Hawkind - Warrior On the Edge of Time (1975, U.K.) Space Rock

Another classic space rock album from one of the best known names in the genre. This is pretty much the quintessential space rock album, from the upbeat melodies of 'Assault & Battery' to the chilled out, driving, instrumental grooves of 'Opa-Loka' to the tense middle eastern soundscapes of 'Magnu' this album is solid spacey gold. The spoken word sections are forgettable and ignorable and Lemmy of motorhead fame's closing song on the album doesn't really fit (but is interesting none the less from a thrash enthusiast's point of view) but the catchiness and the greatness of each (proper) individual song is formidable and forces this one up into the ranks of classics.

Track Listings

1. & 2. Assault & battery part I / The golden void part II (10:20)
3. The wizard blew his horn (2:00)
4. Opa-loka (5:40)
5. The demented man (4:20)
6. Magnu (8:40)
7. Standing at the edge (3:45)
8. Spiral galaxy 28948 (3:55)
9. Warriors (2:05)
10. Dying seas (3:05)
11. Kings of speed (3:25)

Total Time: 47:15
Bonus track on all cds
12. Motorhead

Download here (Hawkwind - Warrior on the edge of time, ~230kbps variable bit-rate)

Eloy - Ocean (1977, Germany) Space Rock

An all time classic Space rock album, very much on the prog side (as opposed to the psychedelic side) of the space rock spectrum. Very well produced with a very rich oceanic (as the name would suggest) washy sound. There is some great guitar and synth interplay here, when one is creating soundscapes the other is playing lead type melodies and visa versa. I'm also a big fan of the cheesy epic lyrics sung with a thick German accent, I think they add a lot to the character of the album and the theme of oceanic gods and Atlantis is rich and compelling to begin with. This album is essential for any space rock enthusiast.

Track Listings

1. Poseidon's Creation (11:38)
2. Incarnation Of The Logos (8:25)
3. Decay Of The Logos (8:15)
4. Atlantis' Agony At June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime (15:35)

Total Time: 43:53

Download Here: (Eloy - Ocean, 224kbps)

Subterranean Masquerade - Suspended Animation Dreams (2005, U.S.A) Progressive Metal

This album is similar to conventional progressive metal in name only as it defies pretty much every convention in what many would consider a stale and cliche genre. The mastermind of the band is Tomer Pink and he displays an amazing array of songwriting prowess given that the album touches on probably more than a dozen genres although most often with good results. The songs 'no place like home' and 'wolf among sheep' are very memorable classics with a very defined and complex sense of melody and direction.

Track Listings

1. Suspended Animation Dreams (2:26)
2. Wolf Among Sheep (6:26)
3. No Place Like Home (7:59)
4. Kind of a Blur (3:12) The Rock
5. The Rock'N'Roll Preacher (9:06)
6. Six Strings to Cover Fear (6:48)
7. Awake (14:23)
8. X (4:28)

Total Time: 54:50

Download here: (Subterranean Masquerade - Suspended Animation Dreams V0)

Brainticket - Cottonwoodhill (1971, Switzerland) Psych, Krautrock

One of the few Swiss bands to garner the krautrock label (and truly deserving) Brainticket's debut album is a great psychedelic record. It sees repetitive organ riffing placed in amongst random samples and an infamous spoken word section by a woman sounding like she's either possessed or about to climax. Solid kraut release.

Track Listings

1. Black Sand (4:05)
2. Places Of Light (4:06)
3. Brainticket Part I (8:21)
4. Brainticket Part I [Conclusion] (4:36)
5. Brainticket Part II (13:14)

Total Time: 34:22

Download here: (Brainticket - Cottonwoodhill, 256kbps)

Repulsion - Horrified (1989, U.S.A.) Grindcore

One of the earliest grindcore albums, recorded in 1986. This album is extremely crusty and primitive (in the best possible way) with great riffing , furious blasting and one ferocious, noisy solo every song. It's a formula that takes surprisingly long to get old as well with enough compelling material to keep any keen grind fiend happy. The second CD contains some of the most poorly recorded inaudible demos every commited to tape but it's a fun one off listen just for that reason. This one is essential for fans of early extreme metal.

Tracklisting:

		Disc One: Horrified
1-1		The Stench Of Burning Death (1:33)
1-2		Eaten Alive (1:37)
1-3		Acid Bath (1:30)
1-4		Slaughter Of The Innocent (1:32)
1-5		Decomposed (1:21)
1-6		Radiation Sickness (2:03)
1-7		Splattered Cadavers (1:24)
1-8		Festering Boils (1:51)
1-9		Pestilent Decay (1:03)
1-10		Crematorium (1:29)
1-11		Driven To Insanity (1:39)
1-12		Six Feet Under (1:10)
1-13		Bodily Dismemberment (1:45)
1-14		Repulsion (1:44)
1-15		The Lurking Fear (1:08)
1-16		Black Breath (2:16)
1-17		Maggots In Your Coffin (1:45)
1-18		Horrified (2:04)
		Disc Two: Rarities
		Genocide 11/84 Rehearsal Demo
2-1		Armies Of The Dead (2:23)
2-2		Satan's Whores (2:35)
2-3		Crack Of Doom (2:30)
		Genocide Violent Death Demo Autumn '85
2-4		Armies Of The Dead (1:42)
2-5		Six Feet Under (1:33)
2-6		Violent Death (1:05)
2-7		The Lurking Fear (1:34)
2-8		Crack Of Doom (1:59)
2-9		Horrified (2:32)
		Genocide WFBE Demo 1/26/86
2-10		The Stench Of Burning Death (1:29)
2-11		Decomposed (1:34)
2-12		Slaughter Of The Innocent (1:50)
2-13		Eaten Alive (1:50)
2-14		Six Feet Under (1:18)
2-15		Crypt Of Terror (1:49)
2-16		The Lurking Fear (1:19)
2-17		Festering Boils (1:56)
2-18		Pestilent Decay (1:13)
2-19		Black Nightmare (2:03)
2-20		Bodily Dismemberment (1:54)
2-21		Horrified (2:13)
		Genocide Live 5/14/86
2-22		Radiation Sickness (2:05)
2-23		Black Breath (2:17)
		Repulsion Excruciation EP/Demo
2-24		Excruciation (3:31)
2-25		Helga (Lost Her Head) (3:25)
2-26		Rebirth (3:05)
2-27		House Of Freaks (2:42)
		Repulsion 1991 Final Demos
2-28		Depraved (2:59)
2-29		Face Of Decay (3:14)
2-30		Something Dead (3:30)

Download here: (Repulsion - Horrified, 256kbps)

Pestilence - Spheres (1993, Holland) Death Metal, Jazz Fusion

Pestilence started in 1986 as a thrash band (as everyone did back in the day) and by the time they released their first album 'Malleus Maleficarum' their style had moved more into the death metal territory. Their 3rd album 1991's 'Testimony of the Ancients' saw their style shift even further to incorporate some jazzy (yet subtle) elements.

The band's final album 'Spheres' released in 1993 was a revolutionary album in fully incorporating the jazz elements hinted at in the previous album. While there were a few bands that had already incorporated jazz stylings within the death metal genre (Cynic and Atheist notably) pretty well every one of these bands had a different approach and an entirely different sound. The sound on this is predominantly guitar driven, the guitar sound is very dense and chunky and the vocals are fairly harsh and aggressive (as opposed to guttural). This is where a lot of the comparisons to standard death metal end, the elements that really set this album apart are the seemingly comparatively simple yet syncopated and polyrhythmic drums, the guitar synth and the well considered jazzy and emotive guitar solos. They make for a very conflicted yet amazing listening experience and songs like 'Personal Energy' completely blur the line between jazz fusion and death metal while the frantic synth chord chorus of 'Demise of Time' is almost beyond description emotively.

It's very tough to explain albums like this one as there is so much that is open to interpretation and due to the conflicted nature of the music the best way to find out what it's about is to listen to it! This is the first of several jazz influenced metal releases I intend to post here and it's a gem of an album although it's definitely some form of acquired taste.

Track Listings

1. Mind Reflections (3:21)
2. Multiple Beings (4:05)
3. The Level Of Perception (3:49)
4. Aurian Eyes (1:32)
5. Soul Search (3:19)
6. Personal Energy (4:09)
7. Voices From Within (1:12)
8. Spheres (3:29)
9. Changing Perspectives (3:24)
10. Phileas (1:17)
11. Demise Of Time (3:40)

Total Time: 33:17

Download here: (Pestilence - Spheres, ~210kbps VBR)

Updates

I'm aiming to update this page whenever I can, it should be noted that I'm a very lazy man but I occasionally get bursts of non-laziness where I upload 4+ albums at a time. I've had an exam and gigs galore in the past few days so my laziness has peaked. If you have any feedback, suggestions or comments I'll be glad to hear them.

Sand - Golem (1974, Germany) Krautrock

The story for this album is that the band wrote a whole bunch of folk songs and then decided to re-do them into long synth laden epics and what a fine result came out at the end. The CD re-release adds an amazing amount to the album with the entire second CD full to the brim with new material and in my opinion their best material. The sparse synth soundscapes of Vulture I/II are my particular favourite tracks.

Original Album Tracks:
Side 1
1. Helicopter (13:42)
2. Old Loggerhead (8:21)
Side 2
3. May Rain (4:29)
4. On The Corner (4:26)
5. Sarah 1 - Passacaille / Sarah 2 - Per Aspera Ad Astra (10:40)

LP Total Time: 40:58

CD Bonus Tracks:
6. Vulture I (5:38)
7. Doncha Feel (6:04)
8. Moonlightlove (5:26)
9. Burning House (2:08)
10. Vulture II (14:08)
11. May Rain I (2:50)
12. Desert Storm (10:49)
13. Sarah (12:16)
14. Power Station (19:40)
15. Old Loggerhead (12:44)
16. Helicopter (15:18)
17. May Rain II (2:50)

CD Total Time: 67:51

Download here (Sand - Golem, 256kbps)

Autopsy - Mental Funeral (1991, U.S.A.) Death Metal

A fine death metal release, very sludgy and raw invoking many flavours of stoner rock amongst the mid-tempo riffy sound. This is highly recommended to anyone that's a fan of early death metal.

1.	Twisted Mass of Burnt Decay	02:15
2.	In the Grip of Winter	04:08
3.	Fleshcrawl	00:36
4.	Torn From the Womb	03:19
5.	Slaughterday	04:04
6.	Dead	03:18
7.	Robbing the Grave	04:20
8.	Hole in the Head	06:03
9.	Destined to Fester	04:34
10.	Bonesaw	00:45
11.	Dark Crusade	03:55
12.	Mental Funeral	00:37
Total playing time		37:54

Download here : (Autopsy - Mental Funeral, ~250kbps variable bit-rate)

GonG - You (1974, United Kingdom) Space Rock/Canterbury Scene

Since discovering the wonderful weird world of fellow Australian Daevid Allen's GonG this album has been in high rotation amongst my circle of friends. Starting off with some short, cheeky and jazzy songs before subtly plunging into a funky space rock jam. This album has some of the most captivating jamming around with the wailing sax of particular delight. The 3 epic length songs are 3 of the best space rock compositions you're likely to hear with master builder being a masterpiece in it's own right. Anyone with a mild interest in any of the things I mentioned above needs to get this album.

Track Listings
1. Thoughts for naught (1:30)
2. A P.H.P.'s advice (1:37)
3. Magick mother invocation (2:11)
4. Master builder (6:09)
5. A sprinkling of clouds (8:42)
6. Perfect mystery (2:25)
7. The isle of everywhere (10:21)
8. You never blow yr trip forever (11:24)

Download here: (Gong - You, V0)

Eider Stellaire - Eider Stellaire I (1981, France) Zeuhl

This one is an amazing rare Zeuhl gem, for those of you who don't know what Zeuhl is this is the perfect album to educate you. Pummeling regimented bass lines, virtuosic jazz drumming, heavy distorted organ all in one tasty (meaty perhaps?) package. Get some of this in you.

Track Listings

1. Onde (1. LP Seite) (8:35)
2. Arctis 6eme éphéméride (7:04)
3. Légende (2. LP Seite) (5:37)
4. Tétra (6:32)
5. Nihil (7:26)

Total Time: 35:14

Download here: (Eider Stellaire - Eider Stellaire I, 256kbps)

Atlas - Bla Vardag (1979, Sweden) Symphonic Prog

This record is relentlessly upbeat to the point that it makes me sad in some way I can't quite comprehend. Composed of a bunch of Scandinavian guys with awesome haircuts and more talent than they know what to do with the music is entirely instrumental and the group have quite an academic approach to the music in that the extremely dense layered and complex melodies are executed perfectly. I don't exaggerate when I talk about my favourite albums, this would have to be a strong contender for the top 10.

Track Listings

1. Elisabiten (7:12)
2. På Gata (14:10)
3. Blå Vardag (6:56)
4. Gånglåt (2:52)
5. Den Vita Tranans Väg (7:18)
6. Björnstorp (6:17)
7. Hemifrån (7:50)
8. Sebastian (4:31)

Total Time: 57:06

Download here: (Atlas Bla Vardag, ~240kbps variable bit-rate)

Cadaver - ...In Pains (1992, Norway) Death/Thrash Metal

After their roughly recorded first album displaying great potential Cadaver released this gem. This is one of my favourite extreme metal releases, it's hard to describe as it stays well within the confines of convention yet it's clearly separate from the pack. The best comparison to draw would be between latter day Coroner except a lot heavier and more uncompromising, it almost has a black metal atmosphere about it, very cerebral - well worth a listen.

Track listing :

1.	Bypassed	03:35
2.	Mr. Tumour's Misery	04:27
3.	Into The Outside	05:06
4.	Blurred Visions	04:30
5.	Runaway Brain	04:30
6.	Inner Persecution	04:59
7.	In Distortion	02:57
8.	The Misanthrope	04:18
9.	Ins-Through-Mental	04:10
10.	During The End	06:21
Total playing time		44:53

Download here: (Cadaver - In Pains, 192kbps)

Dzyan - Electric silence (1975, Germany) Ethnic Kraut/Free Jazz

Dzyan started out in 1972 with a fairly rocky brand of krautrock on their first 2 albums with some ethnic influences creeping in and with some clear jazz undertones. Things changed for their third and final album, the trio went completely over the edge and the jazz and ethnic influences from the first 2 albums completely enveloped them resulting in the spiritual masterpiece in Electric Silence. From the cool calculated percussion to the upbeat jazz wailings to the quiet sitar contemplation this is pure distilled kraut genious.

You know the episode of the mighty boosh where the bongo brothers are searching for the new sound?, Electric silence is that new sound, well worth a look for any fans of kraut (or sitar).


Track listing:


1. Back To Where We Come From (8:57)
2. A Day In My Life (4:03)
3. The Road Not Taken (4:54)
4. Khali (4:55)
5. For Earthly Thinking (9:38)
6. Electric Silence (4:30)

Total Time: 36:57

download here: (Dzyan - Electric Silence, 320kbps)

Hello and welcome all!

As a massive music fan, I enjoy sharing the experience of music with others. As I have found people around the internet and on blogs who enjoy this social aspect of music and sharing I decided I would like to actively participate with my own music blog. Here I will be discussing and sharing with anyone that is interested some of my favourite pieces of music and bands ranging in style from krautrock to death metal to shoegaze.

I hope you enjoy what I have to offer!