Reviews

Record reviews

Anathema – Distant Satellites Review

By Noctus on June 19, 2014 in 2014, Kscope, Non-Metal Metal Things, Not Metal, Reviews, Not Metal, 24 comments

“The transformation of Anathema has always been enigmatic to many metalheads. The obligatory rewind to their early 90’s pioneering death/doom records almost seems redundant now that this is their tenth album without a hint of metal in it. Any hope of them making a return to their roots is about as worthwhile as waiting for the new Kovenant album (why anyone wants it I cannot fathom). But the key difference here is that their abandonment of metal did them nothing but good…” Is the scarcity of precious metal still working out for these sullen fellows?

Ronny Munroe – Electric Wake Review

By Steel Druhm on June 18, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Rat Pak Records, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 8 comments

“Although not exactly a household name, Ronny Munroe is the third generation of vocalists for quasi-legendary act Metal Church. The band itself may be past it’s creative peak and none of the Munroe-era albums are what I’d consider essential listening, but he’s always been a solid and dependable vocalist blessed with above average pipes seemingly made for metal. Electric Wake is his third solo outing, and though the prior platters sported a few interesting tunes, neither fully served Mr. Munroe and his quality vocals were often wasted on underwhelming and passé numbers.” Is the third time a charm for Mr. Munroe’s solo career?

Humut Tabal – The Dark Emperor ov the Shadow Realm Review

By Madam X on June 17, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Reviews, Unsigned Bands, Black Metal, 5 comments

“This week’s foray into the blackened underworld takes me via the humid subtropics of Houston Texas – perhaps their abundance of air-conditioning helps keep them kvlt? At any rate Humut Tabal are new to me, and what little I’ve heard of their Gods ov Darkness, Hate and Flame debut doesn’t get me all hot under the collar or fill me with expectation outside a few ‘wait, what?’ moments. A lengthy five years after the release of the debut, one would hope Humut Tabal pulled out their self-regenerating dark matter power core and used the time wisely to hone their craft. So does The Dark Emperor ov the Shadow Realm lambaste you with its Megatron-sized punch or is this just another example of blah meh-tal?” Can Texas produce cult black metal? Texans would say yes. Madam X is prepared to mess with Texas.

Rippikoulu – Ulvaja Review

By JF Williams on June 14, 2014 in 2014, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Svart Records, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 2 comments

“Two decades ago, a young troupe of bummed-out Finns churned out two primitive death/doom demo tapes, and promptly disappeared following the death of one of their guitar players. Rippikoulu’s latter release, 1993’s primitive doom/death gem Musta seremonia, followed suit with other short-lived doom/death groups from the early 90s by accruing a great deal of kvlt charm cultivated by many years dwelling in obscurity and anonymity.” Back from dead, we get some old timey doom/death right out of Finland.

Cemetery Lust – Orgies of Abomination Review

By Steel Druhm on June 13, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, 4 comments

“Oh deary me, Cemetery Lust calls their style of metal “Rape Thrash.” That should tell you all you need to know about these rancid bastards. If it didn’t, this is extremely low rent, low-fi, vaguely blackened crust thrash in the vein of Inferno with copious nods to Whiplash, Autopsy and Sacrofago and it is NOT pretty or PC. At all. If such a thing as a musical cliché warehouse existed, these guys looted the Neanderthal Thrash section of everything that wasn’t nailed down and then nailed down the security guard just to be cvlt.” Well, this sure is a shit show of a listen.

Wretched – Cannibal Review

By Kronos on June 12, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Victory Records, Technical Death Metal, 8 comments

“Wretched’s thrash-influenced yet unmistakably modern take on death metal puts them in an interesting position between extremity and accessibility. By mixing thrashy riffing with top-notch melodic death metal in the vein of Black Dahlia Murder and Arsis and paying tribute to, though never falling victim to, metalcore tropes, their last three albums have been of a consistently high quality and the band has never failed to impress.” Tech-death with some interesting bells and whistles? Could be worth reading about….

Septicflesh – Titan Review

By Madam X on June 11, 2014 in 2014, Death Metal, Greek Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Prosthetic Records, Releases, Reviews, Season of Mist, Symphonic Metal, Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, 28 comments

“My favorite Greek giants of atmospheric, Rotting Christ flavored symphonic death metal are back, and right on schedule with the delivery of their latest force of nature. And to add to my fangirlism, the album’s fittingly titled after the most ancient of all the gods – yes you read right, TITAN! Does it get any bigger, heavier or more metal than that?” Was the kraken a titan? He was pretty freaking big.

Nightmare – The Aftermath Review

By Steel Druhm on June 10, 2014 in 2014, AFM Records, French Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 22 comments

“Let’s face it, power metal is the drama club of the metal world. Members of said club tend to be overdramatic, artsy fartsy and prone to big gestures and frilly shirts. Needless to say, that makes them the target for the rest of metaldom and inevitably, lunch money gets stolen and nipples get twisted. However, none of that shit is going to fly with French power meisters Nightmare. You try to give them a wedgie or rear admiral and you may lose a tooth or six. Yep, these cats pack a lot of muscle and menace in their music and between the crunching guitars and rough and raucous vocals, you’ll forget all about the need to snicker.” But I thought drama club was cool!

Body Hammer- II: The Mechanism of Night Review

By Kronos on June 9, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Avante Garde, Grind, Non-Metal Metal Things, Reviews, The Path Less Traveled Records, Avante Garde, Grind, Non-metal Metal Things, 3 comments

“I chew through a lot of mediocre music on a daily basis, washing grains of sound across the dark pan of my eardrums in search of those glistening nuggets of aural excellence. Those are few and far between, meaning that most days I return to my bed without treasure to appease my lust for gold. But every once in a while, an unexpected element drifts down into my staked out piece of streambed. That’s where things get interesting. As much as I love great finds, there’s something to be said for the merit of pure novelty. When something unprecedented washes into my hands, that makes it all worth it.” This is a weird one, folks.

Mayhem – Esoteric Warfare Review

By Grymm on June 8, 2014 in 2014, Black Metal, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, 7 comments

“I’m sure you are looking at the title of the review and my name being attached to it, and getting all sorts of nervous and anxious. Well, don’t be. We all know that Mayhem is one of the most influential black metal bands around, but we also know that their name is synonymous with both divisiveness within the fanbase and severe fluctuations in quality.” After his scandalous bashing of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, we just knew Grymm was the man to review this.