My posting routine is all skew-whiff thanks to Christmas so I’m going to cram two weeks’ worth of listening into this post. Happily there was a lot of repeat listening over the two weeks so it shouldn’t be too long! Another Noise-some Notes will follow on the 31st December to bring me bang up to date. So in 2013, my weekly listening notes will be hot off the press!
Ghost – Opus Eponymous It seems like this debut album has been out for ages now. At a recent gig Ghost performed a new track, Secular Haze, after appointing a new Satanic Pope, Papa Emeritus II, to lead the band. Their new album Infestissumam is due in Spring 2013.
Candlemass – Epicus, Doomicus, Metallicus I gave this a whirl after ordering the Doomology Box Set. Epicus, Doomicus, Metallicus (surely the greatest album title ever!) is a great debut and the album that got me into the band. While I initially preferred original vocalist Johan Längqvist, I’ve since come to favour the voice of his successor, Messiah Marcolin. Happily, the Doomology set features both so I can continue to umm and ahh over this important matter.
Pentagram – First Daze Here and First Daze Here Too Doom of an even older vintage than Candlemass! Excellent bluesy Heavy Rock and the vocals from wild-eyed frontman Bobby Liebling have an exciting hint of Rod Evans about them! The liner notes are interesting too not least because they recount the band’s many failed attempts to get signed (featuring walk on parts from Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley).
Blue Öyster Cult – Spectres Superb and overlooked album from the mighty BÖC. Every Record Tells a Story did a couple of great posts about them recently which inspired me to revisit this one. You can check the posts out here and here!
Cheap Trick – Cheap Trick (1977) and Sex, America, Cheap Trick (Disc 4) Cheap Trick is one of the greatest debut albums ever, an incredible combination of sweet, melodic, blistering and twisted. I also gave the fourth disc of their excellent Box Set a whirl. It’s a great overview of their mid-late 80s career where they placed less emphasis on the blistering twistedness!
Heart – Bad Animals Mmmm… the Wilson sisters. Yum.
Richard Thompson – I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight and Mock Tudor An artist I love more every year and 2012 was no exception. A Christmas gift of live tickets to see RT in Edinburgh should help maintain this trajectory. Thank you EVAOverload!
Cathedral – The Serpent’s Gold More Doom! I’ve got most of Cathedral’s albums but this compilation has a great vibe to it and was really well put together so I still go back to it for a blast of bowel-quakingly heavy groove. And the bonus disc (The Serpent’s Treasures) has rarities!
KISS – Hot in the Shade Or H.I.T.S. (I wonder if that was on purpose…). This was the first new album to be released during my tenure as a fan and was hugely anticipated. It didn’t disappoint – I love everything about it to this day.
SONG OF THE FORTNIGHT Hold on to your bowels! It’s Cathedral.
[Cathedral – Autumn Twilight]
Download: 03-autumn-twilight.m4a
