Durf's Playlist: Roadtrip Edition

This past Saturday, I drove from Middleton, Idaho, to Little America, Wyoming, to get a dog.  It was a 940 mile round trip.  It took me thirteen and a half hours.  During that time, I listened to a lot of things, which I will now tell you about.

Pillorian - Obsidian Arc

By now, all metal fans know the story: Agalloch broke up last year, due to a schism between singer/guitarist John Haughm and the rest of the band.  Don Anderson, Jason Walton, and Aesop Dekker joined up with Aaron John Gregory (of the late, great Giant Squid) to form Khôrada.  Jon Haughm teamed with drummer Trevor Matthews and guitarist Stephen Parker to create Pillorian - an adjective defined as "of, or relating to, scorn and condemnation."  Good thing there's nothing to read too deeply into there.  It isn't - well, shouldn't be - a competition between the two bands, but it's naive to think that if one band succeeds while the other flounders, the successful band will be hailed as the victors of the Agalloch break up.  While that is a silly way to look at it, we can finally start the actual conversation: Pillorian's debut album Obsidian Arc was released last Friday.  Is it a worthy follow up to one of the most acclaimed American black metal bands of the 21st Century?  Or is it merely a celestial effigy of what once was?

Podcast Episode #3: "Festivals and Farewells"

It's with much excitement that we here at Brutalitopia are going to make our podcast more of a common occurrence. With the first episode in nearly two years, Mick and Durf discuss their anticipation for this year's Maryland Deathfest, the recent breakup of Agalloch, and their favorite album's of 2016 thus far.

Check it out after the break!

Seasonal Genres: Winter

First off, an apology; I originally meant for this series to be a daily occurrence, Monday through Thursday this week.  Unfortunately, starting a new job and preparing to move at the end of the week forced a bit of a delay.  I have no idea how long it will take me to finish this series, but I promise that as soon as I finish each post, it will be up.

When I started this four-parter Monday, I talked about how seasons bring about different feelings and thoughts, and how the right music can hit that perfect sweet spot for the weather (that's actually the point of the entire series in a nutshell).  I started with Autumn, and it only makes sense to go in order, so this post will focus on the perfect music for Winter.  Bundle up and read on after the jump.

Maryland Deathfest: A Preview Part 2: Friday May 23rd

Previously I covered the small Thursday night offering which now has to be amended with the dropping out of Tom G. Fischer and Triptykon from the bill to help plan the funeral services for Swiss surrealist/artist H.R. Giger. Kudos to Tom for doing the right thing; I'm sure most would do the same thing. So without further ado let's see what each venue offers as far as Friday is concerned.

Albums of the Year, Then and Now (2008-2012)

Welcome to Part II of my retrospective look at my top albums from past years, where I see if they still hold that lofty position or have fallen prey to the ravages of time.  If you missed Part I, where I looked at albums from 2003-2007, check it out here.  If you’re ready to continue and see the albums from 2008-2012, then onward to the Time Machine!

Ulcerate - Vermis

Even as a metal fan, I typically prefer to be ear-wooed than ear-fucked.  Let me explain.  I’d rather be caressed gently by the shoegaze melodies of Alcest than get into a fist fight with Slayer.  I’d rather take a pensive walk through a Pacific forest with Agalloch than be tormented by Anaal Nathrakh.  I’d rather make goofy jokes about the devil with Ghost than worry about Watain actually sacrificing me to said-Devil.  That said, sometimes there are exceptions.  Sometimes I just want to plug in my headphones, drop the needle on a record, and get ear-fucked, HARD, non-stop for forty-five minutes, until I’m ear-screaming in ecstasy and ear-begging for more.  Not just any heavy album is up for such a marathon of ear-fucking, but Ulcerate’s new tech death masterpiece Vermis not only lives up to the challenge, but it made me ear-cum.  Six times.

Mick's Top 10 Albums Of 2010

Yeah, thats about how metal it got for Jack and I this year.

Don't worry everybody.  The picture above is no indication of how metal the year was.  I just wanted to throw this picture up for the hell of it.  Quite to the contrary, this year saw the release of numerous albums that were receiving consideration from me to make this list.  And because of that, it was extremely difficult to finalize this list.  There were some I didn't get a chance to listen to as much as I would've liked but hey, that's just the nature of the game.  Overall, 2010 was a fine year for metal.  More specifically, it was a big showing for black metal and older well established bands still proving they got what it takes.  So enough chatter, here's my list.