100 Heavy Metal Album Covers from 2014

2014, another corker of a year for heavy metal.  Here's my pic for the Top 100 Heavy Metal releases of 2014.  All albums received some form of air-play on my radio show, which I retired from at the end of October this year.  So there may be a few late year releases that slipped under my radar.

But in any event, some old faces, some new faces, Stoner keeps making a big resurgence (for me, and generally) and a new album and ep from Godflesh!

Your favourite releases?  Albums you were dissapointed with?  I dropped off Austrian Death Machine's 'Triple Brutal' as I thought it was boring and listless.  Babymetal on the list?  Haters gonna hate.  Yeah, they represent everything that's wrong with corporate music.  But in a genre like metal, that's suck a stand-out (Nu-metal in the '90's notwithstanding) that I reckon metal can absorb one example of shameless Japaness cute J-metal without being in danger of losing its soul as a genre.  And it's a great shit-stir to all the metal snobs.  Let's just hope it doesn't become the norm, however...

I thought the new Accept album was awesome, and have given my nod of approval to Mark Tornillo as the new lead singer (even if he sounds a wee bit Vim Fuego-ish on the high notes).  Cannibal Corpse continue to impress, Manowar brought out another re-recording (!), a couple of releases from Sunn O))), Dead Kelly impressed the shit out of me, the Ronnie James Dio tribute early in the year was a gem, Hadal Maw power out a release (watch these guys!), and Wolves in the Throne Room bring out an album from left-field, more dark ambient than anything else, and it worked for me.

Everyone gushed about 'The Satanist' from Behemoth, and while I've included it in the list, it didn't grab me as much as seemingly everyone else.  Entombed A.D.'s new album is decent, but for me, the jury's still out as to whether it's a good album.  As much as I love Electric Wizard, their 2014 release, 'Time To Die' was a bit disappointing.  And I'm not still fully sold on Mastodon, but that's a great album cover in this year of vinyl revival!

Bring on 2015!

The albums, from left to right, top to bottom, in no particular order (but mostly alphabetical by band.  Just how it worked out).

1. Blind Rage - Accept
2. The Joy Of Motion - Animals As Leaders
3. Check 'Em Before You Wreck 'Em - Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell
4. 25 Cents For A Riff - Acid Drinkers
5. Xenon - Mechina
6. Language - The Contortionist
7. Memoirs Of A Madman - Ozzy Osbourne
8. A World Lit Only By Fire - Godflesh
9. The Serpent & The Sphere - Agalloch
10. Desideratum - Anaal Nathrakh
11. Tourniquets Hacksaws and Graves - Autopsy
12. Babymetal - Babymetal
13. Back From The Abyss - Orange Goblin
14. Back To The Front - Entombed A.D.
15. The Satanist - Behemoth
16. Brutal Delivery Of Vengeance - Embalmed
17. Burn The Serum - Kyng
18. A Skeletal Domain - Cannibal Corpse
19. Blood Eagle - Conan
20. Dawn Of The Dude (EP) - Cross Examination
21. Death Mask - Lord Mantis
22. Blood Mantra - Decapitated
23. Decline & Fall (EP) - Godflesh
24. Destined To Violate - Gorgasm
25. Misery - Disentomb
26. Awake The Riot - Dust Bolt
27. Earthless - Doom:vs
28. Eat Me - Dol Kruug
29. Time To Die - Electric Wizard
30. Eternity Of Hell & Torment - Belligerent Intent
31. Existence - Aeon Of Horus
32. Blood In, Blood Out - Exodus
33. No Place For Disgrace 2014 - Flotsam and Jetsam
34. Beyond - Freedom Call
35. From Crotch To Crown - Prostitute Disfigurement
36. From Wisdom To Baked - Cannabis Corpse
37. Gigantoid - Fu Manchu
38. Senium - Hadal Maw
39. Dawn Of The New Centurion - Hatriot
40. Heen Yadhar Al Ghasq - Al-Namrood
41. Baptised In Vomit - Hillbilly Blitzkrieg
42. Immortal Legacy - Hirax
43. Redefined Mayhem - Holy Moses
44. Shadows Of The Dying Sun - Insomnium
45. Into The Maelstom - Bigelf
46. Welt Ohne Werbung - Japanische Kampfhorspiele
47. King Of Asgard - Karg
48. Kings Of Metal MMXIV - Manowar
49. The Sun Will Rise Again - Loudness
50. Escape From The Shadow Garden - Magnum
51. For I Am Genocide - Mass Infection
52. Back From Beyond - Massacre
53. Once More 'Round The Sun - Mastodon
54. Mountain - Bong Breaker
55. Murmur - Murmur
56. The Vaulted Shadows - My Dying Bride
57. Nero In Metastasi - Cripple Bastards
58. Up The Dosage - Nashville Pussy
59. Angelic Dread - Nunslaughter
60. Inked In Blood - Obituary
61. The Last Neanderthal - Ogre
62. Pale Communion - Opeth
63. Taste My Sword Of Understanding - Opium Warlords
64. White Devil Armory - Overkill
65. High On Radiation - Reactory
66. Resist Or Serve - Cloven Hoof
67. Meathymns - Ribspreader
68. Slaves To The Grave - Rigor Mortis
69. Ronnie James Dio  This Is Your Life - Various Artists
70. Heroes - Sabaton
71. Slave To The Sword - Exmortus
72. Digital Resistance - Slough Feg
73. Arkan - Sofia
74. Sons Of The Southern Cross - Dead Kelly
75. Stalagmire - Cauldron Black Ram
76. LA Reh 012 - Sunn O)))
77. Terrestrials - Sunn O))) & Ulver
78. Sunset On The Golden Age - Alestorm
79. We Hate The Sea (EP) - Swashbuckle
80. Glass Cathedrals - The Mire
81. R.I.B. - Tankard
82. Hypothalamus - The Wisdoom
83. Thou - Heathen
84. Necronomic Warfare - Trenchrot
85. Kaptein Kaos - Trollfest
86. Ultimatum - ADX
87. Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath - Unaussprechlichen Kulten
88. Under Satan's Sun - Bloody Hammers
89. Unholy Resurrection - Grim Legion
90. Outsider - Uriah Heep
91. Tibi Et Igni - Vader
92. The Glorious Dead - Vanir
93. Distant Is The Sun - Vanishing Point
94. Sleeping With Evil (EP) - Vindicator
95. Worship (EP) - Weed Priest
96. Shogunate Macabre - Whispered
97. Whiteworm Cathedral - Necrophagia
98. Samsara - Wide Eyes
99. Celestite - Wolves In The Throne Room
100. The Conjuring - Wo Fat

100 Heavy Metal Album Covers from 2013

2013 - Another year done and dusted.  The Best Heavy Metal Albums lists are flowing thick and fast from all quadrants of the intra-webs, and there is general agreement on a number of albums that surfaced for the year.

All well and good, but I'm doing something a little different, with a pictorial 100 album covers of 2013, and in no particular order.  Now that I'm having a glance at the albums I had a listen to, and played or featured on my radio show ( Sleeping in the Fire on Phoenix FM Bendigo shameless plug time), as a visual rather than a sonic assault, there seems to be alot of circle motifs and skulls for 2013.  Not sure what to read into that, if anything.  Enjoy the Covers of 2013, as heard on Sleeping in the Fire, and bring on 2014!

The albums listed from left to right, top to bottom, in no particular order:

1. 7th Offensive - Panzerchrist
2. 13 - Black Sabbath
3. Feast - Annihilator
4. Pinnacle Of Bedlam - Suffocation
5. Veneration - Ares Kingdom
6. Apocalyze - Crossfaith
7. All Is One - Orphaned Land
8. Chemistry Of Consciousness - Toxic Holocaust
9. Darkness In A Different Light - Fates Warning
10. Dawning - Mouth Of The Architect
11. The Wrath Of Cthulhu - The Obliterate Plague
12. Monolith - The Privater
13. Abra Kadaver - Kadaver
14. Aetherial - Oceans Of Slumber
15. Aftershock - Motorhead
16. Christopher Lee - Charlemagne: By The Sword And The Cross
17. Deceiver Of The Gods - Amon Amarth
18. Colored Sands - Gorguts
19. The Dark Side Of Light - Deadcell
20. Sunbather - Deafheaven
21. Anthems - Anthrax
22. Arrival At Six - Sorcery
23. Beyond - Omnium Gatherum
24. Bunch Of Bisons - Stonehenge
25. Cheers, Beers and Beards - Frankenbok
26. The Man Left In Space - Cosmograf
27. Cougar Club - Spider Kitten
28. Epitome Of Torture - Sodom
29. Now What?! - Deep Purple
30. Dirty Dynamite - Krokus
31. Duskmachine - Duskmachine
32. Dustwalker - Fen
33. Every Day I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came - Jesu
34. Lemuria EP - Evil Intent
35. Excised And Anatomised EP - Evocation
36. Flesh Is Heir - The Amenta
37. Labyrinth - Fleshgod Apocalypse
38. Blodsvept - Finntroll
39. From Beer To Eternity - Ministry
40. The Devil's Cut - White Wizzard
41. Giants Of Canaan - Attacker
42. Morbid Ascent EP - Grave
43. Battle Maximus - GWAR
44. Habitual Levitations - Intronaut
45. Hope In Hell - Anvil
46. Ignorant Being EP - A Greed Science
47. Late For Nothing - Iwrestledabearonce
48. Autopsychosis - Katalepsy
49. Killed By Thrash EP - Reactory
50. Kingdom Of Conspiracy - Immolation
51. Thy Kingdom Scum - Church Of Misery
52. Kunst - KMFDM
53. Kunstraub - In Extremo
54. Life Sentence - Satan
55. Digital Lies - Lord
56. Megadolon - Gutteral Slug
57. Pitch Black EP - Meshuggah
58. Metal Machine - Taipan
59. Mind Control - Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats
60. Called To Rise - Oblivion
61. Odori Sepulcrorum - Grave Miasma
62. Omen Of Disease - Broken Hope
63. Pelagial - The Ocean
64. Forever Becoming - Pelican
65. Obsideo - Pestilence
66. Manifest Decimation - Power Trip
67. Putrid Death Sorcery - NecroWretch
68. III The Rommel Chronicles - Hail Of Bullets
69. Resilient - Running Wild
70. Memorial - Russian Circles
71. Savages - Soulfly
72. Sacrifice - Saxon
73. Scorn - Primitive Man
74. The Mediator Between The Head And Hands Must Be The Heart - Sepultura
75. Serpents Unleashed - Skeletonwitch
76. Skull - Evile
77. Species At War - Rotten Sound
78. Earth Blues - Spiritual Beggars
79. Grindcoholism - Squash Bowels
80. 13 - Suicidal Tendencies
81. Straight Out Of Hell - Helloween
82. Super Collider - Megadeth
83. Surgical Steel - Carcass
84. Tend No Wounds EP - Black Tusk
85. Ram The World - Barbarion
86. Headless Ritual - Autopsy
87. The Lost Spire - Cathedral
88. The Manuscript - My Dying Bride
89. The Terror Tapes - Gama Bomb
90. The Underground Resistance - Darkthrone
91. The Dream Calls For Blood - Death Angel
92. Euporie Tide - Causa Sui
93. Turisas2013 - Turisas
94. Underworlds - Mammoth Grinder
95. Target Earth - Voivod
96. Real-Life Death - Walking The Cadaver
97. Wallow - Flagitious Idiocyncrasy In The Dilapidation
98. IV Empires Collapse - Warbringer
99. BBC Session 2011 - Wolves In The Throne Room
100. Earth Rocker - Clutch

What was your favourite Heavy Metal Album for 2013?

What was the scariest album cover for 2013?

What was the best album cover for 2013? 

Happy Birthday H P Lovecraft, the Heavy Metal Radio Show

The Lovecraft Show

Broadcast 21st August, 10pm - 1am, Melbourne time (EST)

 

1. Behind The Walls Of Sleep - Black Sabbath

From the first heavy metal album ever, this is not a direct quote, nor are the lyrics explicitly Lovecraftian.  However, Geezer Butler, when asked about it, replied,

'I think I may have borrowed the title 'Behind The Wall Of Sleep' from 'Beyond The Wall Of Sleep' (of which I have a first edition), but it's so long ago, I can't really remember'.  On whether 'Planet Caravan' from Paranoid is a Lovecraft song, he states, 'Planet Caravan' has nothing to do whatsoever with Lovecraft.' (The Strange Sound of Cthulhu' by Gary Hill)

2. E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) - Blue Oyster Cult

This song makes references to 'The King In Yellow' (1895) featured in a collection of short stories by Robert W. Chambers, read by Lovecraft in early 1927, and referenced in 'The Whisperer in Darkness' (1931). 

"I’m in fairy rings and tower beds
“Don’t report this” three men said
Books by blameless and by the dead
King in yellow, the Queen in red"

by Donald Roeser and Sandy Pearlman
©1976 B. O'Cult Songs, Inc.

The Blue Oyster Cult 1988 album 'Imaginos' is very much Lovecraftian in tone, especially the songs 'I Am The One You Warned Me Of', 'Les Invisibles', 'In The Presence Of Another World' and 'The Siege And Investiture Of Baron Von Frankenstein's Castle At Wisseiria'.  The common thread through this concept album is mention of a 'starry wisdom' and while the album concept was envisioned as a trilogy of double albums, it didn't work out that way.  The final work appeared with songs in a jumbled order.

"Your master is a monster
Born of a yolkless egg
He has dominion over animals
He walks the world Entrail diviner
And when the stars are right
He locks the door behind the door behind the door
The milky way abyss inclines"
("In The Presence Of Another World")

by Sandy Pearlman and Joe Bouchard
©1988 S. Pearlman, Inc and B. O'Cult Songs, Inc.

More information here about Imaginos

Their 2001 album 'Curse of the Hidden Mirror' contains the song 'The Old Gods Return'. 

"Now is the time the old gods return
Now is the time the old gods return
Exactly when the world is not expecting it
Exactly when we're sure of ourselves
That's exactly when the old gods return
And sweep our cities back into hell"

by John Shirley, Eric Bloom and Donald Roeser
©2001 Triceratops Music/Six Pound Dog Music

3. The Thing That Should Not Be - Metallica

The second Metallica song to reference Lovecraft, the first was the instrumental "The Call Of Ktulu" from 'Ride The Lightning'.
The Thing That Should Not Be (Master Of Puppets) is based upon the short story "Shadow Over Innsmouth" (1936) and contains an abbreviated couplet from Lovecraft.

"Not dead which eternal lie
stranger eons Death may die"

(Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett)

"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons death may die"

from the story "The Nameless City" (1921)

4. Shadow Out Of Time - Rage

From the story of the same name (1936) and the album 'Black In Mind'(1995), the song pretty much follows the story.

"Like a shadow out of time its injected in my mind,
like a shadow out of time
Like a vision in disguise it took hold of all my ways,
like a shadow out of time.
They have told me Ive reacted like I was not from this earth.
I guess this something inside me was not.
When Ive got these visions that I look down at myself I get
scared. This is not my body, but its ... what ?"

(Music by P. Wagner, S. Efthimiadis / Lyrics by P. Wagner)

Rage have many Lovecraftian inspired songs, including "The Crawling Chaos" (another name for Nyarlathotep), and "In A Nameless Time" all from 'Black In Mind, "Beyond The Wall Of Sleep", from Trapped! (1992) and their 2003 album 'Soundchaser' is a modernised story based (loosely) on Lovecraft's ideas.

5.  Return Of The Old Ones - Manilla Road

From their 1988 album 'Out Of The Abyss', 'Return Of The Old Ones' mentions Cthulhu and The Old Ones directly.

"Here in the darkness
Black dreams of Chaos
I hear Cthulu's call
Forever The Old Ones
Shall be upon us
Until they devour us all"

The whole album is full of Lovecraft links, and Manilla Road have many other Lovecraftian-inspired songs.  '"Children Of The Night" and "Mystification" from the album 'Mystification' (1987) are Lovecraft-leaning.  Also from 'Out Of The Abyss' the title track, 'Black Cauldron' and 'War In Heaven' contain Lovecraft referencing. 'The Courts of Chaos' (1990) has a song "From Beyond" which references the Stuart Gordon movie (1986) (loosely) based on Lovecraft's writings.  "The Books of Skelos: I. The Book of Ancients” from the same album mentions 'Cthulu' and the Necronomicon.

The 2001 album "Atlantis Rising" is a concept album, dealing with a war between the Old Ones and the Gods of Valhalla first explored in 'War In Heaven'.

6.  Shackled to the Trilithon of Kutulu - Bal-Sagoth

Bal-Sagoth owe their inspiration much more so to Robert E. Howard, but manage to squeeze in a few Lovecraft references.  "Shackled To The Trilithon Of Kutuku" from the 2006 album 'The Cthonic Chronicles' reference Cthulhu and R'lyeh directly.

“Give forth Thy sign that I may know Thy will upon the earth…”
“Grant me the power to still the waves that I may hear Thy call.”

“In His house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”
“Yet He shall rise, and His kingdom shall cover the earth!” 

Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria (1994) contains the instrumental "Hatheg Kla" from "The Other Gods" (1921), and 'The Cthonic Chronicles contains many references to Lovecraft, including the final song, 'Return to Hatheg-Kla'. 

7.  At The Mountains Of Madness - Necrodeath

From their 1987 album "Into The Macabre", 'At The Mountains Of Madness' refers to the story of the same name (1931).

"The flight toward the dead begins
A vast tableland appears
The Ancient begins charm my soul
Enter new world of fear

Hide or die in the abyss way

They're bounded in a cage of stone
Seeking safety in flight
The visions from Necronomicon
Ways of salvation are open wide"

From the same album, "The Flag Of Inverted Cross" recited a formula from "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" (1927)

"YOG-SOTHOTH
H'EE-L'GEB
F'AI-THRODOG
SABAOTH"

“Sauthenerom” mentions Yog-Sothoth, Hastur, Nyarlathotep, and Kadath.

8.  Age Of Agony - Mekong Delta

Mekong Delta's 1988 album "The Music Of Erich Zann is a concept album from the story of the same name (1922).  

"Who composed all this themes
that pursue me in dreams?
Messengers of downfall
(5th dimension nightmare)
(Age of agony)
(Death from the Rue d'Auseil)"
 
9. The Elder Race - Dream Death

Dream Death's only Lovecraft inspired song, from their 1987 album 'Journey Into Mystery'.

"Look through the mystic door at the hidden depths
Which all men share
Long and hard was the war when man usurped the
earth
Last to fall the serpent men, driven into the waste
and left to die
They returned as priests of their evil cult in human
guise"

10.  Re-Animator - Rigor Mortis (Dallas/Fort Worth Texas)  (Not to be confused with the 12 other heavy metal bands called Rigor Mortis and the one band called 'The Rigor Mortis'.)

From their 1988 self-titled album, this track is probably based more on the 1985 Stuart Gordon movie, rather than the 1922 story "Herbert West—Reanimator". 

11.  Nocturnal Fear - Celtic Frost

From their 1984 ep "Morbid Tales", 'Nocturnal Fear' is a mash of images, containing a Lovecraft reference to Azathoth

"The sleeping lord awakes
Tiamat pulls on her chains
The blind phantom rages
Azag-Thoth Howls
Vibrations at the black ethers edge
As nocturnal fear penetrates the land
Ecstatical celebrations at their zenith
The seven sharpen their claws"

The 1985 ep "Emperor's Return" contains a lyrical reference to Yog-Sothoth on the track "Morbid Tales".

"Agony and nightmare
To Yog sothoth they moan
Nightfalls, morbid affair
Beard the faceless one"

12. White Ship - Solitude Aeturnus

From their 1991 album "Into the Depths of Sorrow", 'White Ship' channels the Lovecraft story (1919) of the same name.

"I was but a traveler
Floating endless through the sea
On the other side of knowledge
Through the pliancy of dreams
And voices there upon the ship
Spoke of radiant place's splendor
Beautiful shores with sands of gold
Wherein exists no torment or pain"

13.  Stranger Aeons - Entombed

From their 1991 album, "Clandestine", the track 'Stranger Aeons' contains a twist on the infamous couplet quoted above.

"Stranger things that eternal lie
awaiting beyond the time to die"

14.  The Horror of Yig - GWAR

From their 1990 album, "Scumdogs of the Universe", 'The Horror of Yig' references the 1928 story "The Curse of Yig".  But, in typical GWAR style, the whole thing is a bizarre fancy-dressed comic metal-opera. 

"I saw Yig. Yig saw me.
We're together in dark concavity.
I saw Yig. He's so big. He smokes cigs.
Eats just like a pig.
Ooooohhhhhh! I saw Yig. I saw Yig. I saw, I saw Yig!
Yig now is shifting his gibbering mass.
He hides boils with maggots.
The pus-sac extrudes.
The horror that is Yig..." 

15. Lord Of All Fevers and Plague - Morbid Angel

Morbid Angel seem to eat, breathe and shit Lovecraft throughout their career.  Nearly every album has some reference to luminaries in the Cthulhu Mythos.  While it is apparent that their major source of inspiration is the Simon Edition of 'The Necronomicon' rather than primary Lovecraft sources, they make up for this by referencing Simon's Necronomicon nearly any chance they can get.  Their guitarist, Azagthoth, even took his name from the Cthulhu Mythos.  "Lord Of All Fevers and Plague" from their debut album "Altars of Madness" (1989) contains a Cthulhu-esque chant...

"Ia iak sakkakh iak sakkakth
Ia shaxul
Ia kingu ia cthulu ia azbul
Ia azabua"

"Blessed Are The Sick" (1991) song "Unholy Blasphemies" mentions Yog-Sothoth.  "The Ancient Ones" mentions 'Kutulu'.  "Covenant (1993) song "Angel Of Disease" references Shub Niggurath and Kutulu.  "Sworn To The Black" mentions the Ancient Ones.  "Formulas Fatal To The Flesh" (1998) track "Heaving Earth" mentions "Cthhuhlhu".  "Prayer Of Hatred" mentions the Ancient Ones.  "Umulamahri" mentions Chthhulhu.  "Hellspawn: The Rebirth" mentions Cthulhu.  "Prayer Of Hatred" is a blessing to the Ancient Ones.  There are many references to Simon's 'The Necronomicon' that can't be traces back to primary Lovecraft stories, but top points for keeping in the spirit of things.

16.  The Unknown Kadath In The Cold Waste - Thergothon

From the 1994 album "Stream From The Heavens", 'The Unknown Kadath In The Cold Waste' references "The Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath" in the title and evokes a Lovecraftian atmosphere, complete with a piping flute...


"Colossal towers far in the horizon
a reflection from the dark past
a shadow from the Time before time
a memory of a divine dominion
distant piping of a cosmic flute
a hymn so high, a sound so strange
almost able to be heard
voices from the Outside"

Thergothon's 1991 demo, "Fhtagn-nagh Yog-Sothoth", contains the following songs. "Elemental" which more or less accurately quotes the famous couplet mentioned above, and attributes the quote to the Mad Arab 'Abdul Alhazred', author of the Necronomicon. 

"Evoken" finishes with:
 "NOW THE GATES ARE OPEN FOR YOG-SOTHOTH".

"Yet The Watchers Guard" has the lyrics:
"THE REALM OF WIND AND THE DARKENED DEITIES
THE BLACK GOAT OF THE WOODS WITH THE THOUSAND YOUNG" a reference to Shub-Niggurath.

"The Twilight Fade" evokes images of the Old Ones in their undersea imprisonment, without actually naming any particular Cthulhu Mythos entity.

17. Evilized - Tiamat

From their debut album "Sumerian Cry" (1990), "Evilized" mentions alignments of stars, a classic Lovecraftian concept.

"When the stars are right
They will rise from the sea
Creatures from out of time
Creatures out of mind"  

Their single "A Winter Shadow" released the same year contains the following quote...

"A shadow out of time
Hidden between different spheres"

referencing "The Shadow Out Of Time" (pub. 1936).

Their 1991 album, "The Astral Sleep" contains "Sumerian Cry (Part 3)" with a reference to Abdul Alhazred and the Ancient Ones.

18.  Breath Of Centuries - Vader

From their 1992 album "The Ultimate Incantation", 'Breath Of Centuries also quotes the famous Lovecraft couplet, as well as evoking images of Sunken R'lyeh...

"Buried in the frozen seas,
Tombs of forgotten Gods,
Who came forth from blackened stars,
A breath of centuries here.
A different, inconceivable cult,
Shreds of the eternal, endless Circle,
Gates to Hell for chosen ones,
Awake from morality."

From the same album, 'Dark Age' mentions the Edler Race from beyond the stars.  'Testimony' quotes the Simon 'Necronomicon' and evokes Lovecraftian imagery...

"Conquer your fear - IA! ZI AZAG!
Chant incantation - IA! ZI AZKAK!
Call the ancient ones - IA! KHTULU ZI KUR!
Ready to rule the black earth once again - IA!" 

Their 1990 demo "Morbid Reich" contains the demo version of 'Breath Of Centuries' as well as an instrumental entitled 'From Beyond'.

Their 1994 album "Sothis" contains an instrumental called 'R'lyeh'.

Vader credit the Simon 'Necronomicon' for lyrical inspiration on their 1995 album "De Profundis".

19.  Cthulhu - Therion

From their 1992 album "Beyond Sanctorum", 'Cthulhu' even gets some lines attributed to him...

"Cthulhu:
"My thoughts cry in this pit
I breed sorrows my thoughts for you"

On their 2004 album "Sirius B", the song 'Call of Dagon' references the 1917 story "Dagon".

"From a lonely star
Beyond the verge of universe
A sound is echoing
(A) call from another world
Lights from Sirius
Will take you from oblivion:
Dagon is here again."

20.  Rise Of The Eldar Gods - NecronomicoN (Can)

"Rise Of The Elder Gods" is the title track from the 2013 album from Canadian band NecronomicoN, not to be confused with the German, Italian, Japanese or Kyrgyzstani bands of the same name, or even 'Necronomicon Beast' from Brazil.  Which just highlights the popularity of the band name.  The album also has a song called "From Beyond". 

The band's demo featured all bar one songs influenced by Lovecraft. 

Their first album/ep, "The Silver Key", contains more Lovecraft-inspired songs. 
"The Silver Key" references Yog Sothoth. 
"Morbid Ritual" references Azathoth. 
"The Asylum" references Lovecraft's Arkham Asylum. 
"Hunting Horror" and its origins are not clearly remembered by Rob the Witch (vocalist, guitarist), but is something to do with a Haunting Horror, a Lurker in the Dark and a church (I know, metal, right!). 
"Cthonians" according to Rob "puts us in the context that tremors and earthquakes were related to wormy creatures who were living in the ground" (presumably Dholes, as mentioned in "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" (1932) by Lovecraft and E. Hoffman Price), and also contains the priceless expression "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh cthulhu r'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" which translates as "In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." as explained in "The Call Of Cthulhu" (1926)

21.  Dead But Dreaming - Deicide

From their 1992 album "Legion", mentions Elder Gods and uses the phrase 'Dead but Dreaming' commonly associated with the imprisoned Cthulhu.

"Hanging from their primal sleep
Forbidden to be seen
Spirit of the elder gods
Are dead but must live on
Still to life and yet they breathe
Dead but dreaming..."

The track "Dead By Dawn" from their self-titled 1990 debut album seems ripped straight from the Evil Dead movies.

"Book of the dead, pages bound in human flesh
Feasting the beast, from the blood the words were said
I am unseen, dreamt the sacred passage aloud
Trapped in a dream of the Necronomicon"

22. Necronomicon - Hypocrisy (Sweden)

From the 1993 album "Obsculum Obscenum", 'Necronomicon' is all about that most famous of Lovecraftian insanity-inducing tomes.

23. Weird Tales - Electric Frost-Golgotha-Altar Of Melektaus - Electric Wizard

From their epic 2000 album 'Dopethrone" this 15 minute track drips with Lovecraftian imagery and mythos, from Yuggoth ("The Whisperer in Darkness", 1931) to Kadath. ("The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath", 1926-7)

"From ancient Yuggoth, black rays emit
Evils narcotic cyclopean pits
In dark babelian towers await
Lie dreaming until the time will awake

What man has seen unknown Kadath
Whose dreamy angles, confused and trapped
Beyond the frozen waste you will find
Hyperborean continent entombed from time

From ancient Yuggoth, black rays emit
Evils narcotic cyclopean pits
In dark babelian towers await
Lie dreaming until the time will awake, yeah"

Their 1998 ep "Supercoven" has 2 epic tracks.  The title track is explicitly Lovecraftian...

"Black sun master
Under starless sky
Black stone altar
They pray to the sign
The old ones were
And they shall be again
Yog Sothoth is the gate
Planetary alignment predicts their reign

Supercoven
Have awakened the Ancient Ones
Mindless slaves to the black god
Moan dark hymns to the sun
To the sun"

Their 2002 album "Let Us Prey" contains the track 'The Outsider', (The Outsider, 1921)

Their 2004 album "We Live" contains the track 'The Sun Has Turned To Black' referencing The Old Ones.

24.  Rite of Cthulhu - Samael (instrumental)

'Nuff Said.

25.  From Beyond - Massacre

The title track from this 1991 album references the story "From Beyond" (1920) in name and theme, without actually referencing any mythos creatures directly.

"Horror beyond description
Unnatural bizarre fear
Altered and disfigured
A strange macabre terror
Through the ultra-violet
From the bottom of creation
Past the cosmic barriers
Into this world...From Beyond!"  

""Dawn of Eternity" and "Symbolic Immortality" from the same album also evoke Lovecraft themes without actually quoting Lovecraft or referencing Mythos creatures.

26.  The Mad Arab - Mercyful Fate

From the 1994 album "Time", 'The Mad Arab (Part One: The Vision) is about 'Abdul Alhazred.'  

"The son of a shepherd, Abdul Alhazred
Shivering he saw Them coming, the mountain's evil priests
Black robes came together, around the floating rock
3 symbols in the dark"

Their 1996 album "Into The Unknown" contains the track 'Kutulu (The Mad Arab Part Two)', obviously continuing the story of Abdul Alhazerd.

"Can you hear the voices in my head...
Can you hear the voices in my head
Can you hear the voices, what they say?
KUTULU...KUTULU...KUTULU...KUTULU...
Hear me as KUTULU raises his EVIL head
Drooling for my soul
I must finish this book tonight
Tomorrow...I might be of the dead"

27.  Revelations Of Glaaki - Twin Obscenity (Instrumental)

The Revelations of Glaaki reference a series of 12 books mentioned in a post-Lovecraft story "The Inhabitant of the Lake" (1964) by Ramsey Campbell. 

28.  Entranced - Disincarnate

From their solitary 1993 album "Dreams of the Carrion Kind", the lyrics are distinctly drawn from "The Tomb" (1917)

"Ancestral home in the twilight deeps
Beckons to me with unseen fingers
Forefathers haunt
Calling to me from this dark charnel house
Corrupted through lifelong seclusion
Driven by an unnatural force
Drawn to this vault
Declivity where the light reaches not

Enigmatic crypt of my bloodline
Place of ancestral remains
Temple of my fascination
Possessing me"

Compare this extract from "The Tomb"

"...Close by my home there lies a singular wooded hollow, in whose twilight deeps I spent most of my time; reading, thinking, and dreaming. Down its moss-covered slopes my first steps of infancy were taken, and around its grotesquely gnarled oak trees my first fancies of boyhood were woven. Well did I come to know the presiding dryads of those trees, and often have I watched their wild dances in the struggling beams of a waning moon—but of these things I must not now speak. I will tell only of the lone tomb in the darkest of the hillside thickets; the deserted tomb of the Hydes, an old and exalted family whose last direct descendant had been laid within its black recesses many decades before my birth.
      The vault to which I refer is of ancient granite, weathered and discoloured by the mists and dampness of generations. Excavated back into the hillside, the structure is visible only at the entrance. The door, a ponderous and forbidding slab of stone, hangs upon rusted iron hinges, and is fastened ajar in a queerly sinister way by means of heavy iron chains and padlocks, according to a gruesome fashion of half a century ago. The abode of the race whose scions are here inurned had once crowned the declivity which holds the tomb, but had long since fallen victim to the flames which sprang up from a disastrous stroke of lightning. Of the midnight storm which destroyed this gloomy mansion, the older inhabitants of the region sometimes speak in hushed and uneasy voices; alluding to what they call “divine wrath” in a manner that in later years vaguely increased the always strong fascination which I felt for the forest-darkened sepulchre. One man only had perished in the fire. When the last of the Hydes was buried in this place of shade and stillness, the sad urnful of ashes had come from a distant land; to which the family had repaired when the mansion burned down. No one remains to lay flowers before the granite portal, and few care to brave the depressing shadows which seem to linger strangely about the water-worn stones."

29.  Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten - Nile

Nile are essentially an Egyptian-themed technical death metal band, but they have dropped in the occasional Lovecraft-inspired tracks.  "Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten" from their 2005 album "Annihilation of the Wicked" is based upon a Mythos book 'Unaussprechlichen Kulten' first mentioned in Robert E. Howard's stories "The Children of the Night" (1931) and "The Black Stone" (1931) and later mentioned in several Lovecraft stories, thus becoming an additional dread tome in the Mythos.

"I await the day
When the claws of doom shall rise
To drag down in their reeking talons
The weary and hopeless remnants
Of a jaded, decayed, war-despairing mankind
Of a day, when the earth shall open wide
And the black, bottomless, yawning abyss
Engulfs the arrogant civilizations of man
Chthonic retribution shall ascend
Amidst universal pandemonium
And those who slither and crawl shall rise again
Once more to inherit the earth"

From their 1998 album "Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka", a couple of Lovecraft-inspired tracks appear.  "Barra Edinazzu" appears in the form of a spell from the Necrononicon.  "Beneath Eternal Oceans of Sand" references "The Outsider" (1921)

"Now I ride with the undead
Across the night-sky
And play by day
Amongst the catacombs of Nephren-Ka
In the sealed and unknown
Valley of Hadoth by the Nile."

"Now I ride with the mocking and friendly ghouls on the night-wind, and play by day amongst the catacombs of Nephren-Ka in the sealed and unknown valley of Hadoth by the Nile. I know that light is not for me, save that of the moon over the rock tombs of Neb, nor any gaiety save the unnamed feasts of Nitokris beneath the Great Pyramid; yet in my new wildness and freedom I almost welcome the bitterness of alienage." (from 'The Outsider')

From their 2000 album "Black Seeds of Vengeance", The Nameless City of the Accursed", an instrumental is, according to the album notes, based on "The Nameless City" (1921).  

30.  In the Depths of R'lyeh - Catacombs (US)

From the 2006 album of the same name, 'In the Depths of R'lyeh' clearly references Lovecraft.

"He who sleeps, ageless, out of time
Awakens now from restless sleep
Stirring from the depths of his aqueous tomb
At the sound of the gathering
Of the neophytese of doom
Chants in unknown tongues
Echoes through accursed halls
The great eyes open...
The very cosmos shudder
At the awakening of the ungod
Arising from the watery chasm
As his acolytes of doom
Lurch forth from ebbing tides
As the world's doom
Arises from the deep
And they chant...
Ja! Ja! Cthulhu Ftaghu!" 

I am heavily indebted to the book "The Strange Sound of Cthulhu" by Gary Hill in compiling the information above.  Chapters 4 and 5, dealing exclusively with Heavy Metal music.  These chapters directed me to about half a dozen songs that appear in this list that I was previously unaware of, as well as providing most of the information regarding the exact references drawn from the tracks, saving me a great deal of research.  Several of the songs here appear after this book was published (in 2006).  These chapters contain much more metal than I could possibly fit into a few hours on a radio show.  Do check it out, it is a treasure trove!  And not just for lovers of Heavy Metal music either...

Further research on my part was done through sites mentioned below.

Further Reading

The Strange Sound of Cthulhu Music Inspired by the Writings of H. P. Lovecraft by Gary Hill.

The Simon Edition of 'The Necronomicon' for shits and giggles

The Necronomicon (1978) edited by George Hay (introduced by Colin Wilson)

http://www.hplovecraft.com/popcult/music.aspx  for more music references.

http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/fiction/  for online copies of Lovecraft's stories.

Encyclopedia Metallum  as always for band bios, discographies, lyrics, and so much more.

Cthulhu Wiki  The Cthulhu Wiki

Wikipedia, as a last call cross-reference

Obscene Extreme Festival Melbourne 12 - 13 April 2013

    Obscene Extreme (15) hit Melbourne on the weekend of the 12th and 13th of April, and splattered the town red.  I only caught Saturday night, and missed some seriously good acts, but I caught some seriously good acts, so all is well.  I pretty much camped at the Tote, and all following shots were taken in (or of) the Tote. 

Michael Crafter

Super Fun Happy Slide

 King Parrot

 Rotten Sound

 Blood Duster

 2 drum kits, 2 drummers.  Siiiiiccckkkk!

My images do not belong to the Public Domain. All material in this portfolio is owned and © copyrighted by Peter Pascoe (Doctor Pedro). Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from myself is prohibited by law. All rights reserved.

Grave, Hobbs Angel of Death, Inverloch Ding Dong Lounge Melbourne 17 March 2013

    The Ding Dong Lounge was host to Swedish Death Metal legends Grave on the 17th of March.  Apologies for the lateness of posting these pics, but the event was the night before I flew out to Japan for more madness.  Grave were supported by Inverloch and Melbourne's thrash legends Hobbs Angel of Death.  It was a brutal night of sonic mayhem.  Enjoy the photos.

Inverloch

Hobbs Angel Of Death

Grave

 

  My images do not belong to the Public Domain. All material in this portfolio is owned and © copyrighted by Peter Pascoe (Doctor Pedro). Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from myself is prohibited by law. All rights reserved.

Battle Axe Gig Vol. 5 Earthdom 30 Mar 2013

    Battle Axe Gig Vol. 5 went off at Earthdom in Shin Okubo on the 30th of March.  I went along with Makiko from F.I.D. (who recently played at Obscene Extreme Asia), and took some happy snaps.  Fatal Desolation were up first and were a regular death metal type band.  Decent sound, no pretense, solid act.  Necrophile were up next, a Black Metal act.  They were ok.  Velvet Worm, an all-female hard rock act, were the crowd favourite.  They've been around for a long time, according to Makiko, and they play a great live set.  The lead singer kept the crowd amused with raunchy ditties in between songs (to shouts of 'ERO!' from the audience).  The final act was Doraid, a Black-ish Metal band, and the crowd got between my camera and the band, so only one decent shot.  But they were a good finisher for the night.  Cheers Battle Axe!  And Cheers Makiko!

  Fatal Desolation.  I was wearing a Grave t-shirt on the night as well.  Fashion couple...eek!

 Necrophile dramatic pose.

 Windmill headbanging ultra-pose.  But wait...

 Check out these ultra mega mega metal shoes!  Ouch!

 Boom Tish Boom Tish....

 Serious hair.  I hardly saw her face all night.

 There we go...

Yes, that's right.  Fuck Your Brain!

 Crowd Favourite Velvet Worm.  A Femme Fatale cross between AC/DC and Motorhead.  Solid!

 What's not to like?

Rock On!

 (Yeah, I did take a few shots, didn't I...)

 (Well, the bass player was closer, and the crowd were going crazy at this stage)

 Ahh, the singer.

 Nice.

 Fan Service.

 I See You!

 The main act, Doraid, went sick.  So much so that I didn't want to imperil my camera.  Here's a sneaky shot of their gimp drummer.

Here is the gig flyer for the night

My images do not belong to the Public Domain. All material in this portfolio is owned and © copyrighted by Peter Pascoe (Doctor Pedro). Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from myself is prohibited by law. All rights reserved.