Hardcore

Collision – The Final Kill Review

Collision – The Final Kill Review

“Normally we don’t review “mini-albums” here, but Collision’s The Final Kill thankfully slipped past the watchful eyes of the promo bin cadaver hounds – I suppose they were kept busy. The reason I decided to run headlong into this is because this is the Dutch band’s final release. I reviewed their oddly named Satanic Surgery a few years ago and didn’t give it a great score – or, honestly, even an okay one. Since we’re all stuck inside anyway, I figured why not shack up with The Final Kill, see the end of a movie that I started watching more than three-quarters through yet somehow found myself invested in.” Plagues make strange bedfellows.

Calligram – The Eye Is The First Circle Review

Calligram – The Eye Is The First Circle Review

“How can music communicate the feeling of dread? While all styles are able, metal’s inherent darkness fits like a glove. While it’s easy to provide aural bludgeoning or emphasize excess, the discipline of restraint takes time and effort. From the post-metal dirges of Neurosis, the avant-garde buildups of Eryn Non Dae., the spiraling doom of Swallowed, the blackened payoffs of Cultes des Ghoules, and the death metal environs of Desolate Shrine, it revels in darkness, plays with menace, but most notably, waits patiently.” Waiting in the darkness.

Azusa – Loop of Yesterdays Review

Azusa – Loop of Yesterdays Review

Loop of Yesterdays enters with a burly thrash riff that gives way in seconds to a lull of shady jazz chords. Two minutes later, Azusa are playing both at once. The record’s dichotomous approach spawns many such treasures, oddities that are hardly surprising considering the source. An Extol/The Dillinger Escape Plan supergroup could hardly produce a pedestrian sound.” The future is fleeting.

Caskets Open – Concrete Realms of Pain Review

Caskets Open – Concrete Realms of Pain Review

“Alright, stop me if you’ve heard this one. Strife, Saint Vitus and Glenn Danzig walk into a bar. Danzig orders an absinthe, Saint Vitus order beers and Strife order Shirley Temples. Bartender says, “You boys can stay, but the penguin has got to go.” Ahhh? Wait, did I mention the penguin in the setup? Let me start over. Strife, Saint V…or maybe it was Earth Crisis. Is it funnier if Earth Crisis, has a penguin?” These are the jokes, kids.

The Motion Mosaic – Avant-Garbage Review

The Motion Mosaic – Avant-Garbage Review

“The joke has been made. Or rather, as I am forever chastised by the Wordpress interface for the passive voice’s use, The Motion Mosaic made the joke. So did Huck when he checked in to make sure I was covering this. Never one to stop the momentum of a joke at my expense, I let him know I was way ahead of him. To know thyself truly is as hard as Steel or, in this case, hardcore, and it is the goal of The Motion Mosaic’s eclectic sophomore record.” Mathcore is hard.

Body Count – Carnivore Review

Body Count – Carnivore Review

“My love of Body Count should come as no surprise to longtime readers at this point. However, I’ve been somewhat skeptical of the band’s output since their reformation/comeback in 2014. Manslaughter and Bloodlust each had their moments, but new band members and attempts at modernization had resulted in something of an identity crisis. On Carnivore, Body Count’s third album since said comeback, I can’t help but wonder: which version of the band will show up?” Ice T-Bone.

Leeched – To Dull the Blades of Your Abuse Review

Leeched – To Dull the Blades of Your Abuse Review

“Every year, January is the token month when seemingly every label releases all their one-person black metal projects en masse, and it usually falls on my furry shoulders to find new, creative ways to say, yet again, how a band sounds like certain outfits we no longer talk about. But no, not this year! This year, this damn January, Leeched saw fit to release To Dull the Blades of Your Abuse, the hotly anticipated (by me, at least) follow-up to their impressive debut, 2018’s You Took the Sun When You Left. I was eagerly awaiting filthy, undulating industrialized hardcore with so much dirt and grime that not even a lifetime supply of either Dove soap or Orbit gum could ever clean or freshen up.” Dirty deeds.