Tag: thrash
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Warbringer – Woe To The Vanquished
Warbringer has a new record, Woe To The Vanquished, being released on March 31st on Napalm Records; this is the Ventura, California thrashers’ fifth studio album. I had the opportunity to see them last week in San Francisco at the DNA Lounge with fellow thrashers Exmortus and Havok, and what a treat it was. As much…
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Demontage – Fire of Iniquity
Man, looking at some of the show flyers in Demontage’s press kit reminds me how long I’ve been hanging around the Toronto scene—and these guys have been around even longer. Fire of Iniquity marks the third album from the 15-year vets, coming a full six years after their last record, The Principal Extinction, which I…
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Metallica – Hardwired… To Self-Destruct
I must confess that it would be very, very easy to find a bigger fan of Metallica than I am. To be perfectly blunt, I haven’t heard a new album by the band that I’ve liked in twenty-five years – and even that was a reach because I thought the Black Album spent more time…
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Illyrian – Round 2: Fight!
Previously known by the impressive monicker of Hellborn Death Engines (which sounds like a great lost 80s film), Illyrian impressively fuse such influences as classic thrash, death metal in the vein of Obituary, and a lot of 80s influences into a profoundly impressive package. First impressions, that’s a great cover, instantly grabs the eye. Secondly, the band…
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Watchtower – Concepts Of Math: Book One
Watchtower have a pretty legendary legacy among a niche group of metalheads. To just call their music “thrash metal” and move on is a disservice to both Watchtower and thrash metal. So what do you call it? Progressive thrash? Thrashy progressive metal? Heavy metal was already genre-bending in the ’80s, and that’s part of the…
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Skeleton Witch – The Apothic Gloom EP
The soothing tones of an acoustic guitar float to the listener’s ear when you click play on the newest EP from Ohio’s Skeleton Witch. The Apothic Gloom swells to a crescendo of happiness before causing a windmill neck injury. This is the first recording with new vocalist Adam Clemans, formerly of Veil of Maya, and he does…
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Briefcasefest: Saturday, 21 May 2016
Gabe Hugh’s review of Briefcasefest 2016 held at Toronto’s Coalition So, it’s the Victoria long weekend again and for those of you getting ready to spend it in the comforts of Kensington Market, either going to see some sights, shopping or getting a drink and grub – be forewarned that you may hear some interesting sounds…
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Vektor – Pillars of Sand
They’re Ba-ack! Building to their first full studio release since 2011, Arizona thrashers Vektor are giving your earholes a tasty morsel of sonic deliciousness with “Pillars of Sand,” a new track from their upcoming album Terminal Redux. This song though. The band teases with a melodic intro reminiscent of “Enter Sandman,” before enacting the bait…
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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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Dream Death – Dissemination
Dream Death’s 1987 debut Journey Into Mystery is one of the great lost metal classics of all time. On their debut album, this Pittsburgh outfit combined the nascent sub-genres of thrash and doom into a self-styled concoction called sludge metal—that’s right, they were the Possessed of all things tuned low and played slow. Problem is,…