Roquentin

Steve Rothery – The Ghosts of Pripyat Review

By Roquentin on January 30, 2015 in 2015, English Metal, InsideOut, Not Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Not Metal, Progressive Rock, 17 comments

“If I were tasked to imagine what a typical instrumental progressive rock album led by a guitar virtuoso sounded like, I’d probably envision exactly the music that Steve Rothery and co. prepared for his first real solo album. Created with the help of fans through crowdfunding and riding on a wave of ideas cultivated for the better part of 30 years, The Ghosts of Pripyat once again shows just what kind of a creative mastermind and a driving force behind Marillion Steve Rothery actually was.” Instrumental prog rock? On a metal site? Yes!

6:33 – Deadly Scenes Review

By Roquentin on January 13, 2015 in 2015, Avante Garde, French Metal, Kaotoxin Records, Reviews, 11 comments

“Avant-garde metal as a subgenre nowadays is really devoid of meaning. Nothing more than an umbrella term to include all those bands that don’t fit neatly onto well-established shelves of “traditional” metal styles. In other words, it has become shorthand for “this is weird.”” The weird don’t need to fit in, but they should expect some wedgies nonetheless.

Lotus Thief – Rervm Review

By Roquentin on November 26, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Avante Garde, Reviews, Svart Records, Experimental Metal, Space Metal, 3 comments

“I must admit I was pretty excited when I first read about San Francisco’s Lotus Thief, a duo consisting of musicians that are also members of Botanist. The promo blurb and various press snippets mentioned buzzwords like “space metal”, touches of avant-garde, and experimentalism which was enough to tickle my interest. Knowing how great the music from their other project was, I dug into Lotus Thief’s debut Rervm with a lot of expectations.” Expectations are a lot like chocolates. Too many make you die and otherwise ruin shit.

Obake – Mutations Review

By Roquentin on October 29, 2014 in 2014, 4.0, Avante Garde, Death Metal, Grind, Italian Metal, Non-Metal Metal Things, Not Metal, Rare Noise Records, Reviews, Death Metal, Non-metal Metal Things, Not Metal, Sludge Metal, 6 comments

“Even a quick glance over Obake’s international lineup will tell you that this is not your run-of-the-mill extreme metal band. Nope, the musicians involved in this band are not metal musicians in the traditional sense.” Since we started the day with non-metal weirdness, let’s continue the trend with Obake.

Baptists – Bloodmines Review

By Roquentin on October 14, 2014 in 2014, Canadian Metal, Hardcore, Reviews, Southern Lord, Hardcore, 2 comments

“Bushcraft, the first album by Vancouver’s Baptists, was a record that I fancied quite a bit. Clearly inspired by the likes of Converge and Botch, the band delivered some fine metallic hardcore with various subtle influences mixed in, from crust to noise rock. It was raw, angry music, just as expected from bands in the genre (and from comparable groups on Southern Lord). A year later, they’re back with their sophomore release, again produced by Converge’s Kurt Ballou and promising “fast, exhilarating music of rage, oozing with genuine raw emotion and punk rock fury.”” But are promises kept and rage delivered with emotional fury?

Winterfylleth – The Divination of Antiquity Review

By Roquentin on October 7, 2014 in 2014, Black Metal, Candlelight Records, English Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 6 comments

“The way the English media tends to hype up their musicians is simultaneously cute and annoying. Whether it’s an indie rock group or, in this case, a black metal act, they never fail to hail almost every other band as “the next big thing.” Manchester’s black-metal-meets-paganism-and-folk quartet Winterfylleth had the luck (or misfortune) of being one such band.” What’s wrong with some homer press love for local bands? The overhyping, that’s what!

Earth – Primitive and Deadly Review

By Roquentin on September 4, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Drone, Non-Metal Metal Things, Not Metal, Reviews, Southern Lord, Drone, Non-metal Metal Things, Not Metal, 4 comments

“Wait, wait, Earth? Dylan Carlson’s music child that went from pioneering drone doom to dabbling in experimental psychedelic-country-drone-whatnot? How long has it been since they released anything even remotely attached to metal? Nine years, eighteen years? Surely this review has no place here. This is, after all, Angry METAL Guy: trve, kvlt, ov the underground and all that.” Are you shocked to see an Earth review here? We are too.

YOB – Clearing the Path to Ascend Review

By Roquentin on August 30, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Doom Metal, Neurot Records, Reviews, Sludge, Doom Metal, Sludge, 11 comments

“Eugene, Oregon’s YOB have come a long way since their beginnings way back into the nineties. They started their career on a high note by churning out a pretty unique beast of an album, Elaborations of Carbon, whose mad, gigantic sound would become the band’s trademark. By 2005, albums like The Unreal Never Lived ensured them the status of one of the frontrunners of the sludge/doom scene and following that record, the band went on a two-year hiatus which looked like a permanent disbandment at the time. When they came back from the dead, fuelled by the perseverance of mastermind Mike Scheidt, it was clear that YOB underwent some kind of transformation, which was reflected on the following two albums. Taking that into account, the expectations and fears for their first new material in three years were running high through a mist of uncertainties and worries about the direction the band would take.” YOB is love, but is YOB still YOB? YOB!

Vinterbris – Solace Review

By Roquentin on August 18, 2014 in 2014, Black Metal, Nordavind Records, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 5 comments

“Melodic black metal isn’t exactly a style that’s being extensively explored nor are its boundaries being pushed nowadays. Most of the bands that play this kind of music embrace their heritage and the stylistic elements that have been set in stone ages ago by the likes of Dissection and Naglfar. So where does the Norwegian quartet Vinterbris, formed in Bergen in 2010, stand with its second release Solace, and does it break any of the established patterns?” We’re late to the party on this one and it’s certainly jumped on the hype train, but does it really walk the walk? Probationary writer Roquentin opines.