“Brazil’s Blackning have been producing concise neo-thrash records for nearly a decade. After a six-year hiatus, this quartet is back with their third album, Awakening Rage. As with so many thrash greats, will this third offering be the band’s epic masterpiece? Or will it be forgotten like so many others before it?” Third time’s the harm.
“As a die-hard Metallica fan in my teens, I worshipped their first 4 albums mightily, and since Evile’s entire existence seemed to be based on mining the best of Metallica’s early days for inspiration, it seemed they would be easy to love.” Well knowns and Unknowns.
“Toiling in the underground since forming in 2006, UK brutal death and slam exponents Crepitation have left a lengthy trail of demos, splits and singles but just the sole full-length, 2015’s comically titled, The Violence of the Slams. Even in its most brutal and over-the-top forms, when done well slam usually delivers big, bold, bucketloads of fun. And by all accounts Crepitation don’t take themselves too seriously, serving up goofball humor, zany songwriting and outlandishly silly song titles on their wordy sophomore album, Monstrous Eruption of Impetuous Preposterosity.” Premature Eruption.
“A supergroup of sorts—featuring members of Temperance, Serenity, and Even Flow, among many many others—Wonders play a triumphant, uplifting, adventure-bound sort of heavy/power metal. That means belted cleans, big stadium-crushing choruses, sparkling synths, speedy guitar chugs and noodles, double bass runs out the ass, and ten thousand metric tons of shredded cheddar.” If Wonder Bread was cheese.
“Just as the painting focuses on a spectrum of blacks, earth tones, and distortion, so Ǥứŕū does with their fusion of black metal and doom metal. Expect the typical unholy blackened trinity of shrieks, tremolo, and blastbeats, alongside the dramatic and full-bodied baritone and thicker tone of doom.” Painting with tar.
“The time-dilating effects of the pandemic reveal themselves when considering Saint Karloff’s latest effort. Paleolithic War Crimes follows 2019’s Interstellar Voodoo, a platter that consists of a single forty-minute track. Interstellar Voodoo feels like it came out either two weeks or two thousand years ago; I can’t always tell which, but I swear I just read Steel‘s rave for the first time and filed the record away as one to dig into whenever that mythical chunk of free time presents itself. That album’s combo platter of songwriting brio and Sabbath-ian, Kyuss-ite riffage captivated our Hairy Knuckled Underboss. Four long years (that somehow also feel like four short weeks) later, Saint Karloff returns with a new batch of progressive occult rock.” Quest for stone fire.
“It seems I was just waxing longingly about the power/thrash-shaped hole in my heart left by Iced Earth, and here I am again with a potential filler. Back in 2021, one of our lovely commenters recommended the then-new record Edge of Saturn by Project: Roenwolfe, and its Iced Earth-meets-Cage vibe was exactly what the doctor had ordered for me. Featuring the phenomenal guitar work of Alicia Cordisco (Transgressive, ex-Judicator), Project: Roenwolfe seemed tailor-made to quench my Iced Earth thirst with powerful, story-filled anthems saturated by thrashy guitar work and insane, high-pitched vocals.” Roenwolfe in the Iced Room.
“I’d hazard a guess that few cultures are represented so completely across metal’s myriad sub-genres as Norse mythology. Even bands flung far from Scandinavia write on the subject, including in this instance the less distant Poland. While Midgards and world serpents more typically feature in black metal and its derivatives, Pandrador have returned in 2023 with a release steeped in Norse mythology but channeled through death metal.” Death and bravery (and glory).
Immortal have returned after a five-year absence in the frozen tundra. You know what that means. Grier and Grymm have reunited in love to bring you another double review of hot takes.
“Atmospheric black metal has long been relegated to the woods and to the peaks – to the frigid north. Neglected has been another form of desolation. While the abyss has many names, whether nature offers its lush arms of shelter or the lament of desolation can be heard across the cruel cityscapes, we think cold and bleak. When fused with the depressive and suicidal musings of life’s cruel hand, we seek shelter in ColdWorld’s snow-laden shores, smell the whiff of Silencer’s smoking gun, or indulge in Lifelover’s melodramatic puppetry. We typically don’t think desert, desiccation, or aridity; Austere does.” Sand-tyricon.
