Music, opinions, and portfolio of Mark Eagleton, musician and web developer in Northern CA.
This is where I tell you what I really think. This website doesn’t support comments by design, that is what your blog is for!
Viewing articles tagged with “metal.”
Bell Witch has been one of my favorite bands since I discovered them some six years ago. Seeing them live has been a huge priority for me. They came through my area a few times prior to the pandemic, but each time, I was booked myself. And then there was the pandemic, of course.
Alright, now that the Grammy Awards have all been passed out, let’s have a little reprieve, shall we? Each of the 15 albums in this list made a deep impression on me this year. Why 15? Because there were 15 of them. Here they are in alphabetical order.
This data is taken from my last.fm account, and mostly reflects my private listening at work. This may more accurately reflect my personal preferences, though, as it is what I chose to listen to without being influenced by other people. My taste in metal seems to be getting more extreme.
I know I’m a little late to the game with my album picks this year, but 2018 was just so rich with amazing new music that I couldn’t just poop this out all willy nilly. Unlike other folks with their best album lists, I believe in waiting a few weeks after the new year to let all the late releases settle in with me. And it’s a good thing I did, as a few late December releases made my list!
As with last year, this largely reflects my music listening at work. These lists tend to be more metal-heavy as this is where I do most of my headphone listening.
As has been my tradition for the past few years, I’ve shared with you my most listened-to music. This year, however; I also wanted to share the music I was most excited about—the music that gets lost in the data when you don’t adjust for Misophonia, or listening to music with friends, or just life and music happening around you in general.
Misophonia is king as I discover the soothing powers of north-western grindcore, and new records by Daniel Romano and Thy Art Is Murder make an impression.
Prompted by yet another Reddit hole of favorite album threads, I realized I need to catalog the albums that mean the most to me, or were a huge influence on me at some point in my life. Here they are in no particular order (with affiliate Apple Music/iTunes or Bandcamp links when possible).
As you may already know, I have been scrobbling all of my music plays to Last.fm for the past 10 years. This year, Last.fm has a new report called Last.year that does all my homework for me! I have still recorded the usual stats below for future proofing.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a review. Honestly, there hasn’t been anything that has stirred me from my new release cave—not until I started my reluctant post Labor Day Tuesday morning off with VRTRA.
I have to apologize, I’ve been sitting on this one for a few weeks. But you know what? This amazing Instructions record I found those few weeks ago has been in regular rotation in my iTunes. Actually, loop is probably a more appropriate word. It is so good that it has eclipsed all new releases for me for the past two weeks!
Another band previously off my radar, Agoraphobic Nosebleed (ANb), has a new EP and it’s a welcome kick-off to the new year; And likely a kickoff to a new obsession for me.
Last week, a Bay Area Deathfest concert poster made the rounds on Twitter in the graphic design circles I run in. You can probably guess why. PaRtY CaNnOn is a stoner goregrind (party slam?) band from Dunfermline, Scotland, and they released a new record this year. Let’s review it!
Finding new music is one of my favorite pastimes, and I hope to document more of it here. Yesterday I stumbled upon Ghost’s (formerly Ghost B.C.) new album, Meliora.
