Heavy Blog Guest List – The Ocean

Eden Kupermintz
Best of 2018, Lists!
Robin Staps and Paul Seidel of post-metal band The Ocean give us a rundown of what has dominated their listening habits of 2018. Their lists represent the true meld of genres that The Ocean is, moving from heavy, doom-y stuff like Ancestors (one of my all time favorite bands) through obscure (to us) electronics and dreamy sojourns in foreign lands to heavy, abrasive, downright nihilistic at times, experimentations in music.

What Heavy Blog Is Really Listening To – 3/3/17

Scott Murphy
What We're Really Listening To
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.

Kvlt Kolvmn – February 2017

Scott Murphy
Kvlt Kolvmn
Here we are folks - the second installment of Kvlt Kolvmn, Take Two, a monthly round-up of my top 10 favorite BM releases from the past 30 28 days. While I fully intended to make this an actually recurring segment, all of my time spent digging for new black metal has kept me stoked to come back here with new recommendations. It seems like every week I find a handful of new, invigorated albums that either venerate or progress one of my favorite genres. I will admit that February was a bit sparser than January, and I spent most of the month yearning for some big name albums dropping in March (more on that next month). Still, there was no shortage of great BM in February, and I'm excited once again to not only share these albums with you, but to also see your suggestions of releases I've missed out on but are definitely worth a spin.

Hey! Listen to Lorn!

Jonathan Adams
Listen To This!
Black metal has a storied and profoundly ugly history. Most fans of metal as a whole need no introduction to the bloody and unhinged events that brought one of metal’s most notorious genres into the limelight. As black metal has progressed, however, less violent and anti-social forms of the genre have taken center stage as the principal players in the genre’s evolution. Blackgaze, atmospheric black metal, experimental black metal, blackened death, the list goes on. But every so often a band emerges that blends the musical stylings that have propelled black metal into bold new territory while heralding back to black metal’s more sinister, malevolent aesthetic; that portion of the genre that makes your skin crawl. Enter Italian black metal duo Lorn and their incredible new EP, Arrayed Claws.

Bandcamp’s ACLU Day of Donation: A Heavy Blog Guide

Heavy Blog
FYI
Just this past week we saw how important the ACLU still is. One of the first to confront the so called "Muslim ban" enacted by the indifferent pen of Donald Trump, it began the long and arduous legal battle against this administration. With not only the presidency but also Congress and Senate painted in the most extreme and reckless red imaginable, their work will grow seven-fold; now they must take on the legislative branch instead. Thus, and despite of the already remarkable success their fundraising has seen in the past week, Bandcamp's contribution to the ACLU is admirable. We're here to do our share; below you'll find a list of artists that are worthy of your support on this Friday.