4.0

Spiritual Beggars – Earth Blues Review

By Steel Druhm on April 26, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, InsideOut, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Swedish Metal, Heavy Metal, Stoner Rock, 6 comments

“One of our readers recently commented that we convinced him the only independent bands were stoner/doom bands. That sentiment is surely understandable given the enormous volume of the stuff cropping up these days. It’s not limited to independent bands either, as Spiritual Beggars clearly demonstrates again on album number eight, Earth Blues. Since Michael Amott’s (Arch Enemy, Carcass) long-lived stoner/retro-rock project clearly isn’t going away, you might as well put on the obnoxiously colorful tie-dye shirt (the theme this time appears to be radioactive orange) and enjoy the homage to all things late 60s/early 70s.” Set the lava lamps to “wake and bake” and get settled into your bean bag chairs, the Spiritual Beggars are back to shake your VW van! Steel Druhm shook off his contact high to tell you if this is worth your free love.

Colossus – Wake Review

By Alex Franquelli on April 21, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Perennity Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, 4 comments

I’ve spent the last few minutes trying to stick a label on Wake. Not that it matters anyway and, to be honest, watching MTV on mute while listening to “Ruinbuilder” with my headphones on is a valid alternative to tiring out my brain. Ms Germanotta is out of sync in this peculiar, extemporary world of mine as she moves about trying to keep up with the pace imposed by the nervous beat of a Swedish drummer. This unrepeatable choreography slowly fades into the background as Niklas Eriksson’s vocals, sometimes reminiscent of Savatage’s Zachary Stevens and Jon Oliva’s melancholic elegance, boldly sets the record straight with the opener “A Stir from Slumber”.

The Ocean – Pelagial Review

By Noctus on April 18, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Doom Metal, German Metal, Metal Blade, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, Progressive Metal, 15 comments

“No one can fault The Ocean’s ambition. Ever since their 2007 opus, the double album Precambrian, they’ve been setting their eyes on bigger and bigger projects. In the past few years they’ve released two albums arguably designed to be thought of as a double album — Heliocentric and Anthropocentric. These dealt with the origin of man and the redundancy of God in a two-hour, post-metal journey constantly switching between the conventional and unconventional that made for a disorienting yet satisfying experience. However, I can’t help but feel Anthropocentric, the second album, was somewhat of a blunder.” Noctus has had some issues with The Ocean and not because he’s afraid of water. That’s fortunate, because their new opus is aqua-themed. Will Noctus take the dive or stay high, dry and judgmental?

Just Before Dawn – Precis Innan Gryningen Review

By Steel Druhm on April 17, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Chaos Records, Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 4 comments

“Another project from Rogga Johansson? When does the man sleep and find time for the finer things in life, like beer and Mexican wrestling? These questions plague me as I peruse the list of bands, side-projects and side-side projects which Rogga has his paws on (The 11th Hour, Paganizer, Demiurg, Megascavenger, Ribspreader, etc. etc.). Now you can add Just Before Dawn, which is his collaboration with Anders Biazzi (Blood Mortized, ex-Amon Amarth) and a gaggle of friends from bands like Puteraeon, Zombification, Revel in Flesh and Godhate. Together they’ve churned out a crusty, thick and vicious ode to all things Bolt Thrower and Asphyx, which is similar to Rogga’s recent work with Megascavenger, but better and more consistent.” Do you like Bolt Thrower? Do you think metal and war go hand in hand? Are you okay with retro Swedish death? If the answer to all these questions is yes, join Sgt. Steel Druhm on the front lines as he examines Just Before Dawn.

Victor Griffin’s In-Graved Review

By Steel Druhm on March 22, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, American Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Svart Records, Doom Metal, 13 comments

“As a long time fan of American doom pioneers Pentagram, I’ve been an admirer of Victor Griffin’s playing and his bluesy, but street tough style. Sure, he borrowed a lot of his sound from Tony Iommi, but he made it his own by mixing it with the sound of Cream-era Clapton and a touch of Hendrix. When he left Pentagram, their stock dropped precipitously, and when he returned for their Last Rites opus, everything was right in the doom world again. I enjoyed most of the material from his Place of Skulls outing, so when I heard of the new Victor Griffin’s In-Graved project, I expected solid results, which this delivered, along with a few surprises.” Doomy biker rock? Does Steel Druhm need to say more? Well, he will anyway because he’s wordy!

Wormed – Exodromos Review

By Alex Franquelli on March 21, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Death Metal, Hammerheart Records, Reviews, Willowtip, Technical Death Metal, 3 comments

“It is brutal, rather technical and it has its roots in death metal. But is Exodromos a pure brutal technical death metal album? A lazy, complacent answer would be: yes. A more elaborate response – and one you would expect to read on these respected pages – is: not quite.” Alex Franquelli reviews the new Wormed record, in all its brutal, technical glory and asks “What next?”

Serenity – War of Ages Review

By Steel Druhm on March 18, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Austrian Metal, Heavy Metal, Napalm Records, Power Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 17 comments

“Serenity have been releasing solid power metal albums for a while now, but so far they seem to be fairly underrated. I really enjoyed their older releases, especially Fallen Sanctuary (“The Heartblood Symphony” is a great fucking song). No small part of their appeal comes from the fact that singer Georg Neuhauser sounds a lot like Sonata Arctica’s Tony Kakko, but Serenity’s music is heavier and more ballsy than anything Sonata has attempted in ages. War of Ages sees the band right the flagship and find the proper balance between their increasing symphonic leanings and their prior metal edge. The result is a good approximation of what Kamelot would sound like if they replaced Roy Kahn with Mr. Kakko and continued on their merry, pirate-shirted way. ” Do you like Sonata Arctica? Do you like Kamelot? Well according to Steel Druhm, this is so deep in your wheelhouse, you’ll never get it out!

Nails – Abandon All Life Review

By Natalie Zed on March 17, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, American Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Southern Lord, Death Metal, 4 comments

“After whetting listener’s appetites with recent 7” Obscene Humanity, a palate cleaner of reconfigured and re-recorded material that was both tantalizing and ultimately unfulfilling, South California’s abrasive hardcore hatemongers have finally released Abandon All Life. An able follow-up to their breakthrough record, Unsilent Death, Abandon All Life displays depth, maturity and sophistication while losing none of the blistering rage and ferocious energy that first captured their audience’s attention.” Natalie Zed takes a gander at the crusty, bruising noise being churning out by these Entombed-influenced death rockers.

October Falls – The Plague of a Coming Age Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 13, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Black Metal, Debemur Morti, Epic Metal, Finnish Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 22 comments

Back in ’10—when I was wearing an onion on my belt ’cause that was the fashion in those days—I reviewed a record from Finnish atmospheric black metallers October Falls called A Collapse of Faith. At 40+ minutes of a single song, my Angry Attention Deficit Disorder hindered me from loving this record. While it was good, had great melodies, interesting ideas and an old school production that added a fuzzy atmosphere to the whole thing, I was never able to really bring myself to come back to it. It might have been perfect for some of the depressing, snowy days that we get here in Sweden, but I’ve got a quite bit of go-to music for that. Still, I was curious was when I received the promo for The Plague of a Coming Age. With its fantastic cover art, and its 9 easily distinguishable songs, I thought this might be a step in a direction I could enjoy.

The Fall of Every Season – Amends Review

By Noctus on March 2, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Doom Metal, Grau Records, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, 13 comments

“It’s probably best you let go of every possible expectation of this record that you may have had, because this album simply won’t meet them. Stylistically, anyway. The Fall of Every Season,, the moniker of Marius Strand, has decided to change the idea behind the music so far beyond recognition of his dreary, depression-filled beginnings, that Amends sounds like a completely different band, thank goodness.” Noctus would like to explain this album to you in loving detail, but first he requires you to clear your mind. That means stop thinking of food and sex too!