Dr. Fisting

90s Metal Weirdness: MD.45 – The Craving

By Dr. Fisting on April 29, 2012 in 90s Metal Weirdness, Blog Posts, 9 comments

Cast your minds back to a time when metal music was not cool. Nay, indeed, a time when metal was anathema to all that was considered to be “chic” and “in.” A time when your favorite bands were actually encouraged by the music industry to play slower, cut their hair, and write sensitive lyrics about their childhoods. Yes, this unfortunately really happened.

Our new semi-irregular feature “90s Metal Weirdness” focuses on albums released between 1992 and 2001 and which we all probably would rather forget. But in the public service of publicly shaming the musicians involved, we have pushed forward.

Sacred Heart – The Vision Review

By Dr. Fisting on April 25, 2012 in 1.5, 2012, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, 6 comments

As the metal community continues the slow journey up it’s own ass, one noticeable side effect has been the shunning of any and all bands that have achieved even a minimal amount of success and/or popularity. The inverse is also true—headbangers have been known to glorify bands that are ridiculously obscure, in the hopes of sounding more knowledgeable and “underground” than the next guy. The obvious endgame of this scenario would be a band that literally no one has heard of. Well, Pure Underground Records has got you covered, with the release of The Vision a 1989 demo/EP by Sacred Heart.

Paradise Lost – Tragic Idol Review

By Dr. Fisting on April 21, 2012 in 2012, 3.5, Century Media, Death Metal, Doom Metal, English Metal, Reviews, 17 comments

Well, well, well, if it isn’t Paradise Lost. This band is a reviewer’s wet dream, simply by virtue of all the weird shit they’ve pulled over the years. Starting out as one of the pioneers of death/doom metal in 1990, the band mutated into a sort of gothic hard rock/metal, before suddenly turning into Depeche Mode towards the end of that decade.

Municipal Waste – The Fatal Feast (Waste in Space) Review

By Dr. Fisting on April 17, 2012 in 2012, 3.0, American Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Thrash Metal, 3 comments

Municipal Waste holds the odd distinction of being one of the first bands to kick off what’s now known as ‘re-thrash.’ Back in 2003, when everyone was in their bedrooms listening to Killswitch Engage and cutting themselves, Waste ‘Em All was a breath of fresh air, and the Waste’s DRI-meets-Jeff-Spicoli approach won them a considerable following.

OHMphrey – Posthaste Review

By Dr. Fisting on April 3, 2012 in 2012, 3.0, Not Metal, Reviews, Progressive Rock, 3 comments

Ex-Megadeth guitarist joins forces with hippies; chaos ensues

Napalm Death – Utilitarian Review

By Dr. Fisting on March 8, 2012 in 2012, 3.5, Century Media, Death Metal, English Metal, Grind, Reviews, Death Metal, 3 comments

Napalm Death’s latest album, Utilitarian, certainly gets off to an interesting start. The opening track, “Circumspect,” is a delicate acoustic number about the inhumane treatment of stray puppies and kittens. The next few tracks follow suit, with gently strummed guitars and the surprisingly beautiful crooning of vocalist Mark “Barney” Greenway.

Corrosion of Conformity – Corrosion of Conformity Review

By Dr. Fisting on February 20, 2012 in 2012, 4.5, American Metal, Candlelight, Hardcore, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Sludge, 7 comments

Corrosion of Conformity fans can generally be divided up into two teams: aging hardcore guys who only enjoyed the band’s first few records from the early ’80s, and metal dudes who prefer the band’s more recent incarnation with Pepper Keenan on vocals. These two teams don’t like each other, and Team Hardcore really doesn’t like latter-day COC. This conflict has been going on for decades, but the battle lines shifted recently when the three founding members of COC decided to reunite, sans Keenan, to record new music as a trio for the first time since 1986. Would the band finally deliver some crossover thrash to satisfy the old-schoolers? Or will they continue along the sludgy path they’ve been traveling since 1994’s Deliverance?

Earth – Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II Review

By Dr. Fisting on February 9, 2012 in 2012, 3.0, American Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Southern Lord, 5 comments

To those in the know, the arrival of a new Earth record comes with a lot of baggage, mostly due to bandleader Dylan Carlson’s well-known personal struggles and his infamous role in Kurt Cobain’s untimely demise. More significantly, there’s the fact that Earth’s recent output is surprisingly laid back, and bears almost no resemblance to their pioneering doom-drone works of the ’90s. Old-school Earth fans can forgive Carlson for giving Kurt that shotgun, but they cannot abide by this mellow hippie shit, man. So with the release of Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II, the question becomes: will Carlson a) give the people what they want, or b) continue with the current musical direction, unencumbered by giving a fuck about what people think?

Liberteer – Better to Die on Your Feet than Live on Your Knees Review

By Dr. Fisting on January 28, 2012 in 2012, 4.5, American Metal, Relapse, 0 comments

Liberteer is the brainchild of one Matt Widener, who the more grind-minded among you might remember as the bassist for San Jose sickos Cretin. Cretin’s lone album, 2006’s Freakery, received high praise at the time, but they’ve been laying low since then while their singer goes through some changes.During his new-found free time, Widener has put together Liberteer on his own, playing all instruments on this album, including guitars, drums, and banjo?

Opera IX – Strix Maledictae in Aeternum Review

By Dr. Fisting on January 19, 2012 in 1.5, 2012, Agonia Records, Black Metal, Gothic Metal, Italian Metal, Reviews, 3 comments

To say that Italian symphonic black metallers Opera IX have been keeping a low profile would be an understatement. The last time I even heard their name mentioned was back in the days of Napster and the Y2K virus. At the time, their mix of black metal with gothic imagery and female vocals was pretty rare in the scene [Yeah, if you had never heard of Cradle of Filth, I guess. – AMG], and it seemed like the band was poised to do great things. Now, they have returned in 2012 with Strix Maledictae in Aeternum, their first album in 7 long years.