4.0

Steven Wilson – The Raven that Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) Review

Steven Wilson – The Raven that Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) Review

By Alex Franquelli on February 18, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Kscope, Not Metal, Reviews, Progressive Rock, 33 comments

“Steven Wilson coming up with a new album in 2013; it’s pretty much a progressive affair. As simple as that. There is nothing here that manages to stretch itself out of the canons of such a well-defined genre. On the contrary, the music on The Raven that Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) revolves around what has made prog rock what it is today: complex dynamics, a wide range of styles harmoniously compressed to form a variegated compound and digressions; lots of them.” Alex Franquelli wanders through the maze that is the new Steven Wilson release and tries not to take too many digressions himself.

Omnium Gatherum – Beyond Review

Omnium Gatherum – Beyond Review

By Steel Druhm on February 16, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Death Metal, Finnish Metal, Lifeforce Records, Power Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, Power Metal, 7 comments

“It’s old news to loyal readers that I really took to the last Omnium Gatherum opus (as did AMG himself). Though I appreciated their prior album The Redshift a lot, I certainly wasn’t expecting the monumental slab of Finnish melo-death mixed with mega-melodic Euro-power metal that was New World Shadows. It’s one of those rare albums that has the perfect mix of atmosphere, melody, hooks and power, and it was my album of the year in 2011. I was pretty sure Omnium Gatherum would be unable to equal or top it, and when Beyond appeared in my promo bin, it was just of question of how close they could could get to the ridiculous quality of NWS.” So, how close DOES this get to New World Shadows? Steel Druhm busts out his slide rule and does some scientific measurements, so you don’t have to.

New Keepers of the Water Towers – Cosmic Child Review

New Keepers of the Water Towers – Cosmic Child Review

By Madam X on February 15, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Doom Metal, Epic Metal, Listenable Records, Non-Metal Metal Things, Progressive Metal, Rating, Releases, Reviews, Sludge, Swedish Metal, 6 comments

“Cosmic Child came through a little thin on the promo information (and in fact prior to listening to it for the first time, I didn’t even know the name of the album – so much for embedded album info) at any rate, I figured alright, close your eyes, hit play and go from there – how bad can it be right? The band name conjured up images of something with a Finntroll flavor – tell me a band name like New Keepers of the Water Towers doesn’t sound even remotely folky and troll-like right? It actually ended up being absofuckinglutely nothing like Finntroll, go figure!” But…if it isn’t like Fintroll, what the hell is it like??? Calm down. Madam X will now answer your questions.

Devourment – Conceived in Sewage Review

Devourment – Conceived in Sewage Review

By Lord Doom on February 14, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, American Metal, Death Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Death Metal, 14 comments

“Ignore the album title; this is some seriously ferocious stuff. I may have already stated my ambivalence towards death metal of the “brootalz” variety in my previous review, but Conceived in Sewage seems a rather straightforward affair. Devourment have been hailed as one of the premiere bands within said subgenre, and I can understand why; the songs kick ass. According to their label, Relapse Records, “Devourment have a simple goal; to put your teeth on the curb and stomp on your head.” While this might be somewhat of an exaggeration as to what the band has accomplished, rest assured, Conceived in Sewage is an absolute assault.” We made Potato Jim review more broootal death, though he clearly has issues with it (because we are meanies). We didn’t expect him to like it though!

Crest of Darkness – In the Presence of Death Review

Crest of Darkness – In the Presence of Death Review

By Madam X on February 12, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Black Metal, Kingdom Music, Melodic Death Metal, Norwegian Metal, Rating, Releases, Reviews, 14 comments

“Anton Szandor LaVey could have been writing about In the Presence of Death when he wrote this line “Each verse is an inferno. Each word is a tongue of fire. The flames of Hell burn fierce” – he wasn’t writing about this album of course, but after spending the week with Crest of Darkness, that’s a damn(ed) fitting description ov their Norwegian melodic black metal style that bears strong music, lyric and vocal similarities to the likes of Naglfar, some vocal similarities to Illnath (Narrenschiff days), has some of the same cvlt blackness of 1349 (pre their directional change) and dare I even say it… a hint or two of Cradle of Filth lurking around.” According to Madam X, you can’t judge this black metal beast by the cheesy album cover. I hear what she’s saying…but DAMN! Is that cheesy or what??

Spektr – Cypher Review

Spektr – Cypher Review

By Noctus on February 10, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Agonia Records, Black Metal, French Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 2 comments

“Mechanical dissonance, black metal, experimental tones – all things alluring, no? To a select few individuals with a taste for the twisted, anyway. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that the French seem to have an affinity for black metal with a twisted, experimental tinge. With bands like Deathspell Omega and the highly influential Blut aus Nord pioneering the dissonant, mangled tones, it’s no surprise that black metal outfit Spektr also hail from the same shores. They do have one rather unique aspect to the sound that sets them quite apart from such peers; that being the total absence of vocals, which is rather unusual for both black metal and metal as a whole.” Noctus is our resident expert on bleak, experimental black metal, so we called him in to discuss this grim, instrumental black metal opus. Did I mention its an instrumental black metal album?

Alpha Tiger – Beneath the Surface Review

Alpha Tiger – Beneath the Surface Review

By Steel Druhm on February 4, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Century Media, German Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 10 comments

“Move your skinny asses over, Enforcer, there’s a new sheriff in Retro City and the name is really shitty. I know a pussy cat name like Alpha Tiger won’t inspire much faith amongst the angry metal masses, but trust me, the music more than makes up for the cheese-tastic moniker (which belongs on a third-rate Japanese video game where you brawl through a zoo and up the food chain). This is unapologetically old school, traditional metal taking its cues from early 80s American acts like Agent Steel, Armored Saint, John Arch era-Fates Warning, Sacred Oath and Crimson Glory.” Yes, Steel Druhm is delivering MORE retro metal for your consideration!! Deal with it. ROAR!

Convulse – Inner Evil EP Review

Convulse – Inner Evil EP Review

By Natalie Zed on January 27, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Death Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Svart Records, Death Metal, 0 comments

Like many tragic biographies of great artists who were not recognized in their time, Finnish death metal pioneers Convulse released only two records during the brief initial run of their career: World Without God in 1991 and Reflections in 1994. In the intervening years, they have become recognized as an important and influential extreme metal force in the country. Now, nearly two decades after their last release, Convulse are finally making music again together.