Prosthetic Records

Volcandra – The Way of Ancients Review

Volcandra – The Way of Ancients Review

“My roommate and good friend once got to meet Kentucky melodic black metal troupe Volcandra at work while I was stuck doing something infinitely less fun, I’m sure. I know this because she, familiar with how deeply entrenched I am in the metal scene, messaged me to ask, ‘Hey, do you know this band called Volcandra?’ I, of course, responded, ‘Yeah, they’re pretty good! Why?’ She replied, to paraphrase, ‘Yeah, I just got to meet them, and they seem really cool and nice.’ Imagine my thinly veiled jealousy as I came back with, ‘Oh that’s super cool!'” Womp womp.

meth. – Shame Review

meth. – Shame Review

“A fundamental part of being human is our never-ending growth and education. When last I reviewed meth. I was bowled over by the barbed dissonance and big noisy riffs. Mother of Red Light was a filthy brick of misanthropic noisecore that got me on challenging textures and sheer violent rage moreso than on the particulars of their songwriting. Since then, I have grown and I have learned. I cut my disso-teeth on Teeth and survived a full spin of Pyrrhon somehow. I come back to meth. a stronger, wiser frog. But the five fellows from Chicago must have grown, too, and I imagine the last 4 years must have done little to dull the edge of their vitriol. Does it still show in the music?” Same drug, increased purity.

Abhoria – Depths Review

Abhoria – Depths Review

“In case you haven’t figured it out by now, music critics are generally complete morons. We listen to music, feel some feelings, think some thoughts, and then write some words, all the while thinking that our opinions might actually matter to anyone besides ourselves. In fact, we often times don’t even agree with our own opinions when given enough time and distance from when and where we originally formed them. Case in point: my review of Abhoria’s self-titled debut record, in which I nitpicked that the almost uniformly aggressive nature of the songs made the tracks blend together a bit” Reviews are for suckers.

Domination Campaign – A Storm of Steel Review

Domination Campaign – A Storm of Steel Review

“When it comes to war as inspiration in metal there are, broadly speaking, two approaches. There is the Sabaton school, which applies a sort of glossy sheen to its subject matter, making war an almost glorious pursuit. The second might be referred to as the Kanonenfieber college, at which the likes of 1914 are also students, which draws on, and seeks to convey, the true horrors of war. Tasmanian duo Domination Campaign are applying to the latter institution, with their second studio album A Storm of Steel.” War support.

Disguised Malignance – Entering the Gateways Review

Disguised Malignance – Entering the Gateways Review

“I’ve talked at length about my distaste for overly progressive music, and no genre draws my ire for incorporating unnecessary fluff more than death metal. I’d even go a step further and say that I really don’t enjoy much “beauty” or “fun” in my death metal at all; just give me the raw, stinking sewage and keep your melodic and atmospheric death metals. Of course, this is all just personal preference, but I can’t stand when bands like Blood Incantation, Tomb Mold, or even the mighty Death add so much experimentation that the songs cease to exist as songs, becoming instead exercises for demonstrating technical ability and/or progressive sensibility.” Ugly down to the death bone.

Creak – Depth Perception Review

Creak – Depth Perception Review

“I cut my teeth on metalcore. During these tender teen years, I witnessed its growing djentification and I liked most of what I heard (sorry). I did, however, bemoan the inevitable slide towards radio rock of my former favorites such as Bring Me The Horizon and Architects. In fact, my loss of these bands from rotation was a significant impetus for my branching out into more extreme flavors of metal. But even though I’ve largely left it behind, I’ve got a soft spot for metalcore that arises most often during a workout, driven by a desire to recreate my first feelings of exhilaration in the emotional melodicism and angst. Creak stood out, not only as an opportunity to indulge.” Nostalgia creeps and creaks.

Werewolves – My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me Review

Werewolves – My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me Review

“Australia’s death-metal upstarts Werewolves channel the zeitgeist of the 21st century with their fourth full-length, My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me. Take in the apocalyptic imagery and try to imagine what lurks within. Gratuitous self-mutilation, friendly discourse between neighbors, a horse, and a guy plugging himself directly into the Hell-Matrix—truly an album cover that screams “everything is fine”. Everything is fire.

An Autumn for Crippled Children – Closure Review

An Autumn for Crippled Children – Closure Review

“For a while there, around 2013, when black metal briefly flirted with being cool, it seemed like everyone and their dog were trying to be the next, “Black metal but with [insert random genre here, the weirder the better].” One of the weirder projects, both conceptually and in name, was The Netherlands’ An Autumn for Crippled Children (AAfCC). Fusing black metal and dream pop, it was shoegazey… but lighter; post-metally… but shriekier.” Crippled but able.

Astralborne – Across the Aeons Review

Astralborne – Across the Aeons Review

“There’s something special about a melodic death metal band unafraid to reach into the depths of brutality in the pursuit of killer tunes. Bands like Nawabs of Destruction and The Beast of Nod created some of my favorite metal albums of recent years by utilizing an equal measure of brutal and hyper-melodic elements. Now it looks like Astralborne, a melodic death metal trio hailing from Ohio, prepare themselves to officially join that exclusive category with their upcoming opus Across the Aeons.” Resistance is brutal.

Calligram – Position | Momentum Review

Calligram – Position | Momentum Review

“While The Eye featured as many ideas as the many heads of a hydra, Position | Momentum streamlines them into a more focused beast. Expect second-wave tropes in tremolo, blastbeats, and vocalist Matteo Rizzardo’s ferocious shrieks (in his native Italian), but like Calligram’s catalog, the sophomore effort ascends beyond the Darkthrone and Mayhem worshipers of the cold dead world.” Calligram calling….