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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Volur – Ancestors
The sophomore album from Toronto folk-doomsters Volur is nothing if not an ambitious effort. Though it only contains four tracks, it clocks in at over 53 minutes, with some songs stretching over 15. And while the lyrics are not clearly discernible, I do detect a theme here—each song title begins with “Breaker.” We start off…
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Destroyer of Light – Chamber of Horrors
I first heard this Austin outfit on their 2015 split with Godhunter, where they almost stole the record from one of my favourite underground sludge bands at the time. Destroyer of Light even put their own super-slow-mo take on a Pentagram classic, which certainly made me take notice. And now they’re back with their second full-length…
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Judas Priest – Turbo 30
Skim through the catalogues of any number of rock bands who have enjoyed a lot of popularity and, invariably, it’s easy to find the fly in the creative ointment that fans abhor. That album was Into The Unknown for Bad Religion, it was Unmasked for KISS and Metallica has yet to live down Load. Maybe…
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Artificial Brain – Infrared Horizon
Knowing where to start when describing Artificial Brain‘s newest release Infrared Horizon is no easy task. There is something truly refreshing and yet totally familiar about their take on technical death metal. It has melodies that are both haunting and soaring, consequently they are inviting and revolting at the exact same time. It crushes and…
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Nocturnal Hollow – Deathless and Fleshless
Hailing from Venezuela, Nocturnal Hollow are a death metal band that in the future will be known far beyond their own borders. They have taken their influences, Death, Celtic Frost, Morbid Angel and given them their own unique sheen. Their song-writing is first-class, indeed there is a lot of traditional metal in their leads and…
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Beastmaker – Inside the Skull
Beastmaker is a band with solid heavy-rock bloodlines—their singer’s father played bass on Montrose self-titled, arguably one of the finest examples of American proto-metal and inarguably the best thing Sammy Hagar has ever sung. The California trio rises above the crop of faceless Swedish outfits on Rise Above, taking us back to the glory days…
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WhiteNails – First Trip
Although they’re just a few hours away from the Montreal metal mecca, it’s not very often that I hear much heavy stuff from Quebec City. In fact, I can really only think of two stoner/psych outfits from the distinct nation’s capital—the unfortunately named Les Indiens and now WhiteNails. And while the former sings entirely in…
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Suffocation – Of The Dark Light
What can I say; I’m late to the party on Suffocation. While Death Metal was on the rise in the late 80’s I was onboard with all the bands coming out of Florida and Suffocation wasn’t on my radar. After seeing them for the first time in San Francisco last year as part of the…
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Zealot Cult – Karmenian Crypt
Having seen Limerick’s Zealot Cult play an excellent set at Siege of Limerick, I had high expectations for this three-track EP, and I wasn’t disappointed. The title track shows a strong grasp of song-writing craft; the song is intricate and yet economic at the same time, clever but not cluttered. Most pleasing of all is…
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Contra – Deny Everything
When I get something from a band I’ve never heard of, I usually give it two or three songs to grab me. In this case, Contra grabbed me right away, reminding me of now-defunct local outfit AF Analog (who have since given way to the excellent Warsnake). Like the AF Analog dudes, the guys in…