Halloween Playlist Episode 2: The Reckoning

As soon as I finished my last Halloween playlist, I thought of a ton of albums I wanted to add. On top of that I received some suggestions from some of you. Welcome back to my world bitch.

This is Hell - Sundowning
Genre: Melodic Hardcore FFO: The Carrier, Killing the Dream, Comeback Kid (Old)

The album cover itself is Halloween. This is Hell's first LP features music that will imagine the sun setting on a day where your life falls apart. Full effect for me comes from jamming the album in the city at night. This is Hell is one hardcore band that is not afraid to use triumphant melodies mixed with aggressive one chorded breakdowns, which I feel is rare for bands nowadays. If the good die young, we'll fucking live forever.

Deathspell Omega - Paracletus
Genre - Avant Garde Black Metal FFO: Funeral Mist, Revenge, Emperor
  
Deathspell Omega are a more than a black metal band. In a way, its like if Revenge decided to add atmosphere to their music. Paracletus will keep you guessing up until the end. You will hear riffs that will make you wonder if its even coming from a guitar.

Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle
Genre: Various FFO: Faith No More, Fantômas


*WARNING: THIS BAND IS NOT FOR EVERYONE*
It took me a very long time to actually enjoy this music but no matter what I always appreciated it for what it is. Mr. Bungle is the original Mike Patton band (Faith No More, Fantomas, Dead Cross, Tomahawk, ex-The Dillinger Escape Plan). If you know Mike Patton's rep, you know he doesn't take anything seriously. Mr. Bungle's self titled album is the definition of weird. I thought it would be appropriate because of the new movie It and everyone's obsession with evil clowns. As you could probably tell, this album is very circus related. This band is a huge influence of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Slipknot, and Avenged Sevenfold, as well as many many others, also this album during recording was sight read and done in one take from what my old guitar teacher told me.

Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation
Genre: Melodic Death Metal/Metalcore FFO: Arch Enemy, As I Lay Dying, Light this City

This album I feel is a similar vibe to Shadows are Security by AILD. Maybe its just because I'm a metalcore kid at heart but I feel the two albums go well together this season.

Deftones - Self titled + White Pony
Genre: Alternative Rock/Post-Metal FFO: Isis (the band), Quicksand, Sevendust

We've all heard Change (In the House of Flies) and know it still gives us goosebumps. Deftones' Self titled is a more chaotic with slow fillers while White Pony is slower with more chaotic fillers. both albums together make for a thrilling halloween. RIP Chi Chang

Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years
Genre - Dark wave/Synth/Post-Punk FFO: Joy Division, The Cure, Drab Majesty


Wes Eisold (American Nightmare, Some Girls) put out this beautiful masterpiece under Cold Cave after American Nightmare disbanded. This album is perfect for a chill night sky setting but also for a night of dancing at your local Halloween party.

Chthonic - Mirror of Retribution
Genre: Symphonic Black Metal with Folk elements FFO: Cradle of Filth, Panopticon

How many bands do you know from Taiwan? Now you know one. Chthonic (pronounced Thonic) have been called the "Cradle of Filth of Taiwan". I actually disagree with this. While Cradle of Filth have more of a gothic sound, Chthonic kind of replace that with their native folk influence and also feature some Taiwanese folk instruments. Six years ago I saw them play with Arch Enemy and the folk instruments are nothing I've ever seen before. The band's main lyrical theme is ancient Taiwanese folklore and legends and paired with the music gives an incredible image. They are another band that dress up on stage.


Takaru - There can be Only None
Genre: Screamo/Chaotic Hardcore FFO: Majority Rule, Botch

Takaru are like Majority Rule x10. More chaotic Skramz coming at you that will give you a killing spree ending in suicide.

City and Colour - Sometimes...

Genre: Acoustic/indie

Another great album to enjoy a peaceful fall day. Perfect for any environment. Dallas Green showcases the emotions that he couldn't with his other band Alexisonfire in one of the most beautiful indie albums ever written. No matter what you're into, you can appreciate this album for what it is.

Haemorrhage - Hospital Carnage
Genre: Goregrind FFO: Carcass, Exhumed, Aborted

Halloween without gore is dumb. While Carcass is also a good halloween band, I think Haemorrhage needed to be brought to the world as well. Hailing from Spain, Haemorrhage I guess you could call a Carcass rip off, but kept the goregrind sound since they began. They dress up as doctors, and the album artwork is designed by one of the members who is also a comic book artist. Hospital Carnage is an endless gory mess and the vocals are disgusting, you'll love it.


Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh
Genre: Death Metal FFO: Autopsy, Dsimember, Morbid Angel

If you ever thought to yourself " Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) should be in an actual death metal band " that's actually what Bloodbath is. Unfortunately, Mikael does not do vocals on Nightmares Made Flesh. Vocals are done by Peter Tagtgren of Hypocrisy. Tagtgren ain't no Akerfeldt but definitely showcases his gutturals well in this album. reading along will bring disturbing images to your mind.

Ghoul - Splatterthrash
Genre: Grind/Thrash/Crossover FFO: Carcass, Municipal Waste, S.O.D.
 
Everyday is Halloween when it comes to Ghoul. The band play a form of thrash metal that is slightly influenced by goregrind and in-your-face hardcore punk. Ghoul dress up as Executioners covered in blood and put on personas similar to GWAR but with more gore, murder, death, and zombies. Its as humorous as you would think as well.


Drab Majesty - The Demonstration
Genre: Dark Wave/Post-Punk FFO: Cold Cave, Joy Division, Depeche Mode

A dark soothing passionate album filled with electronic parts but with a very Joy Division feel. Drab Majesty could have the same thing I wrote for Cold Cave however they aren't much for a party. The demonstration is a great sound track for a night in the city.

Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury
Genre: Post Black Metal FFO: OathBreaker, Wolves in the Throne Room, The Great Old ones
 
Not your average black metal. Altar of Plagues is full of talent. Walk through the forest listening to this album and you will see rituals happen as you search for a way out of your mind.

Bleeding Through - Portrait of the Godess
Genre - Melodic/Symphonic Metalcore FFO: Scars of Tomorrow, Cradle of Filth, Winds of Plague

My personal favorite from Bleeding Through. Anything with symphony is great this time of year. Seeing the autumn trees while playing this album will turn your vision red as you remember your lost love that you will never get back. Why'd you care? You never cared.

Inverloch - Distance|Collapsed
Genre: Death/Doom Metal FFO: Hooded Menace, Spectral Voice, Evoken

Inverloch is primarily doom metal with a death metal edge. I feel dumb for finding out about an album so fantastically written a year later. I feel doom metal is the best thing this season. Inverloch take a more atmospheric approach to death/doom metal. Great for a day with gray skies in the forest while watching a lake in the distance, your vision will be black and white.

Twitching Tongues - Disharmony
Genre: Sludge Metal/Hardcore FFO: Only Living Witness, Candlemass, Merauder

I'll admit, not my favorite album by Twitching Tongues, however Disharmony was appropriately released on Halloween in 2015. The album is probably the evilest and most Candlemass influenced album to date. I will admit I don't think I'll ever get tired of Insincerely Yours (Tears and Blood) and the video is priceless.

Fange - Pourissoir
Genre: Blackened Sludge Metal/Crust FFO: This Gift is a Curse, Young and in the Way, Cursed


Gotta give credit to Tommy from TheLookoutboston.com Fange will instantly grab your attention just with the first track. Crushing sludge metal break downs pair up with the aggression of black metal and attitude of crust punk.

Avenged Sevenfold - Sounding the Seventh Trumpet + Waking the Fallen
Genre: Progressive melodic metalcore FFO: Eighteen Visions, Bleeding Through, Atreyu

When you hear the name Avenged Sevenfold, most people get the Opeth effect where you think of the later stuff that strayed away from the original sound. Avenged Sevenfold's first two albums definitely set structure for the later albums which is still kept to this day. The band originally started as a metalcore from the same area as the bands above. Although now they went in a more hard rock direction, one thing is the same: that Transylvanian influence. Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had that classic California metalcore sound with a few slow songs like Bleeding Through would do sometimes do, while Waking the Fallen began a more progressive era to the band. Both albums have that signature Transylvanian metal sound that just makes you imagine bats and vampires that Avenged Sevenfold does so well. Regardless of what you think of the later albums, I'm willing to say these two are some of my favorite albums of the 90's/early 00's era.

The Nerve Agents - Days of the White Owl
Genre: Hardcore/"Horror Punk" FFO: AFI, American Nightmare, Misfits


The common theme of Misfits influenced bands will continue. The Nerve Agents bring a more aggressive hardcore edge into the "horror punk" sound very reminiscent of bands like American Nightmare and The Suicide File. I actually found out about this band from an old flyer where American Nightmare opened for them. This album also features a guest appearance from Davey Havok of AFI. This album will make you throw pumpkins at cops.

Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales
Genre: Blackened Thrash Metal FFO: Venom, Sodom, Bathory

Celtic Frost are very well known in the world of metal. Every album is different and as a result, the band is a huge influence on all kinds of metal. Morbid Tales was the first release by the band and features a thrash metal sound similar to Venom just as dark if not darker. The numerously covered song, Circle of Tyrants is featured on this ep. RIP Martin Ain

vein. - Terror's Realm & Split with .gif from god
Genre: Experimental Hardcore/Metalcore FFO: The Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch, Curl Up and Die


I don't know why I forgot to put vein on the last list. In this day and age, it is extremely rare to hear a band do something different with hardcore. vein not only breaks the boundaries of music, the completely obliterate them. vein write their own unique form of basically what some could call mathcore but in a way that would make you think you're listening to a soundtrack for tv static. This music is terrifying. Terror's Realm straight up sounds like an entire horror movie and their side of the split makes whatever movie you just saw come to life. Both releases have devastating riffs and vocals that will echo in your head and give you nightmares Nobody has ever done what these guys have. MVHC

Eighteen Visions - Lifeless EP
Genre: Metalcore FFO: Martyr AD, Remembering Never, Bloodlet

Eighteen Visions are one of the biggest influences of every metalcore band, at least the good ones. Lifeless was the iconic release that made other bands look inferior. Opposed to the melodic era of 18v, Lifeless was far from it. Six tracks of crushing dissonant riffs, and viscous vocals that will tear your ears off. There will be a review of Eighteen Visions on here in December, but only them.

Spectral Voice - Eroded Corridors of Unbeing
Genre - Death/Doom Metal FFO: Inverloch, Blood Incantation, Paradise Lost (Old)

A lot of things about this band stick out to me. I love the name, the logo, the artwork, the ridiculously heavy riffs, the gutturals, and the song titles. If you read along to this band, you're gonna need a thesaurus. Eroded Corridors of Unbeing is a horrific and esoteric masterpiece that gives you vision of malicious spirits rising in a graveyard. This band was a highly anticipated release.

PsyOpus - Odd Senses
Genre: Mathcore/Technical Grindcore FFO: Car Bomb, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch


PsyOpus will make you question the guitarists ability. All I can think when I listen to this band is how his hand don't catch fire. The timing of the drums are just as wild. If Car Bomb decided to be more on the grindcore side, they would be PsyOpus. Odd Senses up until the bonus track will keep you on your toes and make you very uncomfortable. The bonus track was recorded when all the members did acid and messed around, and its hilarious and a good cool down to the album.

Ramlord - Crippled Minds, Sundered Wisdom
Genre - Blackened Crust Punk/"Stenchcore" FFO: Young and in The Way, Hexis, Cara Neir

An unholy trio from New Hampshire. Ramlord are an evil in your face crust influenced black metal band that will force you into self hatred. Listen with an open mind for black metal production and raw crust edge.

Kaospilot - Shadows
Genre: Screamo FFO: Orchid, Saetia, Raein

You can tell from the artwork, this is an other walk in the woods album. Kaospilot bring you to a magical land in the woods where you are free to fight your inner emotions with a Princess Mononoke atmosphere. Shadows sounds like a classic 90's skramz album but with quality production and intense riffage. Defend the forest spirit!

Full of Hell - Trumpeting Ecstasy
Genre - Noise Grind FFO: Gaza, Trap Them, Martyrdod

The most insane and terrifying thing you will hear come out this year. Full of Hell venture into further experimentation with their music. Trumpeting Ecstasy holds the classic Full of Hell mold but with more noise and distortion and repetition as well as the title track. Oh man the title track. The most horrifying thing on the album. With special guests Kurt Ballou (Converge) and Nicole Dollanganger, it proves to be the heaviest, muddiest song and Nicole's vocals make the images in the video all too real.

Zao - Liberate Te Ex Inferis
Genre: Metalcore FFO: Symphony in Peril, As I Lay Dying, Disembodied

Zao is another band that is a huge influence on metalcore. The album title translates (roughly) to Save Yourself From Hell, which is a line from the movie Event Horizon. Throughout the album, there are samples from the movie. Overall this album might be the darkest sounding album the band ever wrote, a lot of riffs are post-metal influenced and very reminiscent of Neurosis, but still malicious and heavy.

Venom - Black Metal
Genre: Blackened Thrash Metal FFO: Celtic frost, Slayer

The god fathers of black metal are here to blacken the day. The album ma be titled Black Metal, but is more 50/50 black and thrash metal. However the evil esoteric atmosphere remains. LAY DOWN YOUR SOUL TO THE GODS ROCK N ROLL!!!.

Cannibal Corpse - Butchered at Birth
Genre: Brutal Death Metal FFO: Suffocation, Deicide, Cattle Decapitation

We'll end here with the classic. Butchered at Birth is raw gory death metal. No gimmick, no tricks, just old school death. The album cover is just as gruesome as the music. If you claim to like death metal and haven't heard/don't like this album, you're lying.