Episode 37 – Doomed Planet (right click to download)

This one is a bit two sided. Yin and yang, light and shadow shit. Half black/thrash, half power/speed, apparently unable to get along, but in the end they came out as BFFs . Nothing planned, mind. It’s just we’ve been thinking about our next deejaying gig at VAGOS OPEN AIR festival – three nights, three different sets – and we’ll probably do something along these lines. Probably. Best way to find out: be there!

Click for show notes and a complete tracklist.

Episode 37 – Doomed Planet

We hit hard right from the start with Norwegian black/thrash outfit Tökix Death. They’ve been active for some time but only made a real impact in the last couple years, especially with last year’s debut album “Speed Metal Hell”. Promising stuff, unlike the already established masters of disaster, err… Desaster. “The Splendour Of The Idols” is a fucking amazing track – again, black/thrash here, this time taken directly from good teutonic stock. This, kids, is how your thrash should sound like. Fucking memorable.

LET THERE BE SPEED! Enter Obscurity are just now kinda coming into their own and it’s always a pleasure to see such a young band hitting all the right notes. 2014’s “Deströy Poser Metal” is very formulaic, sure, but the great attitude is there and once you have that everything else gets real easier. Their “Black Metal” cover is quite something, so check that one out too. Cool 80s vibes all around. Next up, Ranger! There’s true authentic speed for you. This one is from the magnificent 2014 EP “Shock Skull”, one of that year’s best releases if you ask us.

Couple of classics of very different breed right now. First is the return of Bathory to the SATAN MADE ME DO IT shores with the barbaric “Equimanthorn” from “Under the Sign of the Black Mark”. Right after there’s Cirith Ungol. One of us has this album, “One Foot In Hell”, since its launch, back in the good ol’year of 1986, but never really cared about it. It sounded bland. But then something funny happened. Browsing vinyl, this one sort of popped up (the cover art is tremendously cool), so I thought why not give it a chance. The first track, “Blood & Iron” is… ok. Second one, “Chaos Descends” was like “wow, this one has a spark, doesn’t it?”. When side B and the incredibly groovy “Doomed Planet” came along, it was like a completely different and new album, after standing in the shelf for about almost three decades! Fucking revelation right there! We guess tastes change and you should never take them for granted. Profound life lessons from SATAN MADE ME DO IT to you, thank you very much.

We were just discussing this yesterday. One of us rarely misses a change to spin NWOBHM, power, speed and so forth. It’s like, “Oh, is that Cirith Ungol? Yeah, I’m just casually gonna change the tone of the episode even more cause FUCK YEAH POWER METAL!” So, whatever, enjoy “Battle at Helm’s Deep” from Attacker, followed by Stormwitch’s “Flour in the Wind”. This last one is kinda about bread. Just, you know, FYI.

We can never get enough early Exciter. You listen to “Iron Dogs” one time and you instantly know you just won’t be able to let it go! Songs like this are why heavy metal was born! We go full circle with Scythian. This is “Hubris in Excelsis” from the self titled album which is going to be released in late August. Death/thrash from London at breakneck speed with some interesting notes of NWOBHM along the way. Overall, you’re left with a complex and satisfying bouquet.

Last but not least, the second of our “Planet of the Vampires” skits for this episode. Remember in “Alien” when they got to the crashed spaceship? Watch “Planet of the Vampires” and see where it all came from.

— Tracklist

1. Infernal Vicious Attack | Tökix Death (NOR) | Speed Metal Hell, 2014 http://toxikdeath.bandcamp.com/
2. The Splendour Of The Idols | Desaster (GER) | The Arts of Destruction, 2012 http://www.total-desaster.com/
3. Deströy Poser Metal | Enter Obscurity (NOR) | Deströy Poser Metal [Demo], 2014 https://www.facebook.com/EnterObscurity
4. Shock Skull | Ranger (FIN) | Shock Skull [EP], 2014 https://www.facebook.com/rangerheavymetal
5. Equimanthorn | Bathory (SWE) | Under the Sign of the Black Mark, 1987 http://www.discogs.com/Bathory-Under-The-Sign-Of-The-Black-Mark/master/5784
6. Planet of the Vampires [Trailer], 1965
7. Doomed Planet | Cirith Ungol (USA) | One Foot In Hell, 1986 http://www.metalblade.com/cirithungol/
8. Battle at Helm’s Deep | Attacker (USA) | Battle at Helm’s Deep, 1985 https://www.facebook.com/AttackerBand
9. Flour in the Wind | Stormwitch (GER) |Walpurgis Night, 1984 https://www.facebook.com/Stormwitch.Band?fref=ts
10. Iron Dogs | Exciter (CAN) | Heavy Metal Maniac, 1983 http://excitermetal.com/
11. Hubris in Excelsis | Scythian (UK) | Hubris in Excelsis, 2015 https://www.facebook.com/ScythianUK
12. Planet of the Vampires [Trailer], 1965