Thanks to all, BTW, for the kind words regarding the writing contained in this thing. I was proud of it when I hit publish, but now I can't stop smiling. You guys are the best. (Especially you, Rubber Johnny. Especially you.)
There's no anti-DM conspiracy at work here; I compiled Sg's list of 2012's best metal albums and that thing has a pretty healthy sampling of death metal IMO. But Darkthrone aren't a death metal band! They did one album in that style; it happens to be very good. Objectively: It's better than Total Death. It's a better death metal album than Ravishing or Plaguewielder are black metal albums, frankly. But I don't feel comfortable trying to contextualize it because it just feels like another band entirely.
I wasn't trying to diminish Darkthrone's accomplishments or in any way detract from any listener's enjoyment of that album. It was the first Darkthrone album I ever heard, and I got it when it came out. (My high school yearbook quote was "As wolfs among sheep we have wandered," which let me tell you made me immensely popular senior year.) I just don't think of Soulside -- made by four dudes with normal human names -- as being especially relevant to two decades of work made by two dudes with heavy metal names.
Why didn't they change the band name? Probably because they had a contract with Peaceville honestly, although maybe it's just because Darkthrone is the best band name in history and it would have been a crime to change it. I'm honestly not trashing Soulside. But it's not the album I'm reaching for if I want either Darkthrone or early '90s Swedish death metal, and based on those factors, I shuffled it to the back of the queue. It's still an excellent album.
Miska, I'm not even gonna say it wasn't a lazy choice, although w/r/t actual effort, it wouldn't have been any harder for me to just put it in at 7 and bump everything else down a spot. Look, any music-ranking system is arbitrary, but for me Soulside really only makes sense in first or last place, because it's SO much different than everything else in the band's catalog. The band members changed their names after Soulside Journey. They disowned Soulside Journey. Even in retrospect, it's anomalous -- it's a decidedly of-the-moment-sounding album, where Darkthrone's mission statement has since been "death to modern metal." It's a very good Swedish death metal album (though a far cry from the timeless Swedish death metal albums), but Darkthrone were not a Swedish death metal band.
Smush, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your rant-for-the-sake-of-ranting here (even though the consensus seems to suggest that Plaguewielder is actually their worst album -- I was actually concerned that I would get hate mail for having it as high as 11).
I don't think it stands up next to Entombed's best, but even so, it's just so weird and out-of-place in Darkthrone's discography. Everything else (except Goatlord) is a direct and traceable evolution from Blaze, but Soulside feels like the work of another (Swedish) band.
The show fell off a cliff after he stopped contributing regularly; he was an artist. I haven't watched in two or three seasons now, but by the time I gave up, almost every single interesting choreographer had departed (with no explanation, save Shane Sparks), and the remaining group were being severely overworked to the point of repetition and dullness. I'd love to know the behind-the-scenes story of that show; I bet it's a nightmare.
You are indeed right. I've amended the text to erase our shameful error from history, but please accept this note as sincere thanks and affirmation that, no, you're not crazy, it did used to say Station To Station where it now says Lodger.
(Wildly misguided = 1. the criticism of Tom in general, and 2. the call for me to do Tom's job, the abstract thought of which is currently giving me a panic attack.)
This is literally the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me (though wildly misguided). Thanks Michael_! Just for you, I'll write about Iceage if Tom doesn't want to do that one.
There's also half a dozen credited editors plus anyone else involved in the process (including Bilie Joe) who could have written that line; if Apatow penned that one, he fucked up. If he didn't, someone else fucked up. I don't think it's improv because it builds to a climax and ties up with a really well-timed joke. I'm not saying Judd Apatow is a bad writer -- I'm a pretty big fan actually -- but if you're making jokes about obscure subgenres, with direct references to those subgenres' well-documented histories, then get the names right.
Yeah, I mean there are bands from Norway who play death metal, but they're still pretty anomalous, and plainly not what the film was attempting to reference. It's just really lazy writing IMO, because you're asking your audience to recognize and laugh along with your references -- Norway, church-burnings, white supremacists, haha -- while not putting in enough work to actually understand or properly contextualize those references yourself.
There's something resembling logic here, but don't mistake it for fact: compared to metal bands, "struggling" indie bands are living like Aerosmith in the '80s. No metal band you actually listen to makes a living making music. Not even close.
To clarify some confusion here: It was never Puja's intention to list only EDM tracks, but Electronic Dance tracks across all subgenres. The headline was mistakenly changed to EDM during the editorial process, but has since been amended. Y'all (esp. Puja) have my sincerest apologies. Carry on!
I would have pushed to get Ghost on this list but that song they've leaked is not exactly promising. I think I may do a Darkthrone Best to Worst when Underground Resistance comes out.
Also very stoked on the new ones from Man's Gin, Hate Meditation (Blake Judd + Wrest), new Botanist, and heck, new Carcass while we're at it.
Tim, I've consulted with the Rules Committee, and they've agreed to give you special dispensation: You (and only you) are no longer required by community law to read any and/or all Stereogum.com stories posted in the "List," "Counting Down," or "Listomania" categories. To be clear, this ruling does not apply to the rest of the Stereogum readership! Gotta keep the numbers up.
Also: Welcome Claire! Please let me know if any of the black metal paraphernalia adorning the office walls is disturbing to you, and also please find a way to get Justin Bieber onto the site (even if you do not like Justin Bieber): You will make Corban so jealous.
That's true. There's also no shortage of live footage of Krist playing with the Foos (ft. Grohl and Pat) in 2011. I also have trouble believing that Paul McCartney (age: 70; net worth: $800 million) just shows up at a jam session essentially unaware of who's going to be there and slowly pieces together, on his own, that the three guys he's playing with are the same three guys who were playing with Kurt Cobain on Unplugged -- especially when that unlikely story then becomes the subject of a massive viral publicity campaign for an event that eventually brought in $30 mil in ticket sales alone. I just don't buy it! But hey, stranger things have happened.
Right. Beyond that, Novoselic, Smear and (obvs) Grohl played on the last Foo Fighters record (2011) so the whole "We haven't played together for years" thing is disingenuous at best.
The weirdest part about the anecdote is: The only way it can be accepted at face value is if Paul is going senile, which (A) seems unlikely given the ferocity and engagement of his performance, and (B) would be the type of thing his handlers would want to HIDE, not flaunt, so why would they allow him to go around repeating the same story to massive media outlets and billions of TV viewers? And that makes the whole thing even more of a drag, because if he's not senile (and to be clear, I think and hope he's not and never will be), then he's openly lying to give the collaboration some appearance of validity to anyone naive enough to believe in such fairy tales.
I think the performances, individually and even collectively, were strong: Grohl and McCartney are literally two of the best ever at what they do and they didn't hold back. But I sincerely thought the song itself was dull and maybe even a little irritating. At their best, Nirvana and McCartney -- and even the Foo Fighters, frankly -- write brilliant melodies; "Cut Me Some Slack" was a generic bar jam (to my ear) delivered by legends who are capable of much better.
Just taste and a insane volume of music. Of the four of us, Doug is the biggest tech-y guy, and Gojira was 18 on his ballot. Your description makes me wish I had seen them when they played here, though. I'll make it a point to catch them next time they're in NYC.
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