Too Heavy To Hug #692

Welcome to THTH, Forte’s premier source of all things heavy, hard, fast and metal.
The last couple of instalments of THTH have focussed mainly on albums for winter; one mentioning a few of albums to provide warmth, the other to make it seem less cold outside, each with mentions of a couple of albums to emphasise how cold music can be. This time around I’ll mention a few of albums that neither warm nor make it seem less cold out, but rather transcend above time, space and, well, degrees indicated on a thermometer.
The proggy brilliance of Dream Theater’s Train Of Thought stands out amongst their catalogue not only for their proginess but also the foot stomping that ensues whenever this album kicks off with ‘As I Am’ and then moves through tracks such as ‘Endless Sacrifice’ and ‘In The Name Of God’. They all stand out as the foot stompers but it’s the tracks between these tracks that will take you to dizzying heights.
Continuing the prog theme you can’t go past the time when the true Opeth delivered their ultimate pair of albums which are now considered as classics; Deliverance and Damnation. Both must be listened in succession for the full transcendent experience.
Dialing down a touch on the proginess and focussing more on the transcendence is ISIS with their album Wavering Radiant. Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfect for rocking out to, but more so, if it doesn’t elevate you into the stratosphere above all space and time (and climate) then it’ll definitely ask questions of you that you’ve never dared ask yourself, such as: why the hell am I sitting outside in the middle of winter? Why do I enjoy it so much and why will I continue to enjoy it so much what with all the fire pits and drinks?
In other news
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.
Machine Head will rock the Forum Theatre on Saturday July 21.
Psycroptic with special guests Archspite and Hadal Maw will be at Max Watts on Sunday August 18.
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.
Sumac will release their new album Love In Shadow in Friday September 21.
Dimmu Borgir will headline their first ever Oz tour this October and their Melbourne show will be at 170 Russell on Wednesday October 17.
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
Paul S Taylor