Friday, March 8, 2019

When a Shadow is Forced Into the Light, Manor of Infinite Forms, Black Company

Things that brought me delight in February, 2019:


Swallow the Sun, When a Shadow is Forced Into the Light
Magisterial. I was really looking forward to this one and it did not disappoint one bit.

Gallhammer, Ill Innocence and Gloomy Lights
Apparently a significant number of listeners find Gallhammer too repetitive; I can see the merit in the critique, but I find it hypnotic instead. The occasional vocal that sounds like the squeaking of a rubber duckie is a bit mystifying, admittedly.

Tomb Mold, Manor of Infinite Forms
You guys, I found Zuggtmoy's favorite death metal band.


Glen Cook, The Black Company
After finishing The Worm Ouroboros (see below) this was a very welcome change of pace. Out with the Jacobean language, in with the tale of a famous mercenary band in a world where great wizards are called Dominator and say things like "Absodamnlutely."

E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros
We did a Bad Books for Bad People episode on this one that you can listen to here.


Rotting Christ, Rituals
The tension between the modern metal style and the spectral presence of antiquity on this one absolutely works.


Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, series 1
Yeah yeah yeah, solving murders, but that wardrobe! My theory is that she's an agent of chaos; not only do murders happen around her with alarming frequency, but she corrupts everyone she pulls into her orbit. Dot has strayed from her religion and is dating a Protestant. Detective Robinson no longer upholds proper procedure and lets her do whatever she wants at crime scenes. Bert and Cec have lost their communist ideals and become enslaved by her capital. She's the devil: seductive, charming, and tempts everyone into betraying their beliefs.


Eyehategod, Dopesick, Confederacy of Ruined Lives,                  In the Name of Suffering
Ever since Tenebrous Kate reported that she was in a New Orleans sludge metal bar I've been on an Eyehategod kick.


Roadsmary's Baby
I forgot a bought a six-pack of this pumpkin beer back in October, but it was a damn pleasant surprise to find it in the cupboard.


Death, The Sound of Perseverance
Amazingly precise.


Hal Duncan, Sodom/New Sodom
Where The Wasteland stops making sense, this begins to.


 Abyssic, A Winter's Tale
I can't believe I was able to pick this up for a mere $4. Amazingly grandiose death-doom with orchestral arrangements.

Entombed, Wolverine Blues
An unearthed classic. Listening to this again reminds me of the hours spent paging through CMJ issues in the 90s, looking for the one heavy album they were going to feature.


Rotting Christ, The Heretics
Rotting Christ's new album is great, don't get me wrong, but it's a little talky...even by Rotting Christ standards.


Michael Moorcock, City of the Beast
Blasphemous opinion: I enjoyed this much more than ERB's Princess of Mars, mostly because of its concision.


Kentaro Miura, Berserk vol. 27 and 28
The splash pages continue to amaze, even if Locus's apostle form looks like a car hood ornament.


Linda Sejic, Blood Stain volumes 1, 2, and 3
Kind of like Northanger Abbey in comic form; terrible Gothic possibilities dissipate into the horrors of mundane existence--like bad coffee and tidying up.


 Carcass, Heartwork
Death metal doesn't have to be all about brutality--this classic record is 100% groove.


Shiki
The premise is great: vampires invade an isolated, rural village and begin to take over. What I wasn't expected was how emotionally violent this one would get. Strong stuff.


Live and Let Die
Rewatching it, it turns out that my favorite James Bond movie is the least James Bond of all the James Bond movies.