“For starters, one of the weirder batches of name drops that I’ve ever whipped together: Then Comes Silence sound something like the frolicking gloomchild of The Cure, MGMT, Eurythmics, and Impure Wilhelmina. Machine is a strange thing of bouncing electronica and sullen prog, a 45-minute dance through the tears—or maybe it’s with?” Auto-saboi.
“We all did dumb stuff when we were 14. We overate on candy without remembering how much we puked last time, we lost teeth to concrete trying to nail the stupidest stunts, and we tried and failed horribly at being cool enough for that one girl that kick-started our hormone production the summer before. One of the (un)cool things we did was listen to what passed as edgy at the time, and considering this would be 2003 for me, that would be Mudvayne and Static-X. Now I have a brand new nu-metal promo by Invidia, a supergroup featuring members from Skinlab, Five Finger Death Punch and In This Moment, colliding all of the above with such heroes as Godsmack, a manure-filled dump truck and a frat house full of drunk jocks.” Ah, to never be young again.
“Lacrimas Profundere is an awkward moniker that’s tough to say and harder to spell, but they’ve been one of the most successful and consistent goth-metal acts over the last 20 years. I really enjoyed 2010s The Grandiose Nowhere and 2013s Antiadore and they’ve proven to be one of the few goth acts that know how to inject real aggression and “metal” into their sound (so much so that I frequently include their music on play lists I run and work out to). Naturally, I expected their streak of quality outings to continue on Hope is Here, but this is a bit of a departure from their usual fare.” Hope is a cold, hard bitch.
“FYI: New York crossover is once again in da house. Yes, the Gothemic institution of Pro-Pain is poised to release another angry screed against the powers that be, crying out from their scummy concrete jungles with a back alley trash dumpster sincerity that cannot be denied. Since forming in the early 90s from the wreckage of hardcore legends Crumbsuckers, Gary Meskill piloted this thrash/punk/hardcore hybrid along a very consistent course, mixing seething rage with simplistic but accessible writing as the band addressed all sorts of current events and socio-political themes.” Does this make you feel mad… brah?
“There are bands you understand, bands you’ll never understand and bands you used to understand. New York’s very own Virgin Steele definitely falls into the latter category.” Steel Druhm is bumfuzzled and bewildered, and this time it’s not because of his advanced age.
“After Prong’s original incarnation crashed and burned in the mid-’90s, bandleader Tommy Victor has been gradually working his way back into the metal world’s good graces. 2003’s “comeback” album Scorpio Rising may have been seriously misguided, but the records that followed made great strides towards restoring Prong’s dignity. 2012’s Carved Into Stone particularly recaptured a lot of the elements that made the band’s breakout album, 1994’s Cleansing, a classic. Perhaps sensing that he’s on the right track, Victor wasted little time in releasing a follow-up, entitled Ruining Lives.” You think Prong is done and over? They beg to differ.
“Pirates occupy a strange place in popular consciousness; being at once badass and completely silly. For every historical tale of marauding, pillaging and rapine, there’s a counter-balancing pop culture anecdote like the mincing and prancing Captain Jack Sparrow. For every macho Captain Morgan, there’s Jerry Seinfeld’s pirate shirt. The same problem infects the sparsely populated “pirate metal’ genre pool. While the original outlaw crew known as Running Wild rode the pirate motif for decades of relative coolness, newcomers like Alestorm and Swashbuckle came along and unceremoniously pissed in that pool, making the very idea of pirate metal seem untenable and comical.” It’s almost Halloween, so why not get out the eye patch and pirate hat and celebrate the return of the original buccaneers, Running Wild. ARRRRRR!
Kamelot is the Mac Daddy of the power/progressive/pomp circuit, but how will they fare without mega-throat Roy Khan at the mic. Steel Druhm puts on his Sunday best for a night at the opera and brings you his aristocratic musings.
