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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Gypsy Chief Goliath – Citizens of Nowhere
What makes a new album, anyways? A couple of the tracks on this Southern Ontario outfit’s third effort have been in their live set for years, and previously appeared on their independently-released debut from 2012. But just as Sons of OTIS recycled a chunk of Spacejumbofudge into Temple Ball, Gypsy Chief Goliath is giving songs…
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Atala – Shaman’s Path of the Serpent
Though you might not have heard of them, this California desert trio has a pretty impressive stoner/doom pedigree. Atala‘s self-titled debut, which came out in 2014, was recorded by Scott Reeder, while this follow-up effort was engineered by Billy Anderson. They’re even booked to pay this year’s edition of Maryland Doomfest—the other MDF—so even though I…
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Valley of the Sun – Volume Rock
Cincinnati’s finest desert rock outfit, Valley of the Sun, is back with their second album, following their solid 2014 debut Electric Talons of the Thunderhawk. Ohio might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of heavy desert grooves—hell, the band named itself after Phoenix, AZ—but these guys sure know how…
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Shortcuts: 7 Recent EPs, Singles, and Splits of Note
Ok – I’m busy. You’re busy. So let’s cut the shit and talk bad-ass tunes, specifically, some recent noteworthy non-LP releases that are more than worth investing what little precious time you have to spare. Dark Circles/Abstracter – Split LP (Halo of Flies/L’Oeil Du Tigre Records/Moment of Collapse/Sick Man Getting Sick/Shove) Damn. This one doesn’t…
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Blood Ceremony – Lord of Misrule
Lord of Misrule is not a metal album. While you could file their 2008 debut—still a personal favourite—under “Doom,” Blood Ceremony has moved away from that style on subsequent releases. I would even contend that there’s nothing metallic about The Eldritch Dark, which was named one of Rolling Stone’s top metal albums of 2013. While…
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Diamond Head – self-titled
Does the world really need a new Diamond Head album in 2016? Don’t get me wrong, their early 80’s contributions to the NWOBHM cannon are classics—particularly their 1980 debut, Lightning to the Nations—but this is hardly the same band. Guitarist Brian Tatler is the only original member, and while we chastise the likes of Black…
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VHS – Screaming Mad Gore
For context, that which frightened me as a child is that in which I now take comfort. Despite my childhood fears of boogeymen, axe murderers, and the glowing visage of my own 5-1/2” tall Skeletor, I now find that stylized images of death, made familiar and trusted by metal and horror movies, have become a…
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Destroyer 666 – Wildfire
Wildfire is probably one of the best albums of 2016 so far. Having been nearly seven years since their last release, Destroyer 666 are back and probably better than ever. When a band takes that much time off from writing, things can sometimes go south very quickly. But D666 have proved that they are still…
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Ruby the Hatchet – Ouroboros
I’ll be the first to tell you that I didn’t love Ruby the Hatchet’s Tee Pee Records debut. Sure they captured the sound of the 70’s… by adequately aping 17 other bands that are bringing the 70’s back. My biggest beef was that they didn’t bring anything new to the table, and seeing them open…
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New Keepers of the Water Towers – Infernal Machine
Fun fact: I actually reviewed this Swedish band’s debut for Hellbound all the way back in ’09. It got a pretty favourable review, too, drawing comparisons to Clutch, Mastodon and now-defunct Ontario outfit The Georgian Skull. But man, I don’t think I’ve listened to that album in five or six years—and I haven’t heard anything…