Southern and Blues Rock Collection

So, I don't have all the albums from some of these bands, nor do I feel the need to make a huge post with them since this is to be a mostly metal blog. However, these are some bands that have been my favorites since I was a little tyke being raised on classics and country down around the Indiana farmlands north of where I live nao. So, enjoy this random selection of albums.

Gov't Mule: 2006 High & Mighty
Driven by Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers Band on guitar, these guys put out some of the best new Southern/Blues rock of today. Highly recommended.

Molly Hatchet: 1978 Molly Hatchet
Molly Hatchet is to Florida what Lynyrd Skynyrd was to Alabama. Definitely an overlooked band in the Southern Rock realm from my perspective. Definitely this is their classic album, which is debateable to other fans no doubt. Still highly recommended.

Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble: 1983 Texas Flood
You can't talk about Blues guitarists without mentioning Stevie Ray, it seems. And with good reason, although I find him to be a bit overrated by a lot he is still one of the most influential blues guitarists of recent years (I'm being very lenient with RECENT). This album epitomizes his sound and contains such classics as Texas Flood, Pride & Joy and Love Struck Baby.

Mountain: 1970 Climbing
Although short lived, Mountain was influential in many ways. I have one song title for all of you...Mississippi Queen. It spawned many imitators and still remains a classic today. It is included on this MUST HAVE album.

ZZ Top: 1992 Greatest Hits
Who can deny the mighty ZZ Top of being one of the greatest Blues-Rock bands of all time? This is one of the greatest compilations of their must listen songs. The only thing missing from this amazing collection in my opinion is the classic Just Got Paid. However, with Sharp Dressed Man, Legs, La Grange, Tush and Cheap Sunglasses present you can't complain too much.

Blood Red Throne

Blood Red Throne is a "brutal death" band from the land of Norway. With a groovy, riff-centered style of guitaring (sometimes similar to Swansong-Carcass), and horrifying guttural vocals spouting gorish murder-centered lyrics, Blood Red Throne can be an engaging band and yet also a surprisingly catchy band at the same time. Recommended to DM fans looking for an easy listen and to DM beginners looking for something to get them into the style.
*Personal Meditations: With the groovy riffs and crazy bass lines, I find it easy to get hooked on this band. However, the music tends to lose substance when listened to for long periods of times. I urge temperance and moderation when it comes to listening to Blood Red Throne.*

Monument Of Death(2001) + Affiliated With The Suffering(2003)
Altered Genesis (2005)
Come Death (2007)

Tyr

Týr.. a band that I am unworthy of saying a damn thing about. Listen to them if you have a love for warrior mythos and proggy folk/viking the likes of which I've never heard before and am unlikely to hear from anywhere else.

Eric The Red (2003)
Ragnarok (2006)

Ahab

Ahab, a Funeral Doom "crew" from Germany, takes their influence from an obvious source. Their brand of deep-sea spirit crushing funeral doom is a refreshing take on Herman Melville's classic story of hatred and revenge. While perhaps not the most innovative or outstanding band, Ahab provides a solid batch of material that is not to be underestimated.
*Personal Meditations: One of the best bands I've ever heard. Blending mournful melodicism with crushing riffs, Ahab is one of the easiest of Funeral Doom bands to like. Recommended for beginners of the genre, or old timers looking for something that doesn't require much effort to like.*

The Oath [Demo](2005)
The Call Of The Wretched Sea (2006)

CMF Video Blog #1 & Random Picks 1/19/08

PREVIOUS POST UPDATE: I just added Torche's "In Return" EP to their post.

So, Dan has already added a couple random picks files to the good ole blog and now it's my turn. Also to go with these random picks I've decided to produce the very first video blog for Come My Fanatics. Hope you enjoy. Also, the Asunder and Dead Meadow posts I've outlined within the blog won't be up yet...I've been having upload problems with Divshare tonight and those two batches haven't worked thus far. Don't fret though, they will be up by tomorrow.

Random Picks: Click for Random Picks.

CMF VideoBlog #1:

Dead Meadow

Dead Meadow is a psychedelic/Stoner rock band from Washington, DC. While I can't speak personally about their history, I can tell you that you'll probably start to wonder what decade you're in while you listen. They can pull off Psychedelia that's straight from the 70's and even add a touch of Indie-rock flair to go alongside of it. This band is not for everyone, however, but if you're looking for an amazing throwback band to the days where drugs and free love were king you just might be in for a treat.

Video Preview:


2000 Dead Meadow
2001 Howls From The Hills
2002 Got Live If You Want It
2003 Shivering King And Others
2005 Feathers
2008 Old Growth (Coming Soon)

Asunder

Asunder is a Funeral Doom band from Oakland, CA. These guys are phenomenal...and the first Funeral Doom band I've gotten into in a big way. Their music to me is soothing as well as brutal. They have frequently questioned their classification as Funeral Doom by a fair many publications when interviewed and to some extent I can see why, but for all intents and purposes Funeral Doom is the best classification for them. I can't say any more words to describe them, you'll just have to check them out for yourselves.

2004 A Clarion Call
2006 Works Will Come Undone

Alcest

Alcest is the (now) solo project of French musician Neige. Originally a hyper-depressive BM outfit, Alcest now has a softer (shoe-gaze) sound that more exemplifies Niege's aim of portraying an imaginary world that he once traveled to as a child. In either expression, Alcest is perhaps what some would argue to be the definitive of the French BM style. It can, at times, be hard to disagree.
*Personal Meditations: The difference in production quality between newer and older Alcest may come as a turn-off to some. I enjoy both thoroughly, each with its own distinctive voice. I encourage you to try both.*

Tristesse Hivernale[Demo](2001)
Le Secret [EP](2005)
Souvenirs d'un autre monde (2007)

Random Picks 1/14/08

Once again, I regale you with random choices from my varied library of musics. Enjoy.

Also, a silly picture (because I feel bad about making a pretty much empty post);

Rwake

Rwake is a sludge/doom band from Little Rock, Arkansas. Talk about bleak...that's one of the ways I'd describe Rwake. Brilliant also comes to mind. If you like your sludge doom abrasive, not Eyehategod abrasive but close, then these guys may be for you. The tortured screamed vocal duties are a tag team effort and are screamed or delivered with the sandpaper laden vocal chords of frontman C.T. I'd recommend these guys if you're into newer sludge acts like Kylesa or also if you're a fan of doom along the lines of Unearthly Trance. I will say that they may take a little getting used to, but once it clicks you'll keep coming back for more. These guys also have earned a place on my Top Albums of 2007 list with their newest chapter of sludge Voices of Omens.

Video Sample:


1998 Xenoglossalgia (The Last Stage Of Awareness) Demo
1999 Absence Due To Projection
2002 Hell Is A Door To The Sun
2004 If You Walk Before You Crawl, You Crawl Before You Die
2007 Voices of Omens

Random Picks 1/04/08

This is an idea I've been kicking around since I joined this blog: just random upload zips. I don't tell you what's in it; Its a surprise. It'll be my picks of the week, sometimes things I feel like sharing, sometimes things I think are hard to find, sometimes just what I've been listening to over the week, and maybe sometimes a mix of all of those; but definitely not always metal. Hopefully, these will start introducing you to other things and opening your mind to other musics.

So, heres the first. Enjoy.

Primordial

Primordial is a Black/Folk band from Ireland. Utilizing a lot of pagan imagery in their lyrics, Primordials songs have a tendency to become epic tales of woe and war. A powerful band with a very moving style, particularly vocal-wise. Another band to put on in the dark, to let the sounds carry you to another world.
*Personal Meditations: Primordial can be a very hit and miss band with me. When they do it, they do it right all the way, but if a song doesn't hit me right, it feels like a complete failure. I encourage you to listen to all this band has to offer and decide for yourself what they've done right and wrong.*

Spirit The Earth Aflame (2000)
The Gathering Wilderness (2005)
To The Nameless Dead (2007)

Vader

Vader is a thrashy Death Metal outfit from Poland. Originally formed behind the Iron Curtain, Vader started out with a fairly unique sound owing to the lack of outside influence. Vader's main focus, musically, is to convey the concept of War, although there are some fantasy concepts involved. With a style that is frantic and sometimes seemingly senseless, I think they succeeded.
*Personal Meditations: Another favorite of mine. However, the music sometimes loses its meaning amid the brutality. I would not recommend listening to Vader exclusively for long periods of time, as it is easy to get burnt out on them.*

The Ultimate Incantation (1993)
Litany (2000)
The Art Of War [EP] (2005)
Impressions In Blood (2006)

General Blog Update #5

Thank you to everyone who comes here for supporting this blog, and I hope you all have a safe and joyous time ringing in the new year. I'll be home tommorow posting up a storm, so if you happen to be lucky enough (and smart enough) to not have a hangover, stop by and take a peek.
Best Wishes,
Antonius


UPDATE JAN 1, 9:50 PM:
I apologize for not being able to update today, I'm apparently a very popular character in my town now. I only JUST got home from leaving the house at 7pm yesterday. So, to make up for it, mucho uploads tomorrow as a promise. I'll be kicking around the house doing chores, so it should be a productive day for this blog AND the cleanliness of my living environment.

Behold... the Arctopus

Behold... the Arctopus is a Technical/Progressive Metal band from Brooklyn, New York. They are not easy to digest for the first-time listener. I generally describe them as overly technical for technicality's sake. This is an extremely talented band but after a while songs start sounding similar and the complexity of the compositions can get overwhelming. Either way, they're still a decent band to check out. I wish I had more to say on these dudes, but if you've heard one tech. prog. metal band, you've undoubtedly heard them all.

SAMPLE THE MAGIC:


2006 Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning
2007 Skullgrid

Genghis Tron

DISCLAIMER: This band will be an acquired taste to most of you.

Genghis Tron is essentially a Cybergrind band hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Incorporating various types of electronica with grindcore makes their style, to me at least, extremely interesting and nearly dance-able. They have no drummer or bassist but flesh out their keyboards, vocals and guitar with various programmed drum beats and other synthesized samples. I just heard them for the first time the other day by pure chance although they'd been recommended to me quite a while ago. Thusly I pass on the magic to you.

SAMPLE BEFORE DOWNLOADING:


2006 Dead Mountain Mouth
3 EPs

Andrew W.K.

Andrew Wilkes-Krier, better known by his stage name of Andrew W.K. fronts an eponymous hard rock pop metal band he formed in New York City. First hitting big with the ever-amazing hard partying epic aptly titled 'Party Hard' his band blew up on the MTV crowd with a couple more hit singles from the debut album I Get Wet. When he released the more lush album The Wolf it got mixed reviews and Andrew slipped relatively into obscurity. He still remains widely popular in Japan and still has a dedicated army of listeners stateside. I think it goes without saying that this is the ultimate man to put in the cd player at a party.

When it's time to party, we will always party hard.

Sample some video deliciousness:


2001 I Get Wet
2003 The Wolf
2006 Close Calls With Brick Walls

General Blog Update #4

Merry Christmas to everyone. If you noticed the image at the top of the page, congrats, you're not blind! Seriously though, I finally designed (for lack of a better word for stolen from an album) a banner for the blog. You may save it, re-upload it to the photo sharing service of your choice and use it in forum signatures and whatnot to get people to come by the greatest blog in the world...enough tooting our own horn, just do it. :3

Upload wise, I have taken the liberty to do four posts of new music for you all to sink your teeth into: Fireball Ministry (Stoner Metal), Impending Doom (Deathcore), Kayo Dot (Avant-Garde) & maudlin of the Well (Avant-Garde). Thank God for Divshare, as Antonius pointed out we can now do larger album uploads so I'm not limited to 100MB files anymore. So once life slows down, expect many more exciting posts in the new year and keep coming back to us for all of your needs.

You may notice that I have also attached YouTube videos for all of the newer uploads for you to sample the artist before you decide to download the files. This way you won't have to waste time on something you may not enjoy and it will also give you something to do while waiting for those pesky downloads to finish up. Just another useful little piece of time-wasting internets that I think will help you get a feel for the bands we post if you're completely in the dark about them before spying them here.

Also, if anyone has suggestions regarding what you'd like to see pop up next, feel free to comment on this or other general blog updates and we'll see if we can deliver for you.

On another side note, if you would like to be added as a contributor you can contact me at my e-mail here.

If you've read this all, thanks for your support and the positive comments I've been getting from not only Antonius but from several other Gaiafags as well. It's always good to spread the gospel of doom and metal in general to others. Also thanks to Antonius, my library of bands grows as well. Hails to everyone.

maudlin of the Well

maudlin of the Well was an Avant-Garde Progressive Metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. They "disbanded" in 2003 and the remnants of their final album were released as Kayo Dot's Choirs of the Eye. They, like Kayo Dot now, utilized complex arrangements they 'obtained' from the astral plane using lucid dreaming and astral projection. Powerful and aggressive at times while lucid and introspective at others, motW's music commands your attention so like Kayo Dot they are not recommended for the easily bored or those who aren't into musical experimentation. You need to keep your focus and keep your mind open to enjoy them, in my honest opinion. So, if odd musical expression is your bad, you should definitely give maudlin of the Well and Kayo Dot (as posted below) a listen.

Sample some of the magic before you decide to download:

Pondering a Wall (first album)


The Blue Ghost/Shedding Qliphoth (from Bath)

1999 My Fruit Psychobells...A Seed Combustible
2001 Bath (and) Leaving Your Body Map (companion albums)

Kayo Dot

Kayo Dot are an Avant-Garde Progressive Metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formerly knows as maudlin of the Well, Kayo Dot consists mainly of multi-instrumentalist Toby Driver and violinist Mia Matsumiya and features a revolving door of guests. Complex and Calculated are just two of many adjectives that can be used to describe their sound. This is definitely a thinking-man's band and the extended compositions require patience to get through. Once the elements of this awkward band's music start clicking it usually equals a great love for their unique style. Some songs are split into various movements that you can sense while listening. As far as the Avant-Garde scene evolving in metal today, Kayo Dot and the former maudlin of the Well are my absolute favorites. Again, the casual listener is urged to keep an open mind, these songs will unlikely immediately take for you. Expect a maudlin of the Well post today or in the near future.

Sample this artist before you delve in:


2003 Choirs of the Eye
2006 Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue

Impending Doom

Impending Doom is a Christian Deathcore band from Riverside, California. They basically (I believe) fit in with many secular deathcore bands in terms of stylistic approach. The downtuned guitars, check. Barely decipherable pig-squeals with glimmers of death growls interspersed, check. Breakdowns, check. Grind passages, check. So if you're into bands like (now I don't know much deathcore, so bear with me) Despised Icon, Carnifex, Graf Orlock, Job for a Cowboy or early Underoath you may want to check these guys out.

Sample the band before you download:


2007 Nailed. Dead. Risen.

Fireball Ministry

Hailing from Los Angeles, California is the hard-rocking riff-machine known as Fireball Ministry. Led by the powerful Reverend James Rota III, this four-piece behemoth will make you bang your head and lick your lips (to hawt rhythm guitarist Emily Burton). If there were a small list of straight forward Stoner Metal bands I could recommend to anyone Fireball Ministry would definitely be near the top. However, I must warn that if you can't stand repetition, then Fireball Ministry may not be the proper band for you as they do use riffs over and over throughout most of their songs.

Before downloading, get a taste of what is within:


1999 Ou Est La Rock?
2003 The Second Great Awakening
2005 Their Rock Is Not Our Rock

General Blog Update #3

This little bitty post is to let you know that the Ensiferum and Novembre posts have been updated with the larger albums, thanks to Divshare, which is also unlimited download like our favorite upload site Mediafire. So, go check those albums out, and we'll have some more great stuff for ya'll soon.

Funeral Mourning

Funeral Mourning is a Black/Funeral Doom band from the island continent of Australia. Their sound is one of a very complementary nature, as surprisingly enough the oft grating and frightening sound of BM mixes very well with the plodding, sorrowful nature of Funeral Doom. Their general sound (as one might expect) is one of a very depressive nature, similar to Forgotten Tomb. Fans of that band, and of Funeral Doom, will find a very good listen with this band.
*Personal Meditations/Disclaimer: This band has become one of my staple listens over the past few months. A highly recommended listen FOR LISTENERS OF FUNERAL DOOM. If you don't enjoy Funeral Doom, I warn you against this band, as the stereotypical beefs with the genre are very apparent with this release.*

Drown In Solitude (2006)

Bishop Of Hexen

Bishop of Hexen is a Symphonic Black Metal group hailing from Israel. Playing a style that I feel is very underrated, Bishop of Hexen blends haunting melody into their powerful BM style. To truly experience this band, crank it up and turn off the lights, and let the music take you to a darker world of magic and fear.
*Personal Meditations : I have nothing bad to say about this band at all, everything impresses me. Standout tracks include "The Somber Grounds Of Truth" from The Nightmarish Compositions, and "Lure My Spelled Emotions" from Archives o/a Enchanted Philosophy.*

Archives Of An Enchanted Philosophy (1997)
The Nightmarish Compositions (2006)