As per the Game of Thrones line that spawned countless memes, winter is coming. And with it comes a lot of questions such as: which fire pit do I need in my backyard that will keep me and my mates warm while we sit and smoke and drink and listen to Mastodon’s Emperor Of Sand or the classic Blues For The Red Sun by Kyuss to help us stay warm? I’m not here to sell fire pits, but I am here to recommend some great winter albums that, if you haven’t yet thought of, will give you some ideas for your next backyard get together.
Pantera’s Cowboys From Hell is old by today’s standards but it’ll keep you warm with all the foot tapping and head banging you’ll be doing. And let’s not forget that cowboys literally only live in the desert.
If an overdose of fuzz makes you feel warm then anything by sludge masters Baroness should be an appropriate audio blanket, and the title of their Blue Record can only conjure images of a blue sky. Add to this category Clearing The Path To Ascend by Yob. The only thing determining your choice between the two is your preferred song length.
But if you’re after something a little less heavy then how can you turn down the swirling, smoky warmth of Maynard’s vocal performance A Perfect Circle’s Eat The Elephant? You can’t, and bonus points to the band for making their new album a lot more textured than their previous one, Thirteenth Step.
Don’t forget, the ultimate winter warmer track has to be Amon Amarth’s ‘Death In Fire’, which is also a timely reminder to make sure you don’t die while keeping yourself warm. But the thing that tops it all off is that galloping beat which induces such an energetic physical reaction it’s guaranteed to provide warmth to anyone this winter.
In other news
Alien Weaponry’s debut album Tu will be released on Friday June 1.
Immortal (without Abbath) will release their new album Northern Chaos Gods on Friday July 6.
Devildriver will release their new album Outlaws ‘Til The End, an album of country tracks done in the Devildriver style, on Friday July 6.
Deafheaven will release their new album Ordinary Corrupt Human Love on Friday July 13.
The Pantera set and Soulfly set from Dynamo 1998 will be released on Friday June 22.
Guns N’ Roses will release their massive Appetite For Destruction Locked N’ Loaded re-issue box set with a massive amount of extras on Friday June 29.
Machine Head will rock the Forum Theatre on Saturday July 21.
Satyricon will tear Max Watts to shreds on Thursday September 6.
The Sword will be at Max Watts on Saturday September 8.
Tesseract will play 170 Russell on Friday September 14.
Parkway Drive, Killswitch Engage and Thy Art Is Murder will play Margaret Court Arena on Friday November 2.
An Evening With Steven Wilson will take place at the Palais Theatre on Saturday November 10.
The Ocean will release their new album Phanerozoic in two parts, the first part to be released in October, and the second part to be released next year. Phanerozoic will pick up off where Precambrian left off some ten years ago.
If you have any news about local metal bands, shows or albums, let THTH know by emailing to [email protected] or get in touch via Twitter at @TooHeavyToHug