Riddle of Steel- Got This Feelin' (2005)

I remember hearing great things about Riddle of Steel when this came out in 2005. In fact, it was seemingly everywhere, Robotic Empire even put out the vinyl. For some reason I never got around to checking it out. It wasn't until Riddle of Steel guitarist/vocalist Andrew Elstner joined Torche last year and people started talking about them again that I remembered to give this album a listen. Turns out I'm a fucking moron, because Got This Feelin' is an absolutely incredible power pop album and had I known I would have been listening to the shit out of this for the last six years. This is absolutely essential if you're a fan of Weezer, Criteria, The Presidents of the United States of America, Foo Fighters or even Torche as it does get a little heavy now and again. Ridiculously catchy. Crazy awesome bass lines. Get it.

Riddle of Steel on last.fm



Get it here.

Midnight- Complete And Total Fucking Midnight (2005)

How about ANOTHER band that wears masks when they play? Perhaps I should have done these last two posts the week leading up to Halloween rather than the week following.

The sound of Cleveland, Ohio's Midnight harkens back to the first wave of black metal. Think Bathory, Celtic Frost, Hellhammer and Venom. So, not so much black metal as it's conceived today, but rather thrash or speed metal with the typical Jesus hatin' subject material and in this case, a healthy dose of sleaze (listen to "Endless Slut," "Unholy and Rotten" or check out some live footage of Midnight with the Midnight Mistresses if you don't believe me). This album compiles a bunch of Midnight's early material and as you would expect with such a compilation, there is some variance in the quality of both the recordings and the music itself. Though, once you hear it I think you'll agree that one of their earliest songs "All Hail Hell" is a fucking thrash anthem, as is the other track below. To this point first wave black metal has more or less be ignored by the whole thrash revival thing. With Midnight gaining in popularity I wouldn't be surprised if in the next few years more bands trying to sound like Hellhammer cropped up. Hop on board now and when the second wave of first wave black metal hits you can say you were into it before it was cool.

Midnight has a new album coming out next week (11/8), if it rules I'll put it up here as well. 

Midnight on last.fm





Get it here.

Yob- The Unreal Never Lived (2005)

You know, I had a hard time deciding whether to post that Middian album or this Yob album. So fuck it.

Yob on last.fm




Get it here.