Category: Reviews – Audio

Glorious metal in all its earthly forms, compressed onto shiny plastic discs or into digital files. Which ones will become the soundtrack to your life?

DTRASH + Schizoid & Melt Banana in Toronto, 17 May 2015

In these days of digital music production and distribution my snail mailbox sees a lot less action than my email inbox. In some ways it’s a relief (I ran out of shelf space for my CD collection years ago). But that fact also makes it all the more special when something more tangible does actually show…

June 19, 2015
TENGGER CAVALRY – Blood Sacrifice Shaman

Incredibly energetic, fast paced gallops through ancient plains, accompanied by bands of singers and fiddlers? Not your average day trip in the metal world. I’ve seen quite a few people auto-cringe at the mere mention of the words “folk” and “metal” together these days, which means the proverbial bar for this genre is pretty high…

June 17, 2015
ANICON – Aphasia [EP]

Anicon are OH so atmospheric black metal from New York. I noticed the name as they previously did a split release with a band called Belus which I enjoyed. They have recently released a three-track EP and have an LP on the way as well. You can listen to the EP on their Bandcamp here: Aphasia…

June 15, 2015
Denizen – Troubled Waters

I was a big fan of this French outfit’s second album, Whispering Wild Stories, which came out over four years ago, back in 2011. Their sound melds the stoner grooves of Fu Manchu with some harsh sludge vocals reminiscent of Eyehategod—and while it sounds like an odd combo at first, it actually works quite nicely. Those…

June 9, 2015
Demon Lung – A Dracula

I’ve always loved the idea behind Demon Lung. Here you’ve got this Satanic, occult doom metal band… based outta Las Vegas. Hey, I’ve been to Vegas, and there’s nothing about that city that screams “occult doom metal.” (Now, if they were a mafia-themed doom band, on the other hand…) That said, if this outfit was…

June 8, 2015
Faith No More – Sol Invictus

The last time Faith No More released a new studio album (which was Album Of The Year in 1997, by the way), I was eighteen years old – it was literally half my lifetime ago. While it wasn’t the band’s best album (critics complained that the proliferation of side projects the band’s members were contributing…

June 4, 2015
Periphery – Juggernaut: Alpha / Juggernaut: Omega

Those Periphery boys are at it again. The Maryland sextet brings their unique progressive style back with a new double album, Juggernaut:Alpha and Juggernaut:Omega. Although the two are meant to be companion pieces to one another, the styles and sounds differ drastically between these two entries. Juggernaut: Alpha offers up a far more accessible album…

June 3, 2015
Fórn – The Departure of Consciousness

The best thing about Gilead Media is that label head Adam Bartlett doesn’t release material he doesn’t believe in. So naturally a certain level of quality is guaranteed. And The Departure of Consciousness, the debut from Fórn is top quality funeral doom. The 33 minutes of utter darkness found within is merciless in projecting a…

June 2, 2015
Kings Destroy – self-titled

I’ve been a big Kings Destroy fan ever since I saw ’em at Days of the Doomed III in Milwaukee a couple years back. Their second album, A Time of Hunting, cracked my year-end Top 10 in 2013, and I have high hopes for their follow-up effort. The band brings the melodic doom, similar to…

June 1, 2015
The Ditch and the Delta – We Rust EP

Over the past couple year’s one band in particular has been making a buzz in Salt Lake City and that band is Subrosa. The Ditch and the Delta is another such band from the same city that is up to the challenge of following in their footsteps. The band consists of Elliot Secrist (Guitar / Vocals),…

May 29, 2015