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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Primordial – Exile Amongst the Ruins
There was a time when Primordial could release an album and, for me, it would almost instantly be an album-of-the-year contender. Their material in the early 2000s established them as elite, especially the now-legendary album To the Nameless Dead (2007). That being said, the 2010s haven’t done much to shake these Irish stalwarts’ legacy. And…
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Iron Reagan/Gatecreeper split
This is not the split album that we necessarily need – but it is certainly the one we deserve. Split albums are usually pretty fun, especially when two bands of like mind come together and create something that might not be viable on a full release. In this case, it seems like a casserole baked by…
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Freedom Hawk – Beast Remains
Man, I’ve been listening to Freedom Hawk for almost a decade—I first reviewed their MeteorCity debut in early 2010. Now signed to Ripple Music (who recently reissued the band’s first album), these long-running Virginia rockers are back with another heaping platter of southern-fried grooves. Beast Remains begins on a head-nodding note with “Solid Gold,” a…
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Bison – Earthbound (reissue)
It figures that just a few months after putting out their comeback album, which wound up being one of our top five Canadian releases of 2017, Bison would go all the way back to the beginning with this reissue of their first album on limited edition vinyl (666 copies). They’re more than 10 years removed…
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Zeke – Hellbender
Not sure I was expecting to hear from these Seattle punk rockers again. Zeke last released a full-length record almost 15 years ago, and I was not aware they were still a going concern… not that I’m complaining. Buckle up yer bumper cars, as they blast 15 tracks by you in 20 and a half…
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Eagle Twin – The Thundering Heard
I’m not always a fan of two-piece doom bands—especially when they don’t have a bassist. But some can still generate enough sonic power to win me over; such is the case with Utah’s Eagle Twin on their third album for Southern Lord. The Thundering Heard opens with a rumble, meditative vocals (à la Al Cisneros)…
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Besvärjelsen – Vallmo
This Swedish heavy psych outfit, featuring former members of Dozer and Greenleaf, has actually received airplay on Swedish National Radio, proving that rock ‘n roll ain’t dead… provided that you cross the pond. After two previous EPs, Besvärjelsen’s debut album is actually named after the Swedish word for poppy—although in this case, we’re talking about…
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Earthless – Black Heaven
You know the world’s been twist-turned upside down when Fu Manchu is kicking out 18-minute jams and Earthless is singing—yes, actually singing—sub-10-minute numbers. That’s right, America’s pre-eminent jam band seems to be slowing down in their old age, as apparent on this latest release. Mind you, most of the songs here still exceed six minutes…
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Violation Wound – With Man In Charge
A simple summation of Violation Wound’s sound is that they sound like Autopsy or Abscess without the death and doom elements of their music. So, to say it’s stripped down is an understatement. This is no surprise when you realise that Autopsy and former Abscess member Chris Reifert is on guitar and vocals. It really…
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River Cult – Halcyon Daze
Earthless already has a couple opening acts lined up for their upcoming North American tour, but if they ever needed another one, they couldn’t do much better than this New York heavy psych trio. River Cult busts a groove and kicks out the jams for over 40 minutes here on their full-length debut. “Likelihood of…