“One of the may reasons Kronos is more trve than you is that he delves deep into the underground in search of the most obscure sounds in the metal world. The depths of depravity, the spine-twisting abominations that he unearths will challenge your very conception of brutality. Sometimes. Other times, Kronos’ musically omnivorous bandmates make him grudgingly listen to a French prog/jazz/math/djent band and he really, really likes it.” Not brutal enough!
“New the band may be, but the individual members are all seasoned veterans, most notably bassist Mike LePond from Symphony X and drummer Kevin Talley from Suffocation. Markus Ulrich (Lanfear) and Markus Johansson (Sylencer) are on six-string duties and Richie Seibel (also Lanfear) handles the keyboards. Vocalist Troy Norr’s recent experience moonlighting in a King Diamond tribute band informs what Sweet Hollow is all about.” But they do make a good cup of tea….
“Post-metal thrives or dies based on its ability to evoke emotion, imagery and thought. This is doubly true for instrumental acts, where words have been abandoned in favor of ambiance and atmosphere. Enter Memoirs of a Secret Empire (MOASE).” Yes, hmm, hmm, now for the next question: Does emotional music have quite an effect on you?
“Amidst all the inevitable aspects of life and death metal, as we know it, the tried and true sounds of old school Swedish death appears here to stay. Nostalgia is a powerful thing and the rotted riffs and buzzsaw tones of the Stockholm death metal scene that spawned endless imitators of varying quality remains a strong source of inspiration for up and coming death metal bands. And sucker’s like I keep coming back for more.” You can’t have just one bite of Swede-death.
“Remember that awesome review of Barbatos’ Straight Metal War a year ago? Remember those silly lyrics and song titles? Remember checking out all the bands referenced because you’re a sick son of a bitch? Well, here’s Abigail, another one of Yasuyuki Suzuki’s sick and twisted metal outfits.” Have a bad taste in your mouth? Just wait….
“Vögguvísur Yggdrasils is the fourth full-length from Iceland’s most (only?) notable Viking metal band, Skálmöld. I’ve formerly criticized this genre tag in my review of the album’s predecessor but ultimately conceded that it was a neater way of describing the number of influences at play in their energetic interpretation of Northern European mythology.” Let your blood eagle fly.
“Concerning geography, I’m the first to admit my complete and total cluelessness. I’m the guy that, until recently, thought the Philippines were off the coast of Central America. My knowledge of European countries is directly linked to the number of metal bands they have produced. When it comes to Brazil, I’m aware of exactly three things; their Olympics were a gong show, they lost 7-1 and they love their power metal. That’s right, Almah is back with E.V.O, another offering of trademark Brazilian power.” From Brazil with love.
“Though billed as a technical death metal album, Monument has little to do with The Faceless-core being oozed out of southern California every few months. Instead, Carnophage plays a not unsophisticated mix of early-’00s influenced death metal, taking cues from Suffocation and Hate Eternal. It’s not a fantastic formula, but the band follows through, and there’s surprisingly little to complain about on Monument.” I’m sure we’ll find something.
“The immense advertising campaign inadvertently carried out by certain English street signs notwithstanding, Dead End is a strange and largely uninspiring name for a death-doom band. A name like Paradise Lost brings to mind Milton’s epic poem about the Fall of Man, Katatonia suggests an inescapable numbness, and My Dying Bride evokes a mental horror show. Dead End, on the other hand, brings to mind seeing a sign that means I have to make a three-point turn before I reach the end of the road I’m driving on. I don’t exactly enjoy three-point turns, but they certainly don’t fill me with dread.” Fear the cvl-de-sac.
“Depending on your perspective, Charred Walls Of The Damned are either a supergroup composed of metal legends, or a fucking joke. Sure, the band is masterminded by drummer Richard Christy (Death, Iced Earth, The Howard Stern Show), and fellow Death veteran Steve DiGiorgio is on bass. At the mic is none other than Tim “Ripper” Owens, one of the most polarizing vocalists in the genre — to the extent that AMG himself has a legitimate beef with the ex-Judas Priest/Iced Earth frontman. Creatures Watching Over The Dead is the unnecessarily-long title of their 3rd album, their first in about 5 years.” Can’t we all just get along?
