3.0

CROWN – Psychurgy Review

By Alex Franquelli on April 12, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, Candlelight, Doom Metal, French Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, 1 comment

“Slow it a bit, tune it down, strip it of all its accents, hide the emphasis behind a wall of sonic venom and just let it go for an hour: Psychurgy will reveal its disturbing beauty in more than just one way. CROWN is a French duo and they don’t reinvent the wheel and likely never actually dared to think they could. If you’ve had the pleasure to get hold of their recent debut EP – The One, then you know these guys are serious when it comes to carefully handling their frequencies. Psychurgy is surely a step forward in terms of sound and composition: the repetitions are still there, the slowly violent love affair with drone continues to monopolise the dynamics and the sludgy aesthetics of a doom wandering away from metal is still a persisting presence.” Alex is on the job discussing French drone duo CROWN and their stubborn refusal to reinvent the musical wheel.

Amorphis – Circle Review

By Steel Druhm on April 9, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, Death Metal, Finnish Metal, Heavy Metal, Nuclear Blast, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, 34 comments

“If Amorphis fanboyism was an infectious disease, the AMG offices would surely be quarantined due to the terminal cases both AMG and myself suffer from. I’ve always regarded their Tales From the Thousand Lakes as the greatest melo-death album of all time, and few bands can boast a run of releases as consistently brilliant as Eclipse through Skyforger. The Beginning of Times had some great songs, but was overlong, a bit bloated and dragged badly on the back-end. I’m sure I wasn’t alone in expecting a big bounce back from the Finnish titans, and it was with typically high expectations that I welcomed the Circle promo when it finally arrived.” Amorphis is the big fish in the thousand lakes of Finnish metal, but will Circle keep them at the top of the food chain or consign them to the role of bottom feeder? Join Steel Druhm as he fishes for answers.

Warbeast – Destroy Review

By Natalie Zed on April 7, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, American Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 1 comment

“Destroy is the second full-length record for Arlington, Texas-based thrash metal warriors Warbeast. It follows 2010’s promising debut Krush the Enemy, and a split, also released in 2013, with Philip H. Anselmo and the Illegals, entitled War of the Gargantuas.” Now they’re back with their second full length, and Natalie Zed is here to tell you whether it’s time to strap yourself into your skull tank or not!

Csejthe – Réminiscence Review

By Happy Metal Guy on April 6, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, Black Metal, Canadian Metal, Eisenwald Records, Reviews, 7 comments

“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.

Blackshine – Soul Confusion Review

By Steel Druhm on March 30, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, 3 comments

“And now for something completely different. Blackshine is an underground Swedish act sporting an interesting blend of thrash and hard rock. Though I’ve seen them refered to as “death n’ roll,” I never found that to be an apt descriptor. Their sound is like a raucous blend of First Wave Bay Area thrash, Motorhead, Sentenced, a wee bit of Wolverine Blues-era Entombed and a smattering of stoner/biker rock.” If that sounds like a heady brew of influences, join Steel Druhm as he gets his Blackshine on.

Beyond the Shore – Ghostwatcher Review

By Madam X on March 23, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, American Metal, Labels, Metal Blade, Metalcore, Rating, Releases, Reviews, Metalcore, 3 comments

“Madam X rarely wanders down the road of hardcore or metalcore since dealing with mallrats and emo’s is troublesome (where to hide the bodies and all…). Once in a while though, venturing out into the unknown pays off and you stumble across an album with a little more imagination and progression (cast your mind back if you will to 2011’s Digital Veil delivered by Travis Richter’s The Human Abstract). Now jump back to 2009 to the release of Lexington, Kentucky based Beyond the Shore’s first EP precursor (The Arctic Front). While the album bore some small resemblance to Parkway Drive, it sounded juvenile and lacked the intensity of say “Dark Days.” Four years later Beyond the Shore haven’t been working on a funeral doom album. No, instead they’ve been working on getting into Metal Blade Records (home to As I Lay Dying and a host of other big names) good graces, honing their sound and gathering some interesting elements to add to their music.” Is our Madam X warming up to metalcore?? Say it ain’t so, X!! Oops, there I go using genres as pejoratives…

October Tide – Tunnel of No Light Review

By Steel Druhm on March 12, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Pulverised Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 6 comments

“Steel Druhm is a sucker for well done doom death with oodles of morose, melancholy atmosphere. Yep, I like stuff that makes me feel as if I’m slowly drowning in an ice cold Finnish lake as wood gnomes and forest elves cry and throw Mardi Gras beads into the water (just go with it, don’t analyze). Because of these predilections, I heartily enjoyed the last opus from this bunch of downcast Swedes, which featured several members of Katatonia at one time or another. After some line up changes and a few years away from the game, October Tide skulks back with Tunnel of No Light and it’s business as usual (that business being depressing but darkly beautiful music).” But is the business as successful as before? Steel Druhm splashes about and does his best to answer that very question.

Von – Dark Gods: Seven Billion Slaves Review

By Natalie Zed on March 11, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, American Metal, Black Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 3 comments

“A few short years ago, Von appeared to be one of those seminal back metal bands who were only recognized for their genius and influence post-mortem. Hailing from San Francisco, CA, Von were arguably the first American black metal band, and inarguably were hugely influential in establishing black metal’s second wave aesthetic. Formed in 1987, the band disbanded in 1992 after a releasing a pair of demos and recording, but not releasing, a third. Over the years, copies of their demos and live bootlegs were hunted by collectors, especially before the internet made sharing and copying as simple as it is now. For over twenty years, aside from the 2003 release of the Satanic Blood Angel demo compilation and live record, Von were silent and inactive, though their influence has touched bands from Dark Funeral and Enthroned to Taake and Watain.” Natalie Zed is here to tell you how that’s workin’ out for ’em in 2013.

Illnath – 4 Shades of Me Review

By Madam X on March 9, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, Black Metal, Danish Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Pitch Black Records, Releases, Reviews, 2 comments

“Prior to 4 Shades of Me, their fourth full-length, Danish metallers Illnath had similarities to bands like Taiwanese Chthonic, South Korean Dark Mirror ov Tragedy, and the the non-Asian Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. The evolution that is 4 Shades of Me led them to drop the keyboard and symphonic sparkle, instead giving up their inner Illnath and adopting a virtually unrecognizable aggressive approach resembling the melodic blackened side of Dark Funeral. While I was intrigued to spin this album and waited for it with some anticipation I also had a seed of trepidation lurking in the pit of my stomach that 4 Shades of Me would have the same meh, lack of power and spark as Third Act in the Theatre of Madness.” I’m not sure what surprises me more, that Madam X actually has heard of the band Illnath, or that she actually knows their discog inside out? Looks like she’s the person to tell you whether or not you should be check out their new record Four Shades of Me.

Six Feet Under – Unborn Review

By Steel Druhm on March 7, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, American Metal, Death Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Death Metal, 11 comments

“Having never been a supporter of Six Feet Under and their caveman, cartoonish take on death metal, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of a few songs on their 2012 album Undead. While the album as a whole was still pretty rancid, there were telltale signs of a band maturing a bit (finally). When I heard they had line up changes, but still had another album ready less than a year out from Undead, it didn’t bode well in my mind for continued maturation. When, it shows what I know, because Unborn is a shockingly big step forward for these guys in terms of writing, playing and all things death related.” Steel Druhm has been mighty harsh to Barnes and Co. in the past, but times change and apparently Six Feet Under can as well. I like these little life lessons!