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?

  • SardoniS – s/t

    The songs, like the lineup of the band itself, seem a tad underdeveloped, like a reasonably well-produced demo tape made to audition a bassist and/or singer. I doubt that stoner/doom minded musicians are in great abundance in Belgium, but the band would benefit from both in my belief

  • Revamp – Revamp

    All in all, I’m not overly impressed by this release. Only by purposefully listening for something positive did I find anything worth more than one listen. The musicians on this record do a great job but they don’t mesh with Floor Jansen’s voice at all. The song writing on this just didn’t seem to be…

  • Manilla Road – After Midnight Live

    How significant a release is Manilla Road’s After Midnight Live? Imagine if Judas Priest or Iron Maiden suddenly went, “Whoops, look what we found lying around, a live recording from the early days featuring songs none of our fans have ever heard before.”

  • Ted Nugent – Setlist: The Very Best Of Ted Nugent Live

    Even without any accompanying video footage too, Nugent’s Setlist translates incredibly well; culling essential tracks from the extended edition reissues of Free For All and Cat Scratch Fever as well as essential tracks from Intensities In 10 Cities and Double Live Gonzo and Live At The Hammersmith ’79, Setlist assembles a very vivid track list…

  • HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE: The Metal Blade Reissues

    San Francisco’s Hammers of Misfortune have recently signed to Metal Blade, and as a result, the label has reissued their entire back catalogue in hopes that it will get the due recognition it missed the first time around. With no expectation and no foreknowledge of the band, I tossed myself in at the deep end…

  • Cynic – Re-Traced

    This EP plays a lot with the dynamics of sound. The interplay between loud and quiet, digital and analog creates rich waves of tension and release. I was struck by the depth of each of the tracks, not just in terms of the layers of sound but also the thought and care that went into…

  • Helstar – Rising From The Grave

    Helstar could have been a much bigger band if the songs had just been a bit stronger. Rising From The Grave is an enjoyable listen though and it’s easy to get carried away in Rivera and company’s enthusiasm and skill.

  • Fuck The Facts – Live In Whitby cassette

    I normally don’t like live records. Between bad recordings, obvious overdubs and embarrassing stage patter, I find most live albums to be unsatisfying to say the least. Live In Whitby from Ottawa’s Fuck The Facts destroys all of my misgivings in the first few seconds. The sound on this release is amazing! In fact, you…

  • Svarti Loghin – Drifting Through the Void

    Svarti Loghin revels in fusion of the most banal kind. It does not have a musical vision. It simply blends the visions of others into something that it tries to pass off as art. What it forgets is that hybridization requires a vision if it is to fuse disparate elements into a cohesive artistic statement.…

  • Rhapsody of Fire – The Frozen Tears of Angels

    The Frozen Tears of Angels is a solid, fun record that need not apologize for being metal.