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Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Since this is my first blog post, I thought it would be appropriate to start with the album that started the genre of metal, Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath. This album is possibly one of the most influential albums ever made, not only because it was the first metal album ever made, but also because it kick-started several other related genres of music such as doom metal, stoner metal, and psychedelic metal. Although in my opinion this isn't the best Black Sabbath, it is definitely one of my favorites. The album starts out strong with one of my favorite Black Sabbath songs, and the first ever doom metal song, "Black Sabbath" (on the album Black Sabbath by the band Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath Cubed if you will). This song does a great job of creating a heavy sense of dread and impending doom, which puts shivers down my back whenever I listen to it. This song also set the seeds of occultism and satanism which are now common themes in modern metal. Sadly the other son...

Agalloch - The Mantle

"A celebration for the death of man..." "...and the great cold death of the Earth" The names of the first and eighth tracks come together to create a perfect description for the mood of this album: It's harrowing, it's dreary, it's the soundtrack to the world slowly dying. The Mantle is the second studio album by the American blackened post metal band, Agalloch. If you want to know what blackened post metal sounds like, imagine black metal, way slowed down, and with some doomer guitars thrown in. Agalloch is especially good at throwing doomer guitars, and as a result has created some of the best music in the genre. The band created five great albums, but their pièce de résistance is The Mantle. The songs on The Mantle sound desolate and mournful in a way that feels almost terrifyingly relatable. Chilling song titles such as "A celebration for the death of man...", "In the Shadow of our Pale Companion", "You Were but a Ghost in ...

Opeth - Blackwater Park

The last few bands I've reviewed were somewhat obscure, but the next album I picked, "Blackwater Park" is by a famous progressive death metal band, Opeth. Progressive or prog metal is a very hard genre to define since it describes a certain sound that the music has. Prog is often marked by complicated riffs and solos, sudden changes in the melody, and weird, often changing timings and rhythms that give the listener a feeling like they are falling into the music, but I'd really recommend just listening to some prog, because this description doesn't quite do the genre justice. One thing I really like is when a band picks a cover for an album that gives you a good idea what the music is going to sound like, and this album does just that. The picture appears to be of a dark foggy swamp with what appears to be human forms in the background, obscured by the fog. The album cover looks dark and gloomy, and t...

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