Tag: trad metal
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Argus – From Fields of Fire
It’s been a while since we last heard from Argus. Their last album, Beyond the Martyrs, was released in 2013, and when combined with a lack of appearances on any notable U.S. underground doomfests lately, I wasn’t sure if this band was still a going concern. Fortunately, Pittsburgh’s premiere purveyors of power/doom metal have returned…
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Venomous Maximus – No Warning
I had the chance to catch this Texas quartet at Milwaukee’s Days of the Doomed fest in 2013, where Venomous Maximus distinguished themselves as the most up-tempo outfit on the bill. Unfortunately, they got left behind at the border on the High on Fire/Pallbearer tour a couple years back, which was super-lame, cuz they probably…
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Wooden Stake – A Feast of Virgin Souls
I don’t often judge an album by its cover, but in the case of A Feast of Virgin Souls, I was more than a little put off by the artwork. It’s kinda like classic Cannibal Corpse, only slightly less gorey and much more misogynistic. And yet, one half of this female-fronted death/doom duo is… well,…
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Venomous Maximus – Firewalker
Though I don’t consider Venomous Maximus to be doom—they’re a little too up-tempo, IMO—these guys definitely stole the show at the third installment of Days of the Doomed fest a couple years back. They sure sold a lotta copies of their first CD that night… I didn’t buy one myself, but I’m still looking forward to…
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Lord Dying – Poisoned Altars
Lord Dying’s 2013 debut, Summon the Faithless, kinda caught me by surprise. Hey, it’s not every day that a relatively unknown band outta Portland issues its debut album on Relapse. But it’s grown on me over time, and translated well to the live setting when I caught ‘em in a shitty Tex-Mex bar on tour…
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Accept – Blind Rage
I did not need to hear any of the advance singles to know this was going to be good. Three albums into Accept’s latest comeback, any skepticism about Udo-soundalike Mark Tornillo on vocals has melted away. Far from being over-the-hill dinosaurs, these guys have tapped into the sound of classic Accept, making this the Metal Heart to Blood of the Nations’ Fast…