Episode 124: Riffage, Introspection, and Blasphemy

Alright, since this is going up really late, I’ll keep this short. We have four brandy new albums with four cool-ass songs to go with them. We also have two live reviews from Brian’s recent ventures into NYC. All that info is below. Get listening! (And sorry for the slackin’ in postin’.)

SideShow.124

Reviews: Behemoth – The Satanist (Metal Blade); Exmortus – Slave to the Sword (Prosthetic); Grand Magus – Triumph and Power (Nuclear Blast); Junius – Days of the Fallen Sun (Prosthetic)

Live Reviews: “World Construct Tour” feat. Dark Tranquillity, Omnium Gatherum, Exmortus @ Stage 48, New York, NY on February 3, 2014; “Deceiver of the Gods Tour” feat. Amon Amarth, Enslaved, Skeletonwitch @ Irving Plaza, New York, NY on February 4, 2014

(During the Junius review, I (Brian) believe I stated that the EP would not be released on CD. That information is not correct. It is available on limited edition vinyl, CD, or digital download.)

Behemoth – The Satanist

Exmortus – Slave To The Sword

Grand Magus – Triumph and Power

Junius – Days Of The Fallen Sun

I’ve been listening to two new releases this week. Behemoth is one of them. Your reviews of The Satanist are spot on. I really don’t have anything to add to your reviews because you said it all.

The other new release I’ve been listening to is Hydra by Within Temptation. It’s the kind of poppy album that sinks in very quickly but doesn’t stay with you. That’s why they call it bubblegum. You get a burst of flavor but then it wears out quickly. There’s nothing wrong with chewing a little bubblegum from time to time, but it’s the kind of thing that you certainly don’t need to review for the podcast.

Amon Amarth: death metal you can sing along to! How many death metal concerts can you go to where the singer stops singing during a song and then the entire crowd sings?

After seeing Amon Amarth, I’m going to change my tune on something I said after the Born of Osiris/Periphery show. After that show when both Born of Osiris and Periphery played my favorite songs at the beginning of their setlists, I said I’d prefer it if bands played their best stuff at the end of the set. That way they could build up the energy throughout the show instead of my energy being spent at the beginning and then spending the rest of the show feeling wiped out. But after seeing Amon Amarth save their best until last, I realized that my energy is going to be spent by the end of the show anyway, so I might as well spend that burst of energy at the beginning of the set rather than being tired by the end when my favorite songs get played.

Nick, do you mean you tell me you really didn’t see it coming that you guys both liked the same Junius song? Have you not been paying attention to your own podcasts lately? Not only is it hard enough to find an album you guys might disagree on, now you can’t even find a single song you disagree on!

My admittedly somewhat cheesy idea about how to start the show is with a different song lyric each time. You could start the show by simply saying “Woe to you, oh earth and sea!” and then come up with a different yet recognizable song lyric for each show. And don’t worry about the fact that the record labels won’t like you quoting their artist’s lyrics.

One comment

bobsala says:

02/09/2014 at 9:41 pm

I’ve been listening to two new releases this week. Behemoth is one of them. Your reviews of The Satanist are spot on. I really don’t have anything to add to your reviews because you said it all.

The other new release I’ve been listening to is Hydra by Within Temptation. It’s the kind of poppy album that sinks in very quickly but doesn’t stay with you. That’s why they call it bubblegum. You get a burst of flavor but then it wears out quickly. There’s nothing wrong with chewing a little bubblegum from time to time, but it’s the kind of thing that you certainly don’t need to review for the podcast.

Amon Amarth: death metal you can sing along to! How many death metal concerts can you go to where the singer stops singing during a song and then the entire crowd sings?

After seeing Amon Amarth, I’m going to change my tune on something I said after the Born of Osiris/Periphery show. After that show when both Born of Osiris and Periphery played my favorite songs at the beginning of their setlists, I said I’d prefer it if bands played their best stuff at the end of the set. That way they could build up the energy throughout the show instead of my energy being spent at the beginning and then spending the rest of the show feeling wiped out. But after seeing Amon Amarth save their best until last, I realized that my energy is going to be spent by the end of the show anyway, so I might as well spend that burst of energy at the beginning of the set rather than being tired by the end when my favorite songs get played.

Nick, do you mean you tell me you really didn’t see it coming that you guys both liked the same Junius song? Have you not been paying attention to your own podcasts lately? Not only is it hard enough to find an album you guys might disagree on, now you can’t even find a single song you disagree on!

My admittedly somewhat cheesy idea about how to start the show is with a different song lyric each time. You could start the show by simply saying “Woe to you, oh earth and sea!” and then come up with a different yet recognizable song lyric for each show. And don’t worry about the fact that the record labels won’t like you quoting their artist’s lyrics.