“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I really don’t need originality in my music. Take last month’s Necroblood album. Though it hardly did anything groundbreaking, that record gave me all the Satan, blastbeats, and atom-bomb riffing I could ask for.” Can Possession provide maximum Satan?
“Why, many reviewers often ask themselves, should I recommend or trash this record? I’ve asked this question of myself about Ascended Dead’s Abhorrent Manifestation repeatedly, and my truthful answer to that is “I have no idea.”’ Brootal music, confused reviewer.
“At first glance of Apostate Viaticum’s debut, Before the Gates of Gomorrah there’s not much that indicates if a diamond has been pried free from the earth or it’s just another lump of coal. Time to dust off the jeweler’s loupe to see if we have something that glitters.” Death metal does not favor the shiny.
“What’s black and white and re(a)d all over? A war metal cover made out of newspapers! Stupid joke, but I bet you smiled anyway. Good news for all of you goat/Satan fans out there, Crurifragium are here to ensure you never smile again. Born of an unholy union between members of Demoncy, Astraes Pestis, and Warpvomit, these Seattleites bear all the triple-6 markings of a devil-worshiping crew looking to hail Lucifer in the best(ial) of ways.” Satan.
“Deathcult can be comfortably lumped in the niche “weird” OSDM scene with bands like Obliteration, Morbus Chron, and Tribulation. The root of it all is old Death, Entombed, and Autopsy riffs, but it tries to be more “progressive” by making the songs a bit more technically involved and spaced out, but less immediate along with hints from the melodicism of the old Swedish scene to spice things up. Beasts of Faith aims to mix this all together with a nearly transparent coat of new paint much like The Matrix added virtual reality to a combination of Descartes’s “evil demon” thing and Plato’s cave allegory.” This isn’t your father’s old school death.
“As much as I hate to admit it, my appreciation for doom has declined over the years. Back when I was first getting into metal, I remember scouring the doom metal Wikipedia page for info on the genre and purchasing all the My Dying Bride, Katatonia, and Swallow the Sun CDs my minimum-wage high school job could afford. But in recent years, I’ve become too impatient to sit and ponder dreary sadboy melodies or chords that reverberate for ten seconds at a time.” What’s the rush?!
“It’s no big revelation to state that music doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so in the spirit of spicing things up and non-sequitur literary devices, let’s talk hamburgers.” Hope you like yours dead, blackened and from the 80s or you’re going to leave hungry.
“Malthusian studies began at AMU in late 2013 with the offering of MMXIII (BLKM – 131126), an introductory course in psychedelic black metal with emphasis on atmosphere and a prerequisite of Altar of Plagues (BLKM – 130425)….” Get your syllabus and read it!
“Up until now, there were three things that came to mind when I thought of Ireland; St. Patty’s Day, Guinness and Primordial. It turns out there is now a fourth: ZOM. Now, if you go to their Facebook page, this Irish threesome claims to exist in the “Anti-Matter Universe.” Goofy sounding? It is. But my Aunt has a summer home there and she just loves it. Regardless of where they reside, ZOM are definitely intent on wreaking havoc in this Anti-Anti-Matter Universe of ours.” That’s all well and good, but if they make me spill my Guinness, shit’s going down in all the universes.
“I’ll be the first to admit that I truly enjoy the old school death metal (OSDM) revival that seems to have been going on forever in the metal scene. That said, it does have its fair share of problems. Too often bands hopping on the OSDM train will focus on and nail down the cavernous murk that helped define classics like Onward to Golgotha and Diabolical Conquest, but forget that atmosphere was only half the battle…” The OSDM train just keeps chooglin on down the line, but do you still want a ticket to ride?
