Profound Lore

Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Live April 26, 2010

Alcest/ Monarque/ Thantifaxath @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto ON, April 23, 2010

For the first time in a great many shows, I actually sat down during a performance. I sat not because I was bored, not even because I was tired. I sat because the energy it took to operate my legs felt like energy I could be directing towards my ears. I sat on a table top with my eyes closed, rocking back and forth unconsciously, entirely consumed.

Natalie Zed reviews the April 23rd Toronto debut of France’s Alcest. Also sharing the bill were Quebec black metallers Monarque and Thantifaxath.

Featured, Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Live April 16, 2010

Ludicra / Krallice / Empyrean Plague @ Rancho Relaxo, Toronto ON, April 14, 2010

I don’t want to in any way cheapen Ludicra’s performance here by saying that they performed “admirably under the circumstances.” They flat-out fucking rocked. They are tough, tenacious, and have a mind-blowing stage presence. Their vocalist, Laurie Sue Shanaman, filled the meagre space with her otherworldly voice.

Natalie Zed reviews the April 14th Toronto performance by Ludicra, Krallice and Empyrean Plague, which took place at Rancho Relaxo

Blogs, Headline, Jay Gorania April 5, 2010

Jay Gorania’s SXSW 2010 – Part 2

The Endless Blockade took over with an electronic-noise enhanced set that was a bit more varied, and was arguably even more unrelenting. Their singer constantly confronted the crowd, moving as deep into the sweaty mass as he could. Keep in mind, there wasn’t much floor space to work with, and there was no stage. Just like a basement show, they were sandwiched next to the crowd who was standing on the same floor. Even this guy felt the need to constantly engage with me, running directly into me at least five times.

Why does everyone always pick on me?

Jay Gorania recaps his take on this year’s SXSW Music Festival. In this second entry, he reviews the Profound Lore Records/20 Buck Spin showcase as well as sets by The Atlas Moth, Rwake and Weedeater.

Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Audio March 31, 2010

Impetuous Ritual – Relentless Execution of Ceremonial Excrescence

Despite the fact that the album title reads as if Impetuous Ritual chose it using Death Metal Mad Libs, this album is anything but random in concept and performance. No, this soul-rending slab of doom-laced death metal is a calculated carnage machine of the first order.

Tate Bengston reviews the new album by Portal side-project Impetuous Ritual, released earlier this year by Profound Lore Records.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio March 24, 2010

Apostle of Solitude – Last Sunrise

Last Sunrise is a challenging album. It’s not something that will come to you first listen. It, like many of the best albums released by clear singing, true doom bands (think Solitude Aeturnus, Candlemass, Isole) is an album that needs a few solid run throughs(preferably by headphones) to fully let it sink in.

Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Audio March 8, 2010

Vasaeleth – Crypt Born & Tethered to Ruin

The concept is simple, the execution unyielding, the principle uncompromising. Concept, execution, and principle may be summed up quite simply: death metal. Welcome to the macabre underworld of Vasaeleth. To pinch a famous phrase: abandon hope all ye who enter.

Tate Bengston reviews the Profound Lore debut album by Texan death metal duo Vasaeleth.

Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Audio November 16, 2009

Krallice: Dimensional Bleedthrough

Dimensional Bleedthrough is the sophomore effort from New York’s Krallice. Like the band’s debut, the record is generally steeped in the more recent “avant-garde” or “post-Black Metal” sound, but it offers enough of the little details that are recognizably the group’s own.

Jonathan Smith reviews the new Krallice album for Hellbound.ca

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio November 10, 2009

Altar Of Plagues: White Tomb

With the band’s notable lack of corpse paint and the absence of beloved horror show theatrics in its sound, White Tomb emerges as a debut that contributes to a growing subset within the wider black metal sub-genre.