8-Track: Amorphis

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Amorphis has had an eclectic career, to say the least. The Finish melodeath pioneers have been responsible for some of the most memorable and the most forgettable melodic death metal the genre has to offer. While modern times may have seen them become overshadowed by their countrymen in Insomnium and Children of Bodom, yet few have traversed a stylistic spectrum as wide as Amorphis. The near three-decades since their inception has seen the band go through significant line-up changes, all while incorporating sizable aspects of folk, progressive, doom and even power metal into their ever-evolving sound. Now with thirteen studio records under their belt, finding an entry point into their oft-overlooked yet not inconsiderable career can be a daunting task. So, in celebration of the release of their new record Queen of Time, here’s a look at 8 of the most definitive and rewarding moments of their career.

Barren Earth – A Complex of Cages

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There is a complex emotional field with which fans of Barren Earth are faced when coming to listen to A Complex of Cages. It has been three years (and a week, at the time of writing this) since On Lonely Towers blew fans away; the Finnish band’s unique blend of progressive death hasn’t really been matched since. But can the new release live up to the expectations of the old? What will the second album featuring Jón Aldará (Hamferð) sound like? Will there be marked changes to the band’s sound and if so, how will they hold up?

116 – Rivers of Annihilation

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This week on Heavy Pod Is Heavy Castm we bring even more extra salt. The news is ripe for it! Well, we also talk about new music and stuff. More of Matt (Trivium) streaming, Trivium’s new live video, and Paolo beefing with Phil Labonte of All That Remains. Then, Chris Barnes of Six Feet Under peddling right wing conspiracy theories. Within the Ruins changing vocalists. But also new music from Dimmu Borgir, Ihsahn, Barren Earth, Rivers of Nihil (love the album!), and Sectioned. Afterwards, we do an extensive segment on the movie adaptation of the Jeff Vandermeer noverl Annihilation, and Eden goes deep. Enjoy!

114 – Deep Down, Every Genre Is Melodeath

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I’m sick this week, so excuse the voice and rambling. But hey, rambling makes for a fun podcast! Specifically, we ramble about promos that get sent out way too early, bands that lose their spark over time, and those weren’t even really topics we intended to discuss! But we also talk about new music, like Tesseract, Augury, Augury, Barren Earth, Howling Sycamore, and Glorior Belli. We also speculate about The Safety Fire and Psyopus making comebacks. Finally, Apple Music surpassing Spotify in the US. In cool people time we talk mostly Altered Carbon, light spoilers included. Enjoy!

Hey! Listen to Hamferð!

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The Faroe Islands are a self-governing entity off the coast of Denmark. I was completely unaware of their existence until I researched the background and history of Hamferð, to my knowledge the most famous band from these islands. Their debut album, Evst, flew completely under the radar in 2013, and…

What Heavy Blog Is Really Listening To – 9/29/17

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For those who missed our last installment, We post biweekly updates covering what the staff at Heavy Blog have been spinning. Given the amount of time we spend on the site telling you about music that does not fall neatly into the confines of conventional “metal,” it should come as no surprise that many of us on staff have pretty eclectic tastes that range far outside of metal and heavy things. We can’t post about all of them at length here, but we can at least let you know what we’re actually listening to. For those that would like to participate as well (and please do) can drop a 3X3 in the comments, which can be made with tapmusic.net through your last.fm account, or create it manually with topsters.net. Also, consider these posts open threads to talk about pretty much anything music-related. We love hearing all of your thoughts on this stuff and love being able to nerd out along with all of you.

What Heavy Blog Is Really Listening To – 2/17/17

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For those who missed our last installment, We post biweekly updates covering what the staff at Heavy Blog have been spinning. Given the amount of time we spend on the site telling you about music that does not fall neatly into the confines of conventional “metal,” it should come as no surprise that many of us on staff have pretty eclectic tastes that range far outside of metal and heavy things. We can’t post about all of them at length here, but we can at least let you know what we’re actually listening to. For those that would like to participate as well (and please do) can drop a 3X3 in the comments, which can be made with tapmusic.net through your last.fm account, or create it manually with topsters.net. Also, consider these posts open threads to talk about pretty much anything music-related. We love hearing all of your thoughts on this stuff and love being able to nerd out along with all of you.