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?
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Giant Squid – Minoans
Had not heard from this post-metal outfit, Giant Squid, in a little bit—it had been three years since their last EP, and a couple more since they put out an album. But the West Coast quintet is back with an album that, at least by its title and some of the song names, seems to…
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Phobocosm – Deprived
If your idea of death metal begins and ends with Cannibal Corpse then Phobocosm is probably not for you. But if you can allow yourself to wallow in pure darkness and depravity, then the Montreal quartet’s aptly title Deprived could be more up your alley. It’s the darkness that consumes the entire album that is…
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Pig Destroyer – Mass & Volume
When one of the biggest grindcore bands of recent years drops a two-song, 26-minute doom-metal album, you can certainly colour me intrigued. Pig Destroyer actually recorded these two tracks back in ’06 but, understandably, they took some time to see the light of day. “Mass & Volume” takes up 19 of those minutes, starting off slowly with…
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Ides of Gemini – Old World New Wave
I’ll admit, I kinda slept on this album, which actually came out back in September. But the L.A. trio’s debut, Constantinople, left enough of an impression that I figure their follow-up effort is worth a belated listen. A two-thirds-female outfit that mixes shoegaze sounds into a lighter shade of doom with stirring feminine vocals: unlike…
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Death Penalty – Death Penalty
It didn’t take long for Gaz Jennings to pick up a new project following the unfortunate demise of Cathedral. Recruiting former SerpentCult vocalist Michelle Nocon, Jennings formed Death Penalty. Filling out the lineup is SerpentCult drummer Fredrick “Cozy” Cosemans and Belgian bassist Raf Meukens. I wonder if Jennings likes waffles and beer in addition to…
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Hunters – Hands on Fire
From the very first time I heard Hunters‘ debut full length album, I was in love. The grainy, gritty street-punk-meets-grunge mixture produced by the band touched every single pleasure center in my brain. Derek Watson’s guitar growled just the right way and Izzy Almeida’s vocals smoothed the hardened, angry burrs in my mind with a…
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Laika – Somnia
This band have taken their monicker from the unfortunate Russian dog who became one of the first animals in space: Laika. Unusual name for a band, but no less so than Leprotic Acid Spitting Amoebas From Angola (NB: I made that name up off to the top of my head – if a band with such…
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Pallbearer – Foundations of Burden
Man, I gotsta say, this new Pallbearer rekkid is pretty fancy-schmancy: a double dose of uber-thick vinyl (I’m guessing 180g) that comes with a glossy poster/lyric sheet. Profound Lore really went all-out on this one… but considering the success of its critically-acclaimed predecessor, Sorrow and Extinction, I can see why they felt ’twas worth the effort.…
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Today Is the Day – Animal Mother
Let’s be honest here. Today Is the Day is mainly the life’s work of one man, Steve Austin, with a rotating rhythm section that changes every album or two. That said, he usually finds musicians that are well-versed in the genre… I guess you could call it post-hardcore? For album number 10, it’s drummer Jeffrey Lohrber…
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Lo-Pan – Colossus
I didn’t love the last Lo-Pan album when it came out, but having seen ’em live a couple times since, I can dig it. You could probably file this one under “Stoner Rock” with its big, fuzzy riffs, heavy grooves and soaring vocals… although it’s not necessarily something you’d hit a bong to. Actually, might as…