RESPONSE: THE METAL TAG 2025!

[@FuriousMetal1968]

Thanks for the shout out you guys 🙏🤘🍻😎

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Hey! Not a problem, man!

[@Mr.Davidian]

YOU are the reason I own that Abomination album sir!!!! I forget what video it was, but you gushed about it and I had to check it out.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Wow! Really? That's kinda cool to hear that. I honestly can't think of when I brought that band up last in a video but I love that album. That's awesome you snagged it. We might have to do a retro review on the band at some point.

[@Williameagleblanket]

Still bummed out Monstrosity cancelled CDF 2024, but they had two hurricanes hit their homes and lost everything. Hope they recover soon. I’ve yet to see Monstrosity.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Yeah, I remember that. I think they lost their entire rehearsal space too. Hope they're doing alright.

[@TheFlygonproductions]

Glad to hear we're on the same page in terms of purging Nick. Whether it's digital or physical (though my CD collection is absolutely nowhere near yours in scope) I never leave behind albums or songs that I used to listen to. And I think you summed that up perfectly by calling them "footnotes" of your own musical journey.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Yeah, there's a lot of bullshit in my collection that I don't listen to or rarely come back to but I can't seem to part with them because even those turds were part of the journey. You gotta own the mistakes as well as the triumphs, right? lol

[@JustAnotherHeavyMetalManiac]

Thank you for the shoutout Nick, you guys rule!

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Not a problem, man!

[@JosephKissSr.]

Definitely some good answers , Nick. Your comments about the dog crap production on Breeding the Spawn is so spot on. I agree, we need a full remaster re-release.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man! I love that album but man, they did that band dirty on the production.

[@biggravycapone4778]

Slept on Tygers for years aswell and when I finally listened to Spellbound it blew me away, Crazy Nights and the first album are real solid aswell

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Pretty much the same thing here. I just saw that reissue of Spellbound and figured why not. Killer album. Those dudes could write a hook for sure. I'm gonna go band and check out the earlier stuff at some point as well for sure.

[@biggravycapone4778]

@ John Sykes guitar work on Spellbound particularly is top tier, Love his playing on Thin Lizzy’s Thunder & Lightning aswell

[@CoreyArsenault-c8t]

Pumped to discover more bands because of you guys this year and start my 2025 collection

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man! I hope we point you to even more killer stuff.

[@spencergrady736]

Blut Aus Nord - hooray!!!!! Brilliant, brilliant band.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Maybe they'll click more with me now. We'll see. I know Jon is a big fan now.

[@achristiancollectsdeathmetal]

Awesome Tag video! Never heard of your 25th album but I'm gonna take a look and check em out!

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man! Abomination is sick deaththrash. I strongly recommend that one.

[@shannonjones3714]

Awesome video Nick! All you guys are doing an excellent job! If I could suggest, I like all the RIOT albums that have Guy Speranza on vocals. Fire Down Under, Rock City, Narita, and RIOT Live. Thank you guys for all your hard work! I greatly appreciate it, except I’ve spent a lot more on music lately!

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man! I have Fire Down Under already but I'm looking for more of their older material with Guy on vocals. I have some later stuff and it's alright as well but I like that earlier sound.

[@metaldownunder666]

Great tag mate. I much prefer going to a record store but over here in New Zealand it's hard to find the rock and metal stuff I am after so online is where I pickup most of my music. My favorite artist is Ed Repka but Dan puts out some killer stuff too.😃🤘

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man! Yeah, I feel lucky that even in this small city I live in that at one point there was a glut of record stores to lurk in. There's not as many now but I also understand that online shopping can at least somewhat fill the void if record store aren't available. As long as you're getting the music. That's what matter. I still like a lot of Ed's classic work but some of his covers feel really stock here lately.

[@willyb-gg5fq]

Hells yeah 🤘

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man!

[@tainted_lord87]

Excellent response/answers to those questions, Nick. If they do remaster Suffocation's Breeding the Spawn; would your Suffocation ranking be different?

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man! Honestly, I think it would stay in the same spot since I think I had that one high on my list at 3 I think and Pierced from Within and Effigy of the Forgotten aren't budging.

[@KevinTarrant-by3fi]

Awesome brother and happy new year!

[@thrallsofmetal]

thnx

[@ST1MPY31]

I love going to record stores still. I’m usually in there for an hour or more trying to see what I can find. Last time I went to one, I found Shrinebuilder, Kyuss’s Welcome to Sky Valley, and Savage Messiah’s The Fateful Dark.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Dude, I can spend most of a day in a record store if the selection is good and there's a lot to look through. Man, those are some solid finds you snagged. I'd call those all wins.

[@karpaslatka5734]

Nick shouting out Less Than Jake was not on my bingo card. Not a ska fan either, but I always liked them.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I have a few of their albums. They're good for a catchy tune every now and then.

[@MrLando0]

Hallucinogen is my fav Blut Aus Nord, from 2019. But it’s way different from their other stuff, not as nightmarish.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Yeah, their discography is truly all over the place so I'm going to be doing some listening before I pick up their albums because I know not all of it is for me.

[@kylemacneil3477]

I am not the biggest ska fan but I really like the first few VGS albums, more punk then ska. I saw them a lot in the mid to late 90s opening for various punk and hardcore bands. I enjoyed your Metal Tag video and may take on the challenge.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man! There was a point were I really enjoyed ska and some I might revisit like Voodoo Glow Skulls, Rx Bandits and Less Than Jake but a lot of it I've kinda left behind.

[@brucekenkel3688]

I bought that Disembowlment cd new when first released and still have it

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I probably saw it in a record store years ago not knowing what it was and just dismissed it. Ugh lol

[@lutfimakarim8258]

This looks fun!

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- These questionnaires are always fun.

[@AgentBeans]

Bro!!!! Just seen Suffocation 2 weeks ago! Derek was in the crowd watching Trash Panda and nobody recognized him. I talked to him for about 10 minutes. He took pics with me and showed me the playlist before they played. I also met and took pics with Eric and Ricky. I talked to Terrance but he was in such a hurry, i didnt get any pics with him. All cool dudes tho!!! A new Disincarnate would be fire!!!! I didnt know you were gonna show that Suffocation btw! I just got the something version of it yesterday from Listenable Records! Sounds ok. Was my first Suffo album so I, myself, cant hate on it.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Dude! That's awesome! Suffocation album puts on a killer show and I've got shoot the shit briefly with Derek a couple of times. He's a solid dude for sure. All the dudes are solid. Yeah, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a new Disincarnate. That would be insane if that happened this year.

[@AgentBeans]

@@thrallsofmetal Hell yeah! Derek was super cool! Thanx for responding man!

[@Batrico99]

hey Nick. Great video.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Sup, man! Thanks!

[@erykdudka6820]

Have you ever happened to shop at Vertigo music in Grand Rapids, Michigan? That's my favorite record store and it has an awesome metal selection.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I legit have never been to Grand Rapids, MI surprisingly but you may have given me a reason to visit the place now for sure lol.

[@erykdudka6820]

@thrallsofmetal lol not surprising, there's not much here tbh. There's solid record stores, music venues, local shops, and some restaurants and that's about it. Definitely check it out if you're ever in the area tho, the metal selection is better than most!

[@gregpolard5684]

Funny I just listened to that Katatonia album last night. “Death metal Cure” is definitely a great descriptor.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I love that album. It's perfect rainy day death metal.

[@MetalNeverDieswithMarkA]

Man! Disincarnate would be awesome. Cheers dude. Killer video.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Dude, I would be over the fuckin' moon if we got a follow up to that album. Cheers, man!

[@HeavyArtTalk]

I’m with you, I also hate giving Geoff credit 😂

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- It's almost nauseating at times lol.

[@PadanFain-yp2yz]

I can't help but state that I find Blut Aus Nord overrated for many years now. Still enjoy their debut from 1995 to this day, and I appreciate their 2003 opus (TWWTG), but couldn't get into anything after that (dissonance overload). I've found myself gravitating toward Deathspell Omega more and more (variety and experimentation are more pronounced IMO). Cool video Thralls \m/

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man! When it comes down to Blut Aus Nord I personally can't say one way or the other as I really need to list to more of their stuff. It's a wild, varying discography too so it should be a weird ride lol.

[@mazeoftorment805]

my condolences for having to give geoff credit 😆. BAN i recommend memoria vestuta trilogy that’s their most normal records and not weird it’s more just atmospheric black metal.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- It pained me lol. I still got him to admit I was right about Veilburner being awesome though. I'm going to do some sampling of Blut Aus Nord's stuff after I jam the one I got more and figure out where I'll go next with them.

[@filipdzero8739]

KZbin won't let me upload my extensive comment, where I too wrote a response to the metal tag (maybe they think I'm a bot or sth). Always happy to hear Brave Murder Day praise, that album is a masterpiece! \m/ Edit: Maybe it worked now?? Shout-out to Heavy Metallurgy! 1) Name a release you’re eagerly anticipating in 2025. - *Testament's new album*. Can't wait to see if they can top 2016's BoTS or 2020's ToC. 2) Show the 25th item (LP, CD… your choice) in your collection. - *Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled*. This is not representative of my taste. Great musicians & there's classics on this album, but their songwriting doesn't click w/ me. 3) Name an older band that you checked out for the first time in 2024 and loved. - The only band that'd sort of fit this criteria is *Dream Theater*. Prior to 2024 I didn't listen to any of their albums in full (just a song here & there). This year I blindly bought 'Images and Words' & loved it, then listened to all their future albums. Still not a big fan, per se, but I love some of their albums now (IAW, Octavarium). 4) How do you purchase most of your music (CDs, in this case)? - Either through record stores, supermarket (Muller has a decent offer) or 2nd-hand LP garage sales. I wish I could pay the artists directly full-time, but my finances ain't sufficient. 5) Show a heavy metal album that musically is really hard to place in a heavy metal sub-genre. - *Celtic Frost's Into the Pandemonium.* I really dislike this album, but this band is tough to categorize. 6) Name an album you used to hate, but now it finally clicked and you can’t get enough of it. - *Katatonia's Discouraged Ones* I still don't love every song on it, but THIS is the atmosphere I crave. Was very disappointed with it, coming off of BMD, but now it's in my top 5 Katatonia albums. 7) Show an album that you blind bought in 2024. - *Kanonenfieber's Urkatastrophe*. I liked their debut, but I didn't know if the sophomore was gonna match it. It might be even better than Menschenmuhle. Great WW1-themed blackened death metal. 8) Show a title that you own more than one pressing of. Skip. I don't have multiple copies of any album, I just donate duplicates to my best friend. 9) Show off a grail (something you really wanted) that you acquired in 2024. Honorable mention to my fave album of all time (got it for 35$) that isn't metal: *Vlatko Stefanovski's Krushevo*. It's acoustic guitar music arrangements of Macedonian folk songs; The dude is a great shredder (he's the balkan Satriani), but his playing is so smooth. - For a metal album I'll pick *Pagan Altar's The Room of Shadows*. It's like a folk-fantasy Black Sabbath. Just listen to the title track, it's sublime. I need to check out more of their stuff, but this is great. 10) What is a grail item you are on the hunt for? - Bloodbath's unblessing the Purity EP. For some unjust reason, it's impossible to buy this on CD. Just reissue it already!!! I have a Fathomless Mastery copy that has bonus tracks, but it isn't the same. 11) Show an album that keeps returning to your collection. *Coroner's Punishment for Decandence*? Idk, man, I do delete & re-obtain digital albums sometimes. I listen to this album, then remove it, then add it back to give it another try... 12) Name an artist that you had lost track of over time but reconnected with in 2024. - *Linkin Park*? From Zero motivated me to re-visit Hybrid Theory & Minutes to Midnight. I'm still not a big fan, but I respect those albums a lot more now. 13) Name a new band whose debut album really impressed you. - *Decair's Aftermath* . They're a new, Slovenian metalcore band, their frontman is a buddy of mine. Their EP sucked, but for the debut they motivated themselves to write sth heavier. And they did! If you like Deafheaven's Sunbather, you'll like this album (the song 'Grief' slaps!!!). 14) Show a band/release that you bought in 2024 as a direct result of watching someone’s KZbin channel. - *Machine Head's Unto the Locust*. I'm not the biggest MH fan, even Burn My Eyes never clicked with me. I bought it at a garage sale, bcoz I heard BangerTV's Brad speak positively of it. Apart from the last song, I LOVE this album & I think it might be even better than The Blackening. 15) Show a great album with bad cover art. Metallica's HTSD. I genuinely think this is a good album, but the album art (even the deluxe one) is bad! 16) Show an album whose cover art was created by one of your favorite artists. - *Opeth's Blackwater Park* Travis Smith made some absolutely iconic for both Opeth & Katatonia. He did plenty more with Overkill, etc., but his art for these 2 bands specifically is sublime. 17) Name an album that you would like to see reissued? - *Thurisaz's Scent of a Dream*. Great turkish, Children of Bodom-esque atmospheric black metal. Also copy & paste from question 10! Re-release the EP, ya bastards! 18) Name an album from a genre that you typically do not listen to very much. - *Pearl Jam's Ten*. I don't like grunge, mainly for the vocal inflections & style, but there's good songs on this one. 19) What band do you hope to see live in 2025? If all works out... *Gojira!!!* This band, alongside Opeth, is the reason I love death metal. 20) Name 2 new YT channels you discovered in 2024, or just shout out 2 channels you enjoy. Shout out to Metal Trenches & thrashmaniac99! Love you, Thralls!

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Solid answers here, man. Gojira is incredible live. I've seen them multiple times. I'm not familiar with all the albums but I hope you find that Unblessing the Purity EP because it's such a beast of an EP. I got lucky down in Florida and found a used copy for like $5 years ago.

[@doctorphibes601]

Spellbound is great 👌🏻

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Agreed. Super catchy album.

[@44DoubleZer00_Studios]

I see Monstrosity, I see Disincarnate and better yet, I see KATATONIA!!

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- There were definitely some fun ones to talk about on here... like Asphyx's "The Rack", right? j/k

[@44DoubleZer00_Studios]

@thrallsofmetal Hahaha haha, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAÀAAAAAAAAAAA YOU'RE SO FUNNY !!!! 🥲😭

[@bentatoe1832]

Thank you for pronouncing the name of Asphyx correctly. I have heard a few channels pronounce the name way too phonetically really emphasizing the syllables. Asphyx then becomes Ass-fix and I can't stop laughing lol.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- If I'm being honest, I'm inconsistent with that as I've definitely pronounced it multiple ways lol.

[@YONATOOTH]

🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man!

[@tomasjonsson7141]

Fun video, hey Nick do you like Sorcery Bloodchilling tales? I just discovered this band and bought 2 of thire albums this one and Garden of bones, feels like a very underated osdm band never heard anything about em before. 🐐

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Thanks, man! I only own one Sorcery album, Necessary Excess of Violence, and it's pretty damn solid HM2 death metal. I still need to hunt down more. Good find, man.

[@tomasjonsson7141]

​@@thrallsofmetal yeah, both arriving at six and garden of bones are very solid albums, but bloodchilling tales thire 91 debute is a forgotten gem and on the same level as the other early classic swedish death metal albums and a must have. 👺

[@gregpolard5684]

Also as far as the influencer question I’ve bought so many albums because of Thralls, much to my wallets chagrin 😂

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Our sincerest condolences to your wallet, man lol.

[@tomasjonsson7141]

I like to shout out a youtube channel i just discovered: No nonsens metal reviews, cool dude with realy good taste highly recomended 🐐

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Nice! I'll have to check out his channel at some point.

[@benng4376]

You hear thr Nogothula album on Blood Harvest?

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Not familiar but I'll check it out. I generally wait for Blood Harvest stuff to hit distros so I don't have to pay any outrageous shipping.

[@IanBullass-h5n]

that tygers lp is the sweet spot , the first lp was rough n fun nwobhm but the vocals kill it . i cant listen to it these days.... afterwards we get the def leppard disease , the cage is poppy fun but thats all i can say to defend it ... shame as they had a good thing going on this lp ... the guitarist apparantly is a train conductor where i live in the uk .. id love to meet him on my commutes ..

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Yeah, I dig that album. It's good balance of classic heavy metal and flat out catchy rock hooks. I still want to check out some of the earlier album but I haven't heard much good about the albums that followed Spellbound. Dude, that would be an interesting chance run in. If you get that opportunity tell him people still love Spellbound!

[@MrLando0]

Dude, you should do a video of crappy/embarrassing shit you own, would be fun!

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Dude, that would take A LOT of videos lol.

[@BornFromTheGrave]

You still want that DISEMBOWELMENT "Transcendence into The Peripheral" on CD? I have a barely used copy of it, bought it when it came out and never really liked it. Hit me up if you're interested.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Yo! Dude, I will gladly take that album off your hands if you don't want it anymore. Hit us up on Instagram or Facebook and I'll get back to you there. Thank you for even offering too, man! I really appreciate it!

[@mendicantmedia]

ha I'm a non-purger too and have oodles of crap cds I bought cheap as they look metal - hmm maybe a reaction video is in order

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Yeah, no matter how bad some of them are I can't part with them because they were all part of the journey so to speak lol

[@ndfnq7811]

1. Coroner.. although Disincarnate would be awesome 2. Atrophy - Socialized Hate (cd), Angelus Apatrida - Cabaret de la Guillotine (mp3) 3. Razor 4. Record Store - Zia Records 5. Dead Horse...needs a Retro Review 6. King Diamond - Conspiracy 7. Kylesa - Ultraviolet...ex girlfriend loves this band 8. Sacred Reich - Surf Nicaragua (original and rerelease) 9. Laaz Rockit - Annihilation Principle 10. Ludichrist - Immaculate Deception 11. N/A I keep everything 12. Morbid Saint 13. Stench of Profit - No Place To Hide 14. Fulci - Duck Face Killings - Thanks Necrotic Nick 15. Morta Skuld - As Humanity Fades 16. Beneath the Remains - Michael Whelan 17. Carcass - Reek of Putrefaction 18. The Ghastly Ones - A-Haunting We Will Go-Go 19. Coroner...although Disincarnate would be awesome (deja-vu) 20. Thralls of Metal. Metal-O-Mania

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Good answers. Coroner was my initial answer for 1 but the potential of a follow up to Disincarnate's debut is hard to pass up. Not sure if I'm familiar with Dead Horse so I'll have to look into that one.

[@ndfnq7811]

@@thrallsofmetal I've told you to check out Dead Horse multiple times. At least their first 2 albums and 2 EPs. Kind of crossover/death/thrash. They also have a band with Kurt Brecht from D.R.I. called Pasadena Napalm Division

[@cbn6635]

Actually the cover art to Monstrosity's 'In Dark Purity' is not much of an improvement on 'Millennium'... 🤗

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I mean... that cover is not great either but Millennium still takes the cake in comparison.