The first band I was really retarded about was Iron Maiden when I was 12/13 - I raked through 2nd hand record shops & bought all the old singles/picture discs/patches etc I could find. I did the same with Helloween, Metallica, Napalm Death (Lee Dorrian era) and Indestructible Noise Command(!) Years later I got rid of most of it which I regret it now of course. I think a lot was to do with the artwork etc, otherwise why have the same music on different formats?

These days I am almost as bad about (cliche!) Mayhem, to the point that if I see a copy of Live at Leipzig online I consider buying it even though I have it on CD & vinyl already!

Having said that, I totally don't get the record collector mentality where people buy something with no intention of ever playing it. Mind you, given the quality of some Mayhem bootlegs, once is sometimes enough...

Motorhead, Sunn O))), Black Sabbath, Mithras are all that comes to mind right now

By 'retarded' I'm guessing you mean something like 'obsessed about to the point of mental retardation'... or something...

Misery Index - The first major band to cross that bridge between politics and music in a way which bewitched me. In my opinion, you can credit Sparky and Jason for at least 2/3s of Dying Fetus' best material too and although they [Misery Index] have since evolved past those similarities, I still think they deserve credit for that.

Red Harvest - singlehandedly possibly the most rewarding journey into a band's back catalog that I've ever had. Criminally underrated range of material ranging from neo-thrash (well, 'neo' yet in the early 90s) almost speed metal through stabbing industrial paranoia to blasting schizophrenic blackened cybermetal... and that's not even mentioning the incredibly bleak proggy stuff.

Godflesh - Pretty much anything Justin Broadrick related. If he's on it, I'll bum it. I own vinyl copies of everything Godflesh, and all CD versions including singles. i have to admit I'm somewhat tardy when it comes to Jesu though as he seems to release a new EP or split every couple of months and I've never been able to keep up.

Azam Ali - Another one in similar fetish as Justin Broadrick, though in a wholly different style of music. Very instantly recognisable incredibly beautiful voice and a quite distinct approach to music. Pretty prolific too. Musical output is mainly a kind of hybrid of Massive Attack style dub meets traditional Persian and Middle Eastern instruments with lyrics sung in Farsi, Urdu or others eiter about spirituality or recitations of centuries old Sufi poetry.

There's mroe that I have periods of intense "retarded"ness for but I'll stick to those three for now.

Megadeth, Judas Priest, Porcupine Tree, Neurosis, Isis, Jesu, Grails, Sunn O)))

Hyatari!

That Hyatari only have two albums, a download only track which mysteriously vanished and a couple of t-shirts is very fortuitous for me and my wallet.
I would buy a piece of paper with HYATARI written on it if they released it.

I would like to be retarded about Sabbath, but they've been around too long, I just can't afford it...

I'm only retarded about ozzy years sabbath.

Cue besty telling us how everything after ozzy is the best

It goes

1. Dio Sabbath
2. Ozzy Sabbath
3. Tony Martin Sabbath
4. Born Again
5. Seventh Star
6. Being shot in the fucking cock
7. Forbidden

Hahahaaa

Probably Bjork, Cathedral (is a pain!), Iron Monkey and Fantomas.

Use to be mental over Cryptopsy, then they went wank, seriously wank...

Is this thread about bands we're obsessed with to the point of silliness? If so, I can do that...


You can make fun of Current 93 as much as you like, but David Tibet has a primary place in my pantheon of musical gods. His music veers on funny, tragic, angry, spiritual, minimal, but never quite falls into one-dimensionality. As someone who needs and craves absurdism and the surreal I need a band like Current 93 in the world, especially when one is surrounded by 'my gang' mentality and brinkmanship 24/7.
And I have ZT to thank for it! Whilst I had heard Dave's satanic mantra Twilight Twilight Nihil Nihil on last.fm I had no inkling of how the rest of Tibets work sounded. I brought Black Ships Ate The Sky and was completly shocked. I'd never heard anything like it before, and consequently has remained my absolute alltime favorite record. So in a way it's ZT's fault that i'm the arty faggoty weirdo you see today


Possibly the best rapper in the world. Roots Manuva was like a slap in my smug sixth-form face back in the day when I assumed all hip-hop was made only by Kappa garbed closeted thugs who had difficult childhoods. Rodney Smith was a massive contribution to my growth as a music and general eclectica fan.


Just how varied can one mans output sound? Aphex Twins from sugary sad chilled beats, abstract soundscapes, spastic breaks, distorted vocals, dumb techno made from the detritus of dance music and more that defies description.


Whilst anyone could make noise music, few do it with such enthusiasm and vitality as Kylie Minoise. He brings a desperately needed sense of fun and chaos to a strangely polite scene.

When I think of more i'll add them. I'm on an old laptop right now and i'm worried it will crash beforrrrrrrrrXXXXZZZB1101101010010110119... [/belly button is deleted]

Forefather and Adam Ant

I wish I knew you were into Afx, Ben, I sold a shitload of original pressings a few months back.

Also, isn't pantheism the belief that God, or a spirit of oneness, is within all living things?
So how can you have a pantheon of musical gods?
Or am I confused by isms again?