of safety in numbers. U2 had no such close peers, they were paradoxically massive and isolated and that suited them just fine. But when you look back, it’s kind of remarkable how singular they were and how much they did not really come from a scene or inhabit a scene.

I really admire how Jens seems to be quite devoid of all the ego stuff you often get with lead singers. It’s all about Meshuggah not about him. It’s strange because he’s almost not the focal point in the same way that Brian Johnson is not the focal point in AC/DC and yet is obviously absolutely essential to the overall makeup of the band. Maybe that’s an imperfect comparison , but you know what I mean. Compared to say Tomas, Jens feels quite mysterious to me but in an organic way, not in a contrived way. Personally, I love the guy and his vocals.

I know it doesn’t have the historical significance of Effigy but must admit I prefer it because of the production and also just think the songs are better. Still love Effigy of course. It’s a shining example of a band evolving their craft and their ‘thing’ without compromising the raw ingredients. Thoughts about your favourite suffocation album gratefully received.

I see quite a few copies on Discogs are going for around that price which is less than half what the studio albums sell for, so I was just curious why this would be the case? Does this suggest the fans are still happy with alive and it didn’t sell so well? Or am I overthinking it?

I love Death, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Suffocation, Obituary etc.. but production-wise IMHO none of them had an album that sounds as chunky, incendiary and wildly energetic as Left Hand Path by Entombed. The buzzsaw riffing just sounds EPIC and there are some scorching solos and technicality but always in service to the song. OK the title "Abnormally Deceased" is unintentionally hilarious but this is an amazing record and easily a top five all time DM album for me. Thoughts?

I’ve always been a CD person so vinyl fairly new to me. I am pretty obsessed with Obzen and have bought the different coloured vinyls of the anniversary release. Is it remotely possible, or is it just in my head, that the red splatter discs sound slightly different to the blue splatter? The red discs just feel a bit muddy but I’m totally aware that could be entirely psychosomatic. Also, more general vinyl question, is it normal that even with a brand-new album? There’s a little bit of crackle here and there? I think I’m just very used to digital formats.

Would be really interested to hear which albums have moved up or down your rankings with the passing years, if your No 1 pick has changed etc. TVSOR is the one that keeps climbing for me, I can see it becoming my No2 eventually.

1. Obzen

2. Koloss

3. Nothing (blue)

4. TVSOR

5. Catch 33

6. Immutable

7. Chaosphere

8. DEI

9. Contradictions

…talk about all killer no filler, it’s the sound of a band at the peak of their formidable powers and Bleed and Combustion are like nuclear weapons going off in your head… in a good way. What metal albums do you guys consider to be at the very top of top tier in our still-young century?

…not saying I’m not impressed, just saying he probably could’ve run it in 1.59.00 if he’d had Demiurge blasting on his AirPods.

>Got everything on CD and iTunes and then indulgently decided to buy everything on vinyl as well. Somewhat to my surprise the vinyl format really changes the experience of the album. I was so excited to get Catch 33 on vinyl but no doubt flipping/changing the record disrupts the all-of-a-piece experience & slows momentum. Feel the same about Chaosphere. WHEREAS... immutable & TVSOR actually work really well broken up into quarters - I always found the back half of TVSOR a bit samey but having that two tracks on their own side has made me really focus and appreciate them. Similar with Immutable. Finally a question, if the indelible version of Immutable got its own vinyl why on earth can't they release blue Nothing on vinyl? Anyone else feel vinyl Meshuggah hits different?