“Utilizing Type O Negative-esque booming vocals, surprisingly heavy riffs, and bombastic key-driven atmospheres, every The Vision Bleak album is Gothic metal goodness that’ll leave your skin crawling, hands bloody, and eyes leaking. Funny enough, 2016’s The Unknown was the first time any album I reviewed was chosen as the RotM. These eight long years have been quiet, undoubtedly due to the band brewing their next horrific release. Now it’s here and it’s like nothing they’ve ever done before.” Weird is the new bleak.
Type O Negative
Lacrimas Profundere – How to Shroud Yourself With Night Review
“Germany’s Lacrimas Profundere have been stoking the flames of gothic doom since the mid-nineties, exploring a range of related styles over the years. Their early works were heavily based in the My Dying Bride framework of morose doom, but they evolved into a more rock-oriented sound mixing To Die For and Type O Negative tropes willy-nilly. They found their best moments exploring that style on albums like Ave End and Filthy Notes from Frozen Hearts and could usually be counted on for rocking, super-angsty fun. Lineup shuffles and personnel drama threatened to end the good/sad times, but 2019s Bleeding the Stars saw them reborn with a new, very talented vocalist and edgier approach. Roughly three years later we’re graced with the followup, How to Shroud Yourself With Night.” Hiding in the gloom.
Hours of Worship – The Cold that You Left Review
“I was born in the mid-90’s, so neither it nor the 80s are decades I remember. Hours of Worship’s second LP, The Cold That You Left, however, is so soaked in that era’s signature gothic electronica that it gives even me nostalgia. The duo’s professed touchstones of Type O Negative and early The Cure are pretty much on the money. This is pure aestheticized depression that goths everywhere would clamor to inject directly into their veins. I’m no Wednesday Addams wannabe, but listening to this makes me want to dye my hair and paint my nails black, apply heavy eyeliner, and start hanging around in graveyards.” Goth in a dark place.
Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2021
Dr. A.N. Grier delivers the goods with a Top Ten(ish) of 2021 to shock and awe the unwashed masses. Experience it.
Misanthur – Ephemeris Review
“Misanthur was listed as “trance ambient noise” in the cold boundaries of the promo dump and just plain black metal on other sites. Truthfully, both are true. What this Polish duo offers is a hyper-atmospheric breed of black metal with heavy electronic and industrial flourishes, not unlike a blackened version of C R O W N’s latest, The End of All Things.” Kitchen sink-core.
Moon Reaper – Descent Review
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m a genre stickler at heart. I find a lot of comfort knowing where to fit every release that comes across my doorstep, so when acts swoop in to challenge that, I’m simultaneously uneasy and intrigued. There are plenty of folks that fall into this category but perhaps the most intriguing has been the UK act Conjurer. I’ve seen these lads described as everything from Swallow the Sun-esque death/doom, Cult of Luna-worshiping post-metal/sludge, to the blackened doom of Thou. 2018’s Mire is a landmark in its own right, and as we anxiously await its followup, we find newcomers Moon Reaper, definitely fans of Conjurer.” Genre reaping.
Cavern Deep – Cavern Deep Review
“Fuck mushrooms, man. Sure, that sounds pretty extreme, considering their healing properties and whatnot, but everyone’s favorite vegan meat substitute/hallucinogen/pizza topping contains some serious nightmare fuel. Take what they do to insects, for instance. “Dude, they’re ants,” you might scoff. Have you ever played The Last of Us? Also, Mario. Plumber extraordinaire. Eats one mushroom, gets “tall”, and kicks poor, defenseless turtles into each other while headbutting blocks for pocket change, glowing flowers made of fire, edible stars, and MORE MUSHROOMS. Shit ain’t normal, folks. So when Swedish trio Cavern Deep decided to pen a story about 50 archaeologists who discover a subterranean world loaded with luminescent fungi, you best believe that fuckery is afoot.” Shroom for growth.
The Lion’s Daughter – Skin Show Review
“Do you all miss Mark Z? I do, too. The poor bastard is eyeball deep in educational files and folders and here I am, cosplaying him in a misguided attempt to bring forth some of his essence. Two previous The Lion’s Daughter albums our dear slutgöatwitchvomitfuckerlörd reviewed, each scraping together very respectable scores and candid praise, but the burden now befalls me to continue the Big Z’s legacy concerning the St. Louis weirdos, a burden I declared to shoulder enthusiastically. Yet the promo for Skin Show gave pause.” Skinned to win?
Tomorrow’s Rain – Hollow Review
“With all the tech-death, funeral doom, and post-whateverthefuck being hurled our way over the last couple of years, it’s paradoxically refreshing when certain sounds of yesteryear make an unexpected, yet somewhat welcome, return. In today’s case, it’s in the form of mid-90s-flavored gothic metal that would have Century Media doing a violent double-take as to what decade it is.” Blame it on the rain.
Oceans of Slumber – Oceans of Slumber Review
“An eponymous album midway through a band’s career can often signal a fresh start, or a change in direction. Here on Oceans of Slumber’s fourth album – and third with Cammie Gilbert at the helm – the shift is in personnel, and thus philosophy.” Tides and time.