Canadian Metal

Csejthe – Réminiscence Review

Csejthe – Réminiscence Review

“It’s raining frequently these days in the part of the world Happy Metal Guy resides in, and Csejthe’s (definitely pronounced: See-ass-e-jay-tee-hage-e) sophomore album is a timely soundtrack to the weather’s moodiness. It’s a different case from the review of another rainy black metal record in April last year. This one actually makes you want to stay warm and dry indoors while listening to it instead of stomping outside in frustration to get cold and drenched in the heavy rain.” Happy Metal Guy examines some rainy black metal and goes into some weird kind of screenwriting mode. I honestly don’t know what else to say.

Mortillery – Origin of Extinction Review

Mortillery – Origin of Extinction Review

“In the sea of mediocre re-thrash that was 2012, the unheralded debut by Canadian upstarts Mortillery was one of the few life rafts of quality. Murder, Death, Kill was tongue-in-cheek fun and had all the flavor of the second wave of ’80s thrash while incorporating just enough traditional metal and punk elements to keep things interesting. You could feel the youthful exuberance and hunger in the band’s music and they greatly benefited from the exception vocals of Cara McCutchen and the axe slinging acumen of Alex Scott and Alex Guitierrez.” Steel Druhm happily trotted out the skull tank of rethrash for 2012s Mortillery debut, and now they’re back with a follow-up! Will that tank start up again after sitting all year?

Voivod – Target Earth Review

Voivod – Target Earth Review

The prospect of a new Voivod record is something I approached with a fair amount of dread, mostly due to the minor detail that guitarist/bandleader Denis “Piggy” D’Amour passed away back in 2005. A lot of ’80s/’90s bands have buried their dead and moved on, occasionally with decent results (see: Alice In Chains). But Piggy seemed irreplaceable. He was the band’s main songwriter by most accounts, and more importantly, he possessed one of the weirdest, most eccentric guitar styles in all of metal. It seemed that no one could possibly take his place.

Things You Might Have Missed 2012: Aeternam – Moongod

Things You Might Have Missed 2012: Aeternam – Moongod

The point of Things You Might Have Missed is to point out great records we didn’t cover in time, which wasn’t exactly the case with Tenacious D, but definitely is the case with Aeternam’s 2012 offering Moongod. We never received promo of this record ahead of time – but it appears to have been released […]

Kobra and the Lotus – Kobra and the Lotus Review

Kobra and the Lotus – Kobra and the Lotus Review

Metal has been doing some collective soul searching for a while. The retro-thrash and retro-death movements – along with the ever-growing vest metal movement – have been built on a longing back to the simple, the original, the true. In this push, a lot of bands have been making the claim to the true metal legacy and Kobra and the Lotus are no exception.