Category: Reviews
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Mirrors for Psychic Warfare – self-titled
Both Scott Kelly and Sanford Parker are pretty much pioneers of post-sludge. Kelly needs no introduction from his time with Neurosis, while Parker has really established himself as a producer when not playing in Neurosis-inspired outfit Minsk. But their previous collaboration in Corrections House was far from the sludgy stuff… and so’s this one, for…
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Beastwars – The Death of All Things
When I reviewed Beastwars’ debut, I noted that they were “the heaviest thing to hit Godzone since the Big Sheep Shearer,” and I’m sticking by that statement. Although New Zealand isn’t necessarily known for sludge metal, there is a wave of extreme, avant-garde, underground metal bands from the Isle of Phil Rudd… and these guys…
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The Golden Grass – Coming Back Again
Album number two from this Brooklyn hippie-freak trio features six tracks of heavy psych grooves. We get started with “Get it Together,” a mellow, 70’s style ode to sunny ways that wouldn’t sound outta place on American Century, with a heavy chorus that recalls Foghat or Grand Funk. “Reflections in the Glass” has a more…
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Gypsy Chief Goliath – Citizens of Nowhere
What makes a new album, anyways? A couple of the tracks on this Southern Ontario outfit’s third effort have been in their live set for years, and previously appeared on their independently-released debut from 2012. But just as Sons of OTIS recycled a chunk of Spacejumbofudge into Temple Ball, Gypsy Chief Goliath is giving songs…
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Atala – Shaman’s Path of the Serpent
Though you might not have heard of them, this California desert trio has a pretty impressive stoner/doom pedigree. Atala‘s self-titled debut, which came out in 2014, was recorded by Scott Reeder, while this follow-up effort was engineered by Billy Anderson. They’re even booked to pay this year’s edition of Maryland Doomfest—the other MDF—so even though I…
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Valley of the Sun – Volume Rock
Cincinnati’s finest desert rock outfit, Valley of the Sun, is back with their second album, following their solid 2014 debut Electric Talons of the Thunderhawk. Ohio might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of heavy desert grooves—hell, the band named itself after Phoenix, AZ—but these guys sure know how…
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Shortcuts: 7 Recent EPs, Singles, and Splits of Note
Ok – I’m busy. You’re busy. So let’s cut the shit and talk bad-ass tunes, specifically, some recent noteworthy non-LP releases that are more than worth investing what little precious time you have to spare. Dark Circles/Abstracter – Split LP (Halo of Flies/L’Oeil Du Tigre Records/Moment of Collapse/Sick Man Getting Sick/Shove) Damn. This one doesn’t…
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Blood Ceremony – Lord of Misrule
Lord of Misrule is not a metal album. While you could file their 2008 debut—still a personal favourite—under “Doom,” Blood Ceremony has moved away from that style on subsequent releases. I would even contend that there’s nothing metallic about The Eldritch Dark, which was named one of Rolling Stone’s top metal albums of 2013. While…
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Diamond Head – self-titled
Does the world really need a new Diamond Head album in 2016? Don’t get me wrong, their early 80’s contributions to the NWOBHM cannon are classics—particularly their 1980 debut, Lightning to the Nations—but this is hardly the same band. Guitarist Brian Tatler is the only original member, and while we chastise the likes of Black…
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VHS – Screaming Mad Gore
For context, that which frightened me as a child is that in which I now take comfort. Despite my childhood fears of boogeymen, axe murderers, and the glowing visage of my own 5-1/2” tall Skeletor, I now find that stylized images of death, made familiar and trusted by metal and horror movies, have become a…