Ghost

Lucifer – Lucifer V Review

Lucifer – Lucifer V Review

“Ah, Lucifer. I remember listening to their self-titled debut album back in 2015 and being immediately hooked by the killer pipes of frontwoman Johanna Platow Andersson and their take on fuzzy, doomy occult rock. But as I sit here to craft a review of Lucifer’s fifth album (aptly titled Lucifer V), I must admit that after that very first dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, I haven’t listened to them much in the intervening years.” New year, same Devil.

The Night Eternal – Fatale [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]

The Night Eternal – Fatale [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]

“Sometimes we get a promo and for whatever reason, it languishes in the sump unloved and unexplored, and later on we find out we missed a real gem and feel collective shame. Other times we just don’t get the promo at all. The latter was the issue with Fatale, the sophomore outing by German goth/heavy/occult metal act The Night Eternal.” Fatale if swallowed.

By Fire and Sword – Glory Review

By Fire and Sword – Glory Review

“When Steel sees a band calling themselves By Fire and Sword with an album bearing the simple title of Glory, grand visions of an armored titan hacking his way through demon hordes on a burning, blood-drenched battlefield come to me. Thusly brimming with barbaric bloodlust, your Beloved Lord of Viking Primates seized the full-length debut by these mysterious men from Boise, Idaho. But a funny thing happened as I girded my hairy loins and sharpened my remorseless war grinder. You see, By Fire and Sword aren’t about the kinds of glory attained by disdaining fortune and splitting skulls.” No one expects the Boise Inquisition!

Satan – Earth Infernal Review

Satan – Earth Infernal Review

Satan is the original Benjamin Button band. By this I mean the older they get, the better and more youthful sounding their output becomes. Part of the original NWoBHM phenomenon, their 1983 debut Court in the Act made the rounds at Casa Druhm back in the days of denim and high tops, but I was never especially taken with their sound, which felt like a less catchy version of Diamond Head or Angel Witch. I didn’t bother with their 1987 follow-up, Suspended Sentence, and I all but forgot about them as I got deeper into thrash and more extreme styles. Fast-forward 26 years to 2013 and they made a comeback with Life Sentence, and virtually nothing about them sounded the same.” Satan is real.

Luzifer – Iron Shackles Review

Luzifer – Iron Shackles Review

“A question was posed on Twitter, the most reliable source of information in the world, earlier this year asking which up-and-coming band was going to be the Next Big Thing. Someone commented that Luzifer was that band, and seeing March promo just sitting there all forlorn, I grabbed it. I knew nothing about them, and there’s a good chance you, dear reader, did not either. Turns out this German trio is three-fifths of the speed metal band Vulture, and Iron Shackles is their first full-length release.” Zatan’s Returnz.

Ghost – IMPERA Review

Ghost – IMPERA Review

Ghost is a divisive band. Forget red states and blue states; don’t bother with Yankees or Red Sox; and I don’t want to hear whose side you take in the Montreal Screwjob debacle. There’s only one true rivalry, and the debate only grows more contentious with each new Papa. Indeed, the rift between Ghost adherents and their vehement detractors is a vast, otherworldly chasm, overflowing with hate-kindled magma and plumes of blackened self-righteousness. All that being said, I really like ’em.” Ghost in the cash machine.