• Far from complete, and definitely in no particular order, here are some of our favorite albums from artists of many genres and time periods. Some may be very known to you, maybe you also listened to a lot of these same bands while growing up, as we did. The crazy excitement of youth and the aching boredom, some of these were a soundtrack to our teenage years. Through the reckless parties, sex, violence, and all the tainted fruits of life. Others carried us into our work with Mourning the Ancient, some of these bands we've even come to know personally or have had the opportunity to interview. Others we might not have liked as much, except for maybe they played during certain times in our lives, they 'grew' on us as they say. I'm sure you have more than a few favorites like this too.

    As you may estimate, this is a huge undertaking, so we'll be adding more and more material every update. Hopefully, there will be some gem here that had slipped by you, and through these pages, you discover musical treasure as we have.


    Page II

  • Godflesh

    Title: Streetcleaner

    Label: Earache/Combat

    Date: 1989

    Track listing: (favorites marked with an '*')

    [1] Like Rats*
    [2] Christbait Rising*
    [3] Pulp
    [4] Dream Long Dead
    [5] Head Dirt
    [6] Devastator/Mighty Trust Krusher
    [7] Life is Easy*
    [8] Streetcleaner
    [9] Locust Furnace*
    [10] Tiny Tears*
    [11] Wound
    [12] Dead Head
    [13] Suction
    (Italicized titles are bonus tracks)

    [A classic to everyone who has heard it and entirely unique. Unlike the other Godflesh releases that I've heard, this one has a much darker edge. I guess the sound would be considered dark industrial, but it's hard to classify something unique. Streetcleaner is strange and powerful, unforgettable and catchy as hell.]

    [CD back]


  • Samael

    Title: Ceremony of Opposites

    Label: Century Media

    Date: 1994

    Track listing: (favorites marked with an '*')

    [1] Black Trip*
    [2] Celebration of the Fourth
    [3] Son of Earth
    [4] 'Till We Meet Again*
    [5] Mask of the Red Death*
    [6] Baphomet's Throne*
    [7] Flagellation*
    [8] Crown*
    [9] To Our Martyrs*
    [10] Ceremony of Opposites*

    [Samael's third release. It would seem I have listened to this masterpiece thousands of times over the years. It truly is one of the greatest black metal releases of all time. It's also largely ignored in the metal world, which is a great thing to me, nothing kills magic more than the public and popularity. And here is musical magic. Musically, vocally, lyrically. Nearly every song on this release is a favorite. As an historical note, this release caused a lot of controversy with Christian groups, so much so that Century Media's German office was raided and this was confiscated, and if my memory serves me, the master tapes were destroyed by the 'authorities'.]

    [CD inlay]


  • Samael

    Title: Blood Ritual

    Label: Century Media

    Date: 1992

    Track listing: (favorites marked with an '*')

    [1] Epilogue*
    [2] Beyond the Nothingness*
    [3] Poison Infiltration*
    [4] After the Sepulture*
    [5] Macabre Operetta*
    [6] Blood Ritual*
    [7] Since the Creation...*
    [8] With the Gleam of the Torches*
    [9] Total Consecration*
    [10] Bestial Devotion
    [11] ...Until the Chaos*

    [Wow, after listening to this legendary 2nd release, every song but one was a favorite of mine, and even that song is still a good one! What can I say, the old Samael was amongst my favorite bands. The piano pieces on this release, with their excellent spoken words, are superb. The album is as close to perfection as anything I could rate. The 'feeling' captured by Samael in these first three releases is exceptional.]

    [CD back]


  • Samael

    Title: Worship Him

    Label: JL American//Osmose Productions

    Date: 1991

    Track listing: (favorites marked with an '*')

    [1] Sleep of Death*
    [2] Worship Him*
    [3] Knowledge of the Ancient Kingdom
    [4] Morbid Metal
    [5] Rite of Cthulhu
    [6] The Black Face
    [7] Into the Penagram
    [8] Messengers of the Light
    [9] Last Benediction
    [10] Bestial Devotion
    [11] The Dark

    [The third Samael favorite in a row. It is safe to say I was very impressed with this band. Worship Him was their first release, and contains one of the band's greatest tracks, and also one of black metal's greatest songs, 'Into the Pentagram'. A truly awesome song to anyone who has heard it. Another, equally cool, but rougher version of this song also appears on their demo.]

    [CD back]


  • Kari Rueslatten

    Title: Demo Recordings

    Label: Self

    Date: 1995

    Track listing: (favorites marked with an '*')

    [1] The Homecoming Song*
    [2] Vakenatt
    [3] The Gathering
    [4] Rapunsel*
    [5] Forsaken*
    [6] The Shadowchant*
    [7] In Here*
    [8] Dead
    [9] In a Day

    [Kari Rueslatten released and was involved in a lot of good material back in the day. Such as the first two releases of 'The 3rd and the Mortal', which are superb, plus the legendary folk side-project 'Storm'. Here is her first solo release, and it is a classic. Great stuff!]

    [CD back]


  • Kari Rueslatten

    Title: Spindelsinn

    Label: Columbia

    Date: 1997

    Track listing: (favorites marked with an '*')

    [1] Manens Favn*
    [2] Spindelsinn*
    [3] Skogens Kjole
    [4] Agatha*
    [5] Trollferd*
    [6] Vintersol
    [7] Jeg Kommer Inn
    [8] Hor Min Sang
    [9] Som Av Meg
    [10] Nordnatt

    [With Kari Rueslatten's talent, it was only a matter of time before she attracted mainstream label attention. Although this is released on Columbia, it was still surprisingly good. The releases to follow this however, from what I've heard, aren't to my liking.]

    [CD inlay - not one of her more flattering pictures!]


  • Suffocation

    Title: Effigy of the Forgotten

    Label: Roadrunner Records

    Date: 1991

    Track listing: (favorites marked with an '*')

    [1] Liege of Inveracity*
    [2] Effigy of the Forgotten
    [3] Infecting the Crypts*
    [4] Seeds of the Suffering
    [5] Habitual Infamy
    [6] Reincremation
    [7] Mass Obliteration
    [8] Involuntary Slaughter
    [9] Jesus Wept

    [Nothing beats the death metal pioneers of the early 1990's, and Suffocation was one of them. Brutal beyond imagination, although sometimes this insanity could get boring. This was also the first death metal CD I obtained that had two black members, so I guess we can say that Suffocation is black/death?]

    [CD back]


  • Tiamat

    Title: Clouds

    Label: Century Media

    Date: 1992

    Track listing: (favorites marked with an '*')

    [1] In a Dream*
    [2] Clouds
    [3] Smell of Incense
    [4] A Caress of Stars
    [5] The Sleeping Beauty*
    [6] Forever Burning Flames
    [7] The Scapegoat
    [8] Undressed

    [This was the only release of Tiamat that I could get into, but the song 'In a Dream' was worth the price of admission. A truly cool song.]

    [CD inlay]


  • Goatlord

    Title: Reflections of the Solstice

    Label: JL America

    Date: 1992

    Track listing: (favorites marked with an '*')

    [1] Voodoo Mass*
    [2] Blood Monk
    [3] Distorted Birth*
    [4] The Fog*
    [5] Underground Church
    [6] Chicken Dance
    [7] Acid Orgy*
    [8] Possessed Soldiers of War
    [9] Sacrifice

    [It had been a while since I listened to this CD... I remember why I thought it was so fucking cool now. Wow. This is incredibly unique. People consider this band cult today, and I can see why. Songs like 'The Fog' and 'Acid Orgy' are legendary.]

    [CD inlay]


  • Weltenbrand

    Title: Das Rabenland

    Label: SPV

    Date: 1995

    Track listing: (favorites marked with an '*')

    [1] Das Rabenland*
    [2] Dark Desires
    [3] Weltenbrand
    [4] Her Poisoned Mind*
    [5] Night of the Blade*
    [6] Malleus Malificarum
    [7] Wizard of the Lost Kingdom
    [8] The Ghost of the Dead Son
    [9] Sorrow Fog
    [10] Her Poisoned Mind (Black Version)
    [11] Abstrakt

    [One of my favorite atmospheric releases. The keyboard and male and female clean vocals are fantastic. Dark melodies and feeling rarely seen today. 1995 seemed to be the year of creativity for a lot of people. The heavy German accent on the female spoken part of the track 'Night of the Blade' is unintentionally superb sounding!]

    [CD inlay]


  • Blue Max

    Title: United

    Label: Blue Max Records

    Date: 2007

    Track listing: (favorites marked with an '*')

    [1] Intro
    [2] Way of Life
    [3] Burning Sun
    [4] Can You Hear Us*
    [5] Zwei Turme
    [6] Auf Ein Neues
    [7] Politik
    [8] Asozial
    [9] Presse
    [10] Peggy Sue
    [11] Germania

    [2007 brought us Blue Max's great 'United' release. The song 'Can You Hear Us' is catchy as hell.]

    [CD inlay]


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