I don’t often put on Meshuggah albums, but I certainly understand the appeal. It’s a sound that’s precise and punishing, at once layered and dense, yet colorless and spare. And its haphazard, violent lurch and bellow demands, focuses, even galvanizes your attention – until suddenly, it doesn’t. Time and time again, my attention always wanders […]
Of the recent spate of doomy metallic hardcore bands that have emerged in this brave new millennium to date, France’s Overmars have possibly been among the most overlooked and underrated. Beginning their career with a limited split CD w/Japanese crusters Fugue, the innovative seven-piece was barely a blip on the radar until Candlelight Records issued […]
Black Sabbath being the fount from which all doom springs, it’s only appropriate that you should hear their influence in bands of the genre. But you could argue that Gates of Slumber cross the line of influence right into worship. Not that that’s a bad thing. Hymns of Blood and Thunder, the latest offering from […]
Neurosis frontman Steve Von Till reaps the benefits of his home studio and sows confusion on this second release from his other solo project, Harvestman, a name that either evokes the image of some pagan human-deity hybrid, or suggests a great brand name for vegetarian tv-dinners, depending on how serious the listener or reviewer is […]
Credit the Czech Republic’s Lacerated Enemy Records for nabbing the license for this Skull and Bones Records released debut from these young (and now split up) Australian upstarts Hiroshima Will Burn, a modern tech-death act that came along just soon enough to catch what is looking like the tail end of a minor trend of cherubic […]
It is a good thing my opinion of Soul Control’s choice of band name is not the same as that of its debut full-length on Bridge Nine, Cycles. If that were the case, I would be ripping the album to shreds. As it turns out, I just find Cycles to be a decent enough album […]
And the award for ‘Biggest 180 of the Year’ goes to Finland’s Amoral, who I hadn’t heard of until receiving this in my review stack this month. I like to do my research though, and so I found that they used to be a pretty sick melodic/technical death act. Used to be. With the release […]
You’d expect competent Opeth worship to come from Sweden and such, but not necessarily from the US, however as bands like Daylight Dies, Iron Thrones and Gwynbleidd showed on 2006 excellent Amaranthine EP back in 2006, Opeth worship can come from anywhere. In the case of Gwynbleidd, the depths of Brooklyn, NY (albeit by way […]
People tagging Redemption as another Dream Theater copycat seem to be out of touch with reality when it comes to maligning this inexcusably underrated and yet outstanding Progressive Metal outfit from LA. When talents such as Ray Alder (Fates Warning), Nick van Dyk (Fools Game) and Bernie Versailles (Fates Warning, Agent Steel) are joined together […]
The anticipation level is high, adrenal glands working overtime, then the first song starts…. I find my mind wandering and playing “Cryptic Winterstorms” internally, so hit stop, pull up Diabolical, listen in its entirety, put All Shall Fall back on and hit play, now where were we… halfway through the first song I have the […]
My only real knowledge or experience with Boston’s Doomriders is that they feature Converge bassist Nate Newton and Cave In Drummer JR Conners, two bands I like but aren’t awfully obsessed with, so when I gathered that this outfit was a more rock based band to boot, my hopes weren’t extremely high. That all changed […]
Just in time for Halloween comes this concept album by Dutch symphonic black metal act Carach Angren. The name is taken from The Silmarillion, although there’s no Tolkien reference in the music. And unlike many symphonic bm acts, there’s none of the usual Satanic nonsense either. Instead, Carach Angren have refreshingly built the album around […]
French export Glorior Belli became critical darlings two years ago after the release of the powerful Manifesting The Raging Beast. The praise was deserved; although they stayed closer to traditional black metal than experimental countrymates Deathspell Omega the album offered a well-lit and immaculately produced pathway to Hell. Of course the inevitable question is whether […]
Though it was originally released in 2008, Father Befouled’s Profano Ad Regnum was re-released this summer on vinyl. Now, not having heard the vinyl version, I couldn’t tell you the difference in quality. My guess is that it still sounds like it was recorded in some dank, primordial dungeon, someplace that hasn’t seen sunlight in […]
Well known to European fans of Melodic Metal, Axxis are still somewhat obscure in American metal circles, even though the guys have been keeping their vessel afloat for more than two decades now. Having gone through ups and downs, the band has stood the test of time and remained loyal to its musical credo, which […]
Though plying the same basic musical style and shtick as the relatively enjoyable 2008 debut, Total Brutal, Tim Lambesis’s (As I Lay Dying) Arnold Schwarzenegger themed metal act has grown somewhat. First off, professional Arnold impersonator Josh Robert Thompson (The Howard Stern Show, The Late Late Show) now provides the excellent and amusing Arnold quips […]
I love to drink. I am not an alcoholic (or am I?) but I do enjoy a tasty beverage now and then. There’s never a bad time for good friends and a good game of the drink. So, naturally I should love a band like Korpiklaani with their anthems of inebriation, however this band requires […]
Frank Zappa passed this mortal coil in 1993, leaving behind volumes of brilliant and often criminally underappreciated music. He’s now looking down from The Great Wazoo in the sky, where thankfully yellow snow isn’t a concern. If by chance the sounds of Lye By Mistake’s Fea Jur reached his groovy orbit he would no doubt […]
The first couple of spins of Sanctification’s Black Reign brought to mind two parallel thoughts: it is rather redundant and it borrows heavily from the Cannibal Corpse sound, especially the vocals of George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. As it turned out, neither of those were bad things and Black Reign has grown on me, mainly because the […]
Three listens back to back to back of Wormwood will leave you laying on the floor in a pool of drool, even if you are up to date on your inoculations. To paraphrase Legion, if you don’t know what Marduk is what the hell are you doing here. Marduk has a history of short intros, […]
Fans of depressive, atmospheric black metal have a lot to be happy about in 2009. So far we’ve seen fantastic releases from all the greats – Blut Aus Nord, Drudkh, Wolves in the Throne Room, as well as shoegaze/black metal newcomers like Fen, Altar of Plagues and Svarti Loghin. And now here comes this stunning […]
If you do not know Belphegor by now you must have just hatched. Eight studio full lengths and a couple of eps. You would think Austria’s kings of perversion would have it all figured out by now. Walpurgis Rites – Hexenwahn is the title, so the lyrical disposition should be obvious to all. The bonus […]
A new Dying Fetus album isn’t quite the event is once was as since the bands crowning moment, 2000s Destroying the Opposition a revolving line up has kept John Gallagher from attainting perfect chemistry that was achieved with the classic Netherton, Voyles (who of course left after Destroy the Opposition to form Misery Index) and […]
What’s the first thing that comes to mind about Grey Metropolis from Denmark’s Sanctus Daemoneon? With Halloween coming up, it might be one to consider as the soundtrack to one of your morbid holiday gatherings. That statement is not intended to sound like I’m making fun of Grey Metropolis; it is just recognizing the fact […]
Leaving metal powerhouse Century Media for the tempting pastures of major label Atlantic proved to be an ill move for Shadows Fall. Atlantic proved pretty quick they had virtually no clue how to properly promote a metal band in this day and age, and it certainly didn’t help on the bands end that they somewhat […]