Category: Reviews

  • Caskets Open – Concrete Realms of Pain

    Caskets Open – Concrete Realms of Pain

    As one of Finland’s most legendary bands once sang, we really do have Doom Over the World nowadays. What started off with outfits like Trouble, Candlemass and Saint Vitus inhabiting their own little corners of the earth is now so widespread that a band like Caskets Open can be around for 13 years and release…

  • Forming the Void – Reverie

    Forming the Void – Reverie

    In some ways, Forming the Void got lucky. Their tour with Church of Misery ended in early March, about a week before the world went to Coronavirus hell. And by releasing Reverie, their third full-length album, one week into May (assuming the release date doesn’t get pushed back), one might say they’ll be filling a…

  • Tyrant – Hereafter

    Tyrant – Hereafter

    Now, there are a lot of Tyrants in the metal world – this outfit isn’t even the only Tyrant from California. But, other than the Tyrant that changed its name to Saint Vitus or the other Tyrant that changed its name to Jag Panzer, these guys are probably the most well known Tyrant, as their…

  • Volcanova – Radical Waves

    Volcanova – Radical Waves

    I guess it’s maybe not so unusual to come across a stoner rock band from Iceland – after all, nearby Sweden has done just about as much for the subgenre as California.  And kudos to Volcanova for coming up with a sufficiently stonerfied name that still reflects where they’re from. Hey, there might not be…

  • 16 – Dream Squasher

    16 – Dream Squasher

    It’s almost hard to believe that sludge metal is roughly 30 years old now, but as SoCal outfit 16, which put out its first record in ’91, is now releasing its eighth album (plus countless splits, EPs, etc), it really speaks to the longevity of the genre. And sludge at 30 is still not music…

  • POWER TRIP – Live In Seattle 05.28.18

    POWER TRIP – Live In Seattle 05.28.18

    Texas metal favourites POWER TRIP threw out a surprise this week – Live In Seattle 05.28.18 was issued through Dark Operative, and is now streaming for free. It’s been an absurd couple of weeks and all of us have been feeling the sting of this new harsh reality.  What better way to channel all that…

  • Pale Divine – Consequence of Time

    Pale Divine – Consequence of Time

    In some ways, Beelzefuzz’s loss was Pale Divine’s gain. The two outfits already shared three (out of four) members before the latter played its last gig at last year’s Maryland Doom Fest. And while Pale Divine previously had more of a straightforward, traditional doom sound, the proggier influences of the now-defunct Beelzefuzz are much more…

  • Hawkwind – Roadhawks

    Hawkwind – Roadhawks

    Hawkwind are a great musical institution, hugely influential, and of course, Hawkwind gave the world Lemmy. Without Lemmy, we would not have Motorhead, and our beloved heavy metal would sound like Poison! So, Roadhawks was originally compiled by Hawkwind mainstay Dave Brock (a kind of psychedelic Catweasel!) from Hawkwind’s United Artists albums. It was, of course,…

  • Sofa King Addicted – The Hard Carnival

    Sofa King Addicted – The Hard Carnival

    Starting straight out of the gates with a ripper of a beer swilling, hash smoking punk rock banger, Sofa King Addicted are back, taking no prisoners and drinking your bars dry. Recorded at the acclaimed Bathhouse Studios and mastered by Roger Lima (Less than Jake), The Hard Carnival delivers track after track of pissed off…