Carcharodon

King of the North(ish).

Legions of the Night – Sorrow is the Cure Review

By Carcharodon on August 20, 2021 in Reviews, Power Metal, 10 comments

“German power metal trio Legions of the Night was formed during the course of 2020, the obvious time in our history to assemble a group of people to collaborate closely on a new project. It brings together founding member Jens Faber, drummer Philipp Bock (both of Dawn of Destiny) and singer Henning Basse (ex-Metalium and Firewind, among others). That line-up, together with the fact that their debut includes a cover of Savatage’s “Sirens,” might give you some sense of what to expect from this album.” Power of the Legions of the Night are calling.

Vaelmyst – Secrypts of the Egochasm Review

By Carcharodon on August 13, 2021 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 43 comments

“Melodic death metal is a genre I want to like more than I actually do. Describe it to me and, on paper, I should love it. Not a death metal fan but desperately wanting to be so that I can hang out with cool kids Kronos and Ferrous Beuller, dialling up the melodic quotient should be just the ticket. While there are, of course, bands like Dark Tranquillity and Insomnium, that I love, I find that melodic death metal is a genre plagued by mediocrity.” Melo-ego and super-death.

Unreqvited – Beautiful Ghosts Review

By Carcharodon on August 11, 2021 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, 30 comments

“Hi gang, what did I miss? Having taken July as a mini sabbatical following the arrival of a second shark pup, it’s nice to find the site still standing (no thanks to the readers or most of the staff) and to get back into the swing of things with a familiar face. Unreqvited and I go way back to my nameless_n00b days, when its third full-length album, Mosaic I: L’amour et l’ardeur, became the very first to get a 4.0 out of me. Its sequel, Mosaic II: La déteste et la détresse, failed to scale quite the same heights due to a very weak final third, which really held back an otherwise very good album. We somehow missed Unreqvited’s next full-length installment, last year’s Empathica, altogether and so we here we find ourselves, exploring love and passion on sixth outing, Beautiful Ghosts.” Ghosts or just ghosted?

Contrite Metal Guy – Mistakes Were Made

By Carcharodon on July 19, 2021 in Blog Posts, Contrite Metal Guy, 37 comments

“The life of the unpaid, overworked metal reviewer is not an easy one. Cascading promos, unreasonable deadlines, draconian editors and the unwashed metal mobs – it makes for a swirling maelstrom of music and madness. In all that tumult, errors are bound to happen and sometimes our initial impression of an album may not be completely accurate. With time and distance comes wisdom, and so we’ve decided to pull back the confessional curtain and reveal our biggest blunders, missteps, oversights and ratings face-plants. Consider this our sincere AMGea culpa. Redemption is retroactive, forgiveness is mandatory.” Shame is the mindfiller.

Burning Darkness – Dödens Makt Review

By Carcharodon on July 6, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, Heavy Metal, Melodic Black Metal, 26 comments

“Swedish five-piece Burning Darkness has been kicking around since 1999, going through various periods of inactivity and releasing a number of demos. It was not until 2017, however, that a debut full-length record finally appeared, the self-released The Angel of Light. That raw chunk of melodic black metal sported heavy dollops of both death (“Demonic Bloodlines”) and heavy metal (“Crystallised Curse”), and was enough, it seems, to secure Burning Darkness a deal with Non Serviam Records. Now, the band returns with its sophomore effort, Dödens Makt.” Burning leather and rubber.

Seance Of – The Colour of Magick Review

By Carcharodon on June 27, 2021 in Reviews, Black Metal, 26 comments

“On more than a couple of occasions, I’ve mused on decisions made by artists that one might label … pretentious. My musings have not, of course, led to anything useful but why should that stop me? Perth, Australia’s curiously-named, one-man project Seance Of is ready to unleash The Colour of Magick. The last – chronologically speaking – of three records written by mainman AR (also of Grave Worship), this is the project’s debut, with the other two to follow at some unspecified future time. Magnanimously, Seance Of has also decided not to name any of the tracks on this record, instead encouraging “listeners to create their own titles for each of these eight tracks: indeed, this unorthodox freedom is his intent.” Having initially written this off as a pretentious gimmick, it took the ever-wise GardensTale to point out that I was missing a trick here.” Boaty McBoatface metal.

Bossk – Migration Review

By Carcharodon on June 23, 2021 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Drone, Post-Metal, 67 comments

“When post-metal gets talked about there are certain bands – the titans of the genre, if you will – that get routinely name dropped. While the UK’s excellent Bossk may not be on the level of genre progenitors Neurosis, for example, either in terms of influence or output – Migration is only their second full-length – they are, I believe, unfairly overlooked in post-metal circles. To test this theory in absolutely rigorous scientific conditions, I spent several minutes performing grueling searches of this site. Our post-metal tag has, at the time of writing, 263 articles associated with it. The Cult of Luna tag produces 53 hits, Neurosis 100, ISIS 82 … you get the picture. How many for Bossk, you ask? One.” Post-statistics and migration patterns

Orphan Donor – Unraveled Review

By Carcharodon on June 17, 2021 in Reviews, Mathcore, 9 comments

“Sometimes, the promo sump can be an overwhelming place. A bit like an oversized car trunk sale, there’s a huge amount of scary junk that you know you don’t want (but recognize you’ll end up leaving with at least some of) and a few frustratingly well hidden gems. The trick is how to spot those gems. Sometimes though, one simply does not have the time and you have to trust your luck and grab the first thing that catches your eye. One such visit led me to the sophomore outing by Allentown, Pennsylvania-based two piece Orphan Donor, which spoke to me because of the combination of a grindcore tag and the unexpected accompanying note that it would appeal to fans of Isis.” Garage flail.

Red Fang – Arrows Review

By Carcharodon on June 8, 2021 in Reviews, Stoner Rock, 39 comments

“Ever wanted to spend your afternoon crafting a suit of armor from empty beer cans to go make drunken, bloody war on the D&D nerds at the local park? Portland, Oregon’s Red Fang got you. Ever been in the shower, sipping on a beer, when two, large hairy and, it has to be said, naked stoners apparate to invite you to an air guitar contest, before disappearing (with your tinny)? This four-piece stoner outfit understands. After a five-year hiatus, Red Fang is back with fifth full-length, Arrows, and in reassuringly generous mood.” Pay as you slow.

Bleeth – Harbinger Review

By Carcharodon on May 28, 2021 in Reviews, Post-Metal, 18 comments

“It gets a bad rap around here, I know, but I’ve admitted before to being a post-metal fan. I’m not alone in this among the writers but I won’t out Doom_et_Al or Sentynel or the other post fans in case they’d rather keep it to themselves. What do I like about post-metal, I hear you ask. Well, since you were so nice as to inquire, let me tell you. What hooks me about the best bands of the genre – the likes of Isis, Cult of Luna, The Ocean, Neurosis, to name but a few – is their ability build atmosphere and tension, layering delicate melodies and mellifluous harmonics in repetitive, swirling streams, before you slam into a wall of crushing guitars that rewards you for your patience. In some senses, it’s all about the pay off but, at the same time, that pay off feels so much greater because of the journey the band takes you on. With their sophomore effort, Harbinger, Miami trio Bleeth ask whether the same can be achieved in dramatically shortened form.” Harbinger of sorrow?