Reviews

Record reviews

Immolation – Kingdom of Conspiracy Review

By Steel Druhm on May 8, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, American Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, 7 comments

“New York’s own death metal juggernaut, Immolation have seen their stock rise steadily over their lengthy career, to the point where they’ve become one of the most consistent and impressive units in the field. Their ability to blend technical proficiency with savage and broootal, groove-based death has developed and blossomed through the years and rarely have they disappointed the metal masses with a dud of an opus…” Immolation is about as close to a sure thing as one gets in the metal world. Does Steel Druhm think their new ten ton opus is up to snuff or not quite enough? Only one way to find out….

Paganizer – World Lobotomy Review

By Steel Druhm on May 7, 2013 in 2.5, 2013, Cyclone Empire, Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 3 comments

“More Rogga?? With Mr. Johansson being involved in one of every three reviews I write lately, maybe we should change the website name to Rogga o Rama. I’ve recently examined his Megascavenger and Just Before Dawn projects and here he is again with his main outfit, Paganizer (he also has a collaboration with Paul Speckmann of Master coming in a few weeks). The man is an omnipresent force in the Swedish death scene (hell, he IS the Swedish death scene) and he’s been responsible for lots of rich, creamy death metal. In all honesty though, I’ve always found Paganizer to be a pretty spotty act. Some of their early output was solid and some of the more recent stuff was less so.” So does World Lobotomy cause brain damage or suffer from it? Our resident Rogga expert Steel Druhm is back from the nervous hospital to provide his diagnosis.

Intöxicated – Röck ‘n Roll Hellpatröl Review

By Madam X on May 6, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, German Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Reviews, Speed Metal, 6 comments

“Like your speed metal served up fast, loud and dirty with a Lemmy-like grunt? How about dripping in Venom? Like their English counterparts, Intöxicated’s Germanic brand of metal unleashes ten tons of pent-up instrumental and lyrical debauchery and intends to raise eyebrows and drop jaws. In other words it’s heavy as fuck, uncompromisingly raw and you’ll either love it or be disgusted by it.” Find out what Madam X thinks of German speed metal, alcohol, sex, partying and motorcycles, all in the name of keeping you (our fine metal brethren) informed.

Chaostar – Anomima Review

By Madam X on May 4, 2013 in 2.5, 2013, Non-Metal Metal Things, Not Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, 5 comments

“Christos Antoniou is a busy guy, classically trained musician and composer, he’s probably more commonly associated with the likes of Septicflesh. Album after album they’ve brought something huge, dramatic and tasty to the table and if you’re like me you’ve ravenously gobbled up every last scrap and looked around for seconds. Well here they are… what you may or may not know is that Christos has a side-project called Chaostar, born round the time Septicflesh released The Eldest Cosmonaut. While their core sound definitely captures some of what makes Septicflesh great, it’s also enough set apart that it’s an entirely different animal.” Join Madam X as she’s dragged kicking and screaming out of the mosh pit and unceremoniously dumped into the world of baroque style classical music… will she come out unscathed on the other side?

Tormented – Death Awaits Review

By Alex Franquelli on May 3, 2013 in 2.0, 2013, Death Metal, Listenable Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 1 comment

“Talk about stereotypes. Let me provide you with the keywords: Swedish, death, metal, riffs. You get the picture: forty minutes of carefully packed distortions and growls to dance the night away, while remembering the good old days. Days when the underground was a truly transnational parallel world (trust me: I’ve seen it) connecting the various scenes at a sub-level: one carefully avoided by the majors, the media and almost all of your friends (the cool ones, at least).” Join Alex as he reminisces about the good old days, where death metal was … well… underground and uncool.

Acolyte – Alta Review

By Natalie Zed on April 30, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, Black Metal, Death Metal, English Metal, Mordgrimm, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal

“Alta is the debut full-length released from progressive black metal band Acolyte. Their sound is slightly challenging to put a finger on; their primary influences are clearly extreme, blackened metal bands like Deathspell Omega, Enslaved, and even French black metal experimenters Blut Aus Nord, but the sound they produce has a groove-based, classic heavy metal simplicity that belies their more progressive interests.” Natalie gives a quick breakdown on the debut from progressive black metallers Acolyte and how their old sound matches their new style. On an unrelated note, that’s one ugly cover!

The Body – Master, We Perish EP Review

By Alex Franquelli on April 29, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, At a Loss, Avante Garde, Doom Metal, Reviews, Sludge, Doom Metal, Sludge, 1 comment

“As the Assembly Of Light Choir started murmuring its way into the first track on The Body’s magnificent preceding record, all promises of annihilation by the hands of a bearded duo of Rhode Islanders immediately faded into a celestial oblivion. But that was it. No more melodies for the rest of the album: just hints and subtle allusions as to what could vaguely resemble a remote assonance or a discernible musicality.” Join Alex as he takes you on an agonizing journey unlike any you’ve been on before!

Hexvessel – Iron Marsh Review

By Steel Druhm on April 27, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, Finnish Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Svart Records, Progressive Metal, Stoner Metal, 8 comments

“Things seem to come on threes, be they good, bad or some combination thereof. As proof of this cosmic law, this week has graced me with three examples of stoner/doom/retro music: Ghost, Spiritual Beggars and now Hexvessel. I hadn’t heard of this oddball, psychedelic group of Finns until their No Holier Temple album last year, and I found myself quite taken with their folksy, trippy and hypnotic take on 60s and 70s rock.” And now they’re back with an EP that tells the rest of the story! Are you ready for more Finnish forest folk? You better be!

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.

Altar of Plagues – Teethed Glory and Injury Review

By Noctus on April 25, 2013 in 2013, 4.5, Black Metal, Candlelight, Irish Metal, Profound Lore Records, Reviews, Black Metal, 29 comments

“I may as well skip describing anything and just post a video of me attempting to eat my own hat. Yes, I was 100% convinced this album would be awful. When the album cover was released and the music video with a black metal interpretive dance was revealed, all I could think about was that they were trying too hard to be “artsy.” Not that I was against the idea of a departure from old themes, mind you — because I was one of the few who couldn’t understand why everyone liked Mammal so much.” While we all wait anxiously for Noctus to record his hat eating videos, he’ll explain why the new Altar of Plagues is much better than their last outing. Did I mention Noctus usually sports a sombrero? Yeah, this is gonna be fun!