Pyrexia - Wrath

© The Weirding, 2025

RIP Ace Frehley

I stopped doing memorials and tributes a long time ago due to my age, but this one was special because KISS was so important to my childhood. Take that FWIW, but I felt bad that his passing was overshadowed by the holidays and wanted to be sure to remember it.

On a positive note, I read that Peter Criss is releasing his first new album in 18 years. It will be available on Bandcamp (at least), if I read correctly. 

© The Weirding, 2025  

Buffy Alum, Michelle Trachtenberg, Dead at 39

Buffy the Vampire Slayer alumnus, Michelle Trachtenberg, has died from a botched medical procedure at age 39. The tragic news comes to us weeks after a new Buffy revival series slated for Hulu was announced. It is unknown as to whether or not Trachtenberg's character, Dawn, was to be a part of the reboot.

Trachtenberg began her acting career at an extremely early age and followed in Sarah Michelle Gellar's footsteps to some degree, finding success on the long-running ABC soap, All My Children, as well as kids' shows on Nickelodeon. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is likely her best known work, though she appeared in numerous TV shows and at least one movie.

Michelle Trachtenberg played Buffy Summers' "little sister," Dawn, who turned out to be nothing anyone expected, and whose character arc drove an entire season. Although the storyline was not to my personal taste, as I felt it simply retrod the same ground Buffy Summers' character had already walked, Trachtenberg did a fine job and her addition to the series was a pleasant shock in the way it was handled.

Our condolences to her friends and family.

© The Weirding, 2025

Peelingflesh - The G Code

Peelingflesh - The G Code is brand new (to me) and I'm digging it.

© The Weirding, 2025

The Black Dahlia Murder - Panic Hysteric

Welcome back to the mayhem, kids! Fresh death metal (most) every Friday and comic book and TTRPG news throughout the week (mostly). Plus a lot of hystrionics from a madman with a mad plan. Mwah-ha-HA!

If the video does not show, it is from YouTube and should still be available there.

© The Weirding, 2024

WINDHAND - Orchard

Happy May Day, sukkas! I love this song but I drafted the post because the videos aren't showing. It will be some time before I get through the entire catalog of published posts, but it's a start.

I reinserted the video and it's showing up on my end. Everything went viral, and I got nearly 5k hits on this post alone, so I guess the record companies pulled them or something; IDK what happened.

© The Weirding, 2020

NEW The Black Dahlia Murder - Removal of the Oaken Stake

The Black Dahlia Murder - Removal of the Oaken Stake

The Black Dahlia Murder is getting in on the D&D scene.  Here is an interview with the band from Morrus'.  (I hope that link works.)

© The Weirding, 2020

Decapitated - Spheres of Madness

Decapitated - Spheres of Madness

With respect to the UK's overreaching "DOMA" "laws," we have none.

© The Weirding, 2020

NEW Shards of Humanity - Moths of Zeta

Moths of Zeta

Shards of Humanity's second, full-length album is available April 13^th (2020).

(Please let me know if this video does not work or does not resolve to the correct song; I am wrestling with internal settings and am unable to link to it directly.)

© The Weirding, 2020

Swamp - Carnival of Treachery

Swamp - Carnival of Treachery

Russian death metal. So lovely.

© The Weirding, 2019

Godspeed

© The Weirding, 2020

Embryonic Devourment - Blood Gift

Embryonic Devourment - Blood Gift

Yes, please and thank you.

© The Weirding, 2020

Malevolent Creation - Malevolent Creation

Malevolent Creation - Malevolent Creation

Malevolent rarely gets the attention they deserve, as they were definitely at the forefront of the early Death Metal scene and contributed greatly.  My only guess is that it has to do with their thrashy style and just general timing: When this album debuted, bands like Deicide and Cannibal Corpse had already laid claim to the Tampa Bay/Morrisson Studios sound and NYBDM was just beginning to lay waste to the industry.

Chords -- fifths and thirds, most notably (haha!  I love this shit) -- and an intentionally sloppy, garage/live-band sound began to take hold in what (in retrospect) I can only guess was the producers' best strategy at maintaining sway in an arena increasingly owned by actual musicians.  Yet, Malevolent Creation's single-string philosophy yielded nothing in the way of aggressive progression and beat-down breaks.

It's easy to forget, but Death - Human, Obituary - Cause of Death, and Morbid Angel - Blessed are the Sick were in heavy rotation (on my friend's mom's mini-van's CD changer) at the same time as Malevolent Creation's debut album.  They were right there at the start, with that bright, light-string shit that still -- 25+ years later -- sounds like no one else.

Except Slayer and also Metallica and Megadeth.  And also Anthrax.

Whatever the case, Malevolent Creation's first couple of albums remain stalwart examples of actual Death Metal -- before it started being divided into a countless multitude of sub-genres.

© The Weirding, 2020

NEW God Dethroned - Illuminati

God Dethroned - Illuminati

Almost certainly censored from YouTube by the time this sees light... so to speak.  New album out February 7^th, 2020.

Merry Christmas, you unwashed heathens!

© The Weirding, 2019

NEW Bad Omens - Dethrone

Bad Omens - Dethrone

That's more like it.

© The Weirding, 2019

NEW Fit for an Autopsy - The Sea of Tragic Beasts

Fit for an Autopsy - The Sea of Tragic Beasts

I know I don't post a lot of "Deathcore," but that's only because I have good taste.  There haven't been [m]any bands that can pull off that style other than Mercyful Fate/King Diamond.  I don't know what they call that more recent style where they swap dramatically between bad radio ballad sing-alongs and trite hardcore riffs, but I hate that schizophrenic noise.

I kind of enjoy this song, though; it falls more into the "Dissonant" and "Discordant" camp.

© The Weirding, 2019

NEW Despised Icon - Snake in the Grass

Despised Icon - Snake in the Grass

I know this shit's old by the time I get it out but that's just the way it goes.

I won't waste your time with my views on "Slam," but I will say that although music from bands like Despised Icon owe a lot to Suffocation and other bands from the (mostly early '90s) NYBDM scene, they also owe a lot to hardcore bands like Agnostic Front, Sick of It All, and even Helmet (which I don't think is from NY).

I get why it's called "Slam Metal," but I believe all of the bands I just mentioned should be excluded from that label for a list of reasons that I said I wouldn't waste your time detailing.  Those reasons are:

© The Weirding, 2019

NEW Vader - Steeler (Judas Priest Cover)

Vader - Steeler (Judas Priest Cover)

© The Weirding, 2019

NEW Signs of the Swarm - Crown of Nails

Signs of the Swarm - Crown of Nails

 
© The Weirding, 2019

Slayer - Black Magic (Live, 1983)

Slayer - Black Magic

© The Weirding, 2019