Akerblogger

Kavrila – Blight Review

By Akerblogger on August 5, 2017 in 2017, Backbite Records, German Metal, Hardcore, Reviews, 5 comments

“You receive a promo for a band. You quite like how said-band sound, but after a while said-band leave you a bit underwhelmed. So, you leave them for a few days. You listen to other bands, refresh yourself with classics of days-gone-by and other new releases, then go back to said-band. Hmm. Still quite good, but there’s something missing. A big empty space. A lack of imagination? And this leads to an inability to write an engaging opening paragraph to your review. Kavrila are from Hamburg, Germany and play doom-punk on their debut Blight and are influenced heavily by post-hardcore. That was easy.” Was it though?

Dead Cross – Dead Cross Review

By Akerblogger on August 4, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Hardcore, Ipecac Records, Reviews, Hardcore, 44 comments

“Dead Cross is a supergroup, of sorts, playing a style of music close to each member’s angry heart. All the Patton-isms are featured here: the nonsense lyrics, the gibberish sounds, the medley of singing styles. Lombardo, too, sounds like he’s back in the 80s, playing with joyous urgency. Supergroups are destined to fail though, right? Just like Fantomas sucked, right? Are we about to take a trip into the rotten realms of half-arsed nostalgia, or have Dead Cross constructed something freshly re-invigorating?” Right cross from dead field.

Yer Metal Is Olde – Devin Townsend: Ocean Machine: Biomech

By Akerblogger on July 31, 2017 in American Metal, HevyDevy Records, Progressive Metal, Yer Metal Is Olde, 44 comments

“The 90’s, for Townsend, certainly look hectic on paper: whilst touring the world with Steve Vai and The Wildhearts in the early nineties, jamming with Jason Newsted, dealing with corporate buffoons Roadrunner Records, recording the punk-opera Punky Brüster – Cooked on Phonics, formulating industrial destruction under the guise of Strapping Young Lad, coping with the harmful effects of hallucinogenic use and mental illness, Townsend was creating snippets of music that would feature on Ocean Machine.” Fluid dynamics.

Esoctrilihum – Mystic Echo from a Funeral Dimension Review

By Akerblogger on July 30, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, French Metal, I Voidhanger Records, Reviews, Black Metal, 20 comments

“I, Voidhanger are very good at promoting their bands, very good at creating enticing mythos’, building intrigue, and drawing in a listener with vibrant art-work and concepts. Mystic Echo from a Funeral Dimension has been given this treatment and I, Voidhanger have drawn me in. The actual musical product, though, has to live up to these lofty heights. Is this 2017’s III by Spectral Lore or is this destined to float in the void of the forgotten?” Void loitering.

The Midnight Ghost Train – Cypress Ave. Review

By Akerblogger on July 29, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Hard Rock, Napalm Records, Reviews, Hard Rock, 14 comments

“The Midnight Ghost Train understand that they’ll find it difficult to survive in the avalanche of stoner-doom bands in existence these days, so they’ve taken a step back, dressed themselves in a morose southern armor, and decorated their largely hard-rock vehicle with funk, country, blues, stoner and sludge.” Watch for falling rock.

GlerAkur – The Mountains Are Beautiful Now Review

By Akerblogger on July 24, 2017 in 2017, Icelandic Metal, Post-Rock, Prophecy Productions, Reviews, 22 comments

“It will be a long time before I can afford to visit Iceland, so I rely on music created by the likes of GlerAkur, an instrumental project of National Theater of Iceland sound engineer Elvar Geir Sævarsson, to deliver hearty wedges of this magical land to my adoring ears. Sævarsson’s seen its sights, breathed its air, and felt its magic, and from this he’s carved his vision of Iceland into a solid block of music.” Affordable ear travel.

Nicumo – Storms Arise Review

By Akerblogger on July 11, 2017 in 2017, Finnish Metal, Gothic Metal, Inverse Records, Reviews, 23 comments

“Melancholy: a feeling of pensive sadness. Synonyms: desolation, woe, sorrow. The word, from its Latin and Greek origins, translates to black bile: too much of which in a person could cause depression. It’s a loaded word, that’s for certain, and it gets thrown around and attached to music cheaply and without much care. Too many words of melancholy’s ilk are over-used; too much hyperbole, drama and imaginative nonsense is bestowed upon average and uninspiring music (I’m also responsible for this sort of thing) and thus certain words, phrases, and images have lost their power completely.” Sad boys be sad.

Tyrannosorceress – Shattering Light’s Creation Review

By Akerblogger on June 22, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Black Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Black Metal, 37 comments

“‘Sir, the Tyrannosaurus’ are too strong. They’ve breached level four!’
‘Shit!’
‘What do we do!?’
‘I…uh…send for The Sorcerer. He’s our only hope now.’
‘But, sir, there’s a chance the atmosphere down there could cause a cataclysmic fusion. The Sorcerer could perish, or even worse…’
‘Just do it, rat! Either The Sorcerer succeeds or the Tyrannosorceress is born. God help us all.'” This theme park was a bad idea.

Foscor – Les Irreals Visions Review

By Akerblogger on June 11, 2017 in 2017, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Spanish Metal, 70 comments

“Taking inspiration from their native Catalonia and from the morbid, decadent, and sick reflections on a rapidly changing society, Foscor – Catalan for “Darkness” – play a dark progressive metal that shares features with the depressive European heavyweights of Katatonia, Solstafir, and Lantlos. Les Irreals Visions is the band’s fifth full-length and a considerable shift away from their early black-metal sound to a depressive progressive metal that tastefully merges elements of black metal and doom.” From black to dark.

Völur – Ancestors Review

By Akerblogger on June 7, 2017 in 2017, Canadian Metal, Doom Metal, Prophecy Productions, Reviews, Doom Metal, 28 comments

“Dread, despair, and impending doom were forged when Tony Iommi dragged his world-weary, calloused, and disfigured hands over the steel of his signature Epiphone. What is doom metal, then, when the lead guitar is replaced by the dreamy and ethereal violin? How can dread and despair pass through the strings of a fragile violin?’ The new face of classic(al) doom.