Experimental Metal

Azusa – Loop of Yesterdays Review

Azusa – Loop of Yesterdays Review

Loop of Yesterdays enters with a burly thrash riff that gives way in seconds to a lull of shady jazz chords. Two minutes later, Azusa are playing both at once. The record’s dichotomous approach spawns many such treasures, oddities that are hardly surprising considering the source. An Extol/The Dillinger Escape Plan supergroup could hardly produce a pedestrian sound.” The future is fleeting.

Thoren – Gwarth II Review

Thoren – Gwarth II Review

“There’s a menagerie of experimental groups about the borders of the black and death metal scenes, tracing out their own paths without much regard for popular approval or commercial success. On occasion, these groups will sweep into the mainstream, but for the most part, their influence is more subtle, appearing in an adulterated form in the riskier songs of established artists. If your poison is black metal you can choose between the flavors of Krallice (ever bolstered by their lineup’s star power), Jute Gyte, Genevieve, and many others. If your neck is a bit larger in diameter, you might want to choke down Baring Teeth, Coma Cluster Void, or this week’s subject, Thoren.” Buffet of bitters.

Crowhurst and Gavin Bryars – Incoherent American Narrative Review

Crowhurst and Gavin Bryars – Incoherent American Narrative Review

“Not knowing what to expect from Crowhurst and Gavin Bryars’s new album Incoherent American Narrative, I snuggled into a corner of my couch with a piping hot mug of mint tea at my side and put on my Sennheisers. Now that I have experienced the album more than a handful of times, the idea that keeps coming to mind is that of a sound collage. Sound collages, like their visual counterparts, are compositions created from “gluing” together various, oftentimes disparate, sound pieces. Incoherent American Narrative fits that description to a T.” Art and crafts.

Corrective Measures: Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestral – Legacy of the Dark Lands

Corrective Measures: Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestral – Legacy of the Dark Lands

“What is the goal of Legacy of the Dark Lands? To my ears, it sounds the point of the album was to write a metal opera in the style of Blind Guardian. But what if the goal of Legacy of the Dark Lands, a thing that made sense at the time of its conception was accomplished between 2002’s A Night at the Opera and 2015’s Beyond the Red Mirror? What if, in the years since A Night at the Opera, Blind Guardian had developed their sound to be so unique and so orchestral that by the time Legacy of the Dark Lands was released, it was unnecessary and maybe even uninteresting?” S&M Part Deux.

Blut Aus Nord – Hallucinogen [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

Blut Aus Nord – Hallucinogen [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

“Whichever the style, the quality of <'sb>Blut Aus Nord output never faltered. They could and have done whatever they wanted. Yet even in such a varied discography, their thirteenth LP Hallucinogen arrives as a sharp and expectedly unexpected detour. An ascendance to a higher celestial plane.” Black trip.

Griiim – Pope Art Review

Griiim – Pope Art Review

“Once upon a time there was a dude named Maxime Taccardi. Max has a twisted and dark mind, and I fear it. His music is equally frightening, and it makes me uncomfortable. Yet, I can’t turn it off. Try as I might to fend it off his insidious vision haunts my imagination, conjuring the most depraved scenarios for me to weather. For Max, it seems, this place of nightmares which he creates represents the repugnant underbelly of his Paris home. And so he put all that we refuse to see inside the “most romantic city in the world” to music. Ladies and gentlemen, Griiim’s Pope Art.” Warhol’s twisted Id.

65daysofstatic – replicr, 2019 Review

65daysofstatic – replicr, 2019 Review

65daysofstatic can do no wrong. From being invited to score the first radio adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five (Vonnegut fangirl here!) to soundtracking the procedurally generated open world planetary exploration game No Man’s Land, the experimental four-piece band from Sheffield, England have again and again graciously cherry-picked unique opportunities that are presented to them upon which to work their magic. 65daysofstatic meticulously piece together complex and emotional structures of sound and continually push the boundaries of what’s possible for music to convey. replicr, 2019, 65daysofstatic’s eighth studio album, is no exception.” Non-static Static.

Entrail – Eater of Starlight Review

Entrail – Eater of Starlight Review

“When I furtively snatched Entrail’s new album Eater of Starlight from the promo pit, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. Given that Entrail recently played a show alongside Vouna, whose latest material was recorded entirely at Wolves in the Throne Room’s studio (Owl Lodge), and, like me, resides in the gloom-shrouded Pacific Northwest, I was easily intrigued. Choosing to review her new album was a no-brainer. Looking back, I am convinced that going in blind was the best possible way to be introduced to the one-woman experimental drone project of Christine Anderson.” Morbid entrails.