2.0

Coven 13 – Destiny of the Gods Review

Coven 13 – Destiny of the Gods Review

By Grymm on November 6, 2013 in 2013, American Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Shadow Kingdom Records, 2 comments

“Nostalgia. Unfinished business. Hearing your work translated by younger, more established bands. There are many, many reasons for long-dormant groups to give it a second go-around. Detroit’s doom metallers Coven had only one album, 1987’s Worship New Gods, before changing their name to Coven 13 and calling it a day in 1991. Twenty years later, the original members decided to give it the ol’ college try, regrouped with an extra guitarist, and put together their first album in 26 years, Destiny of the Gods.” Ya gotta love long delayed reunions by super marginal acts who made virtually no impression in their heyday. What? You DON’T have to love that? My bad….

Ihsahn – Das Seelenbrechen Review

Ihsahn – Das Seelenbrechen Review

By Angry Metal Guy on November 1, 2013 in 2013, Avante Garde, Candlelight, Norwegian Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Progressive Metal, 10 comments

“Ihsahn records used to get a breathless introduction about how incredible the former Emperor frontman’s solo career was. While this might still be true for some breathless fans, it is not the case for me. While I am still a huge fan of The Adversary and angL, both Eremita and its predecessor After left me cold.” Das seelenbrechen is Ihsahn’s newest crack at a solo record. Will it leave this Angry Metal Guy as cold as the man’s last two records?

Sepultura – The Mediator Between The Head And The Hands Must Be The Heart Review

Sepultura – The Mediator Between The Head And The Hands Must Be The Heart Review

By Dr. Fisting on October 28, 2013 in 2013, Brazilian Metal, Groove Metal, Nuclear Blast, Rating, Reviews, Uncategorized, 13 comments

“The name Sepultura carries a lot of baggage these days. A decade and a half after the band’s split with frontman Max Cavalera, the word is synonymous with wasted potential, increasingly questionable legitimacy, and diminishing musical returns. Every album is touted as a “comeback” or return-to-form of some kind, but never quite lives up to the hype, leading to renewed calls for the band’s end — or even worse, total indifference.” After a long-term case study, Mr. Fisting has determined that the mediator between Sepultura and good music must not be Ross Robinson.

Gehenna – Unravel Review

Gehenna – Unravel Review

By Madam X on October 23, 2013 in 2013, Black Metal, Indie Recordings, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 2 comments

“With a hefty eight years under their bullet belts since the release of WW, Gehenna make their long-awaited return with their latest funeral doom offering… uh no wait, scratch that! It’s most definitely snow-capped, Norwegian, black metal following in the same general direction as say Taake or Urgehal. With a hulking eight year wait, I was holding my breath in expectation of a funereal dirge at the very least…” Madam X thought these cats were long dead and buried and since she loves listening to funeral music, she’s a bit put out that they’ve come back from the Great Beyond. Regardless, she’s a professional so she does her job and gives some grim analysis.

Satyricon – Satyricon Review

Satyricon – Satyricon Review

By Noctus on September 14, 2013 in 2013, Black Metal, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Roadrunner, Black Metal, 9 comments

“I don’t know what’s more unusual — the fact Satyricon are still around or the fact that one of the most pivotal Norwegian black metal bands are signed to Roadrunner. It’s probably fairer to judge the band by their merits instead of their label, and their laurels are notable. With such 90s classics as Dark Medieval Times and Nemesis Divina still held as black metal masterpieces even now, it’s hard to question their relevancy to black metal history. They’ve also had some arguably decent albums in the past decade too, but what about now and how does their self-titled LP stand up to its forbearers?” Noctus delves into one of the most anticpated albums of the year and let’s us all know if these evil wood trolls still have the dark magic of olden days.

Windhand – Soma Review

Windhand – Soma Review

By Steel Druhm on September 6, 2013 in 2013, American Metal, Doom Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Doom Metal, Stoner Metal, 9 comments

“Windhand is like the next door neighbor who walks around his front yard in tidy whities whilst swigging from a can of Rheingold ®. You want to like him, but he makes it really tough. As purveyors of super fuzzed-out, monolithic stoner doom, they’re often mentioned in the same breath as Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats; likely due to the groovy, 60s/70s style vocals they utilize. However, where Uncle Acid writes relatively short, hooky doom-rock anthems, Windhand opts for huge, laboriously slow, long-winded odes to mammoth distortion similar to Electric Wizard and Dopesmoker-era Sleep.” Windhand, the cult heroes of ginormous stoner doom/drone are back to oppress the masses with the power of THE RIFF! Will Steel Druhm be oppressed? He’s always so damn anti-authority, so who knows?

Lingua Mortis Orchestra – LMO Review

Lingua Mortis Orchestra – LMO Review

By Angry Metal Guy on August 9, 2013 in 2.0, 2013, German Metal, Nuclear Blast, Power Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, 7 comments

“I have a weakness for Rage. They’re a band that, while sometimes inconsistent, has long been a standard for cheesy German power metal. They manage to make music like it’s 1988 without blinking an eye, and while that cheese might not endear them to everyone, it certainly has endeared them to me. Twenty-twelve’s 21 was a concerning affair, however. The record contained none of the orchestral flourishes and progressive tendencies that I had been hoping to hear. Instead, 21 was a largely banal affair, with straight rock tracks and a tad more cheese that I could handle at times. Good; not great.” So, is LMO the solution we’ve all been waiting for? The Rage record we didn’t get last time around? Angry Metal Guy fills you in on the details…

Front Beast – Demon Ways of Sorcery Review

Front Beast – Demon Ways of Sorcery Review

By Madam X on August 7, 2013 in 2.0, 2013, Black Metal, German Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Reviews, Black Metal, 12 comments

“When a band intimates that their album has the charm and atmosphere of a dark, damp dungeon and that it’s packed with bone-dry, ardent, miserable vocals reminiscent of Aske era Burzum it’s begging to get picked off the promo pile. German band Front Beast, signed to Hells Headbangers and led by sole member Evil Avenger, whetted my appetite with just such an oath on their second full length release Demon Ways of Sorcery. It looks like the Evil Avenger has been stumbling along spreading misery and Satan’s message over 24 split releases, EPs and demos, 1 compilation and 1 previous album released back in 2006 and judging by this back-history he’s not giving up on his mission any time soon…” Madam X takes on the supposedly dungeon-ready black metal rattle of Front Beast. Remember, a beast in the front is better than two behind. No…wait.

Pest – The Crowning Horror Review

Pest – The Crowning Horror Review

By Madam X on June 14, 2013 in 2.0, 2013, Agonia Records, Black Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Uncategorized, Black Metal, 3 comments

“Bands regularly lay claim to being ‘old school’, to bringing back the ‘glory days’. But from my experience, what they’re REALLY trying to tell you, is that they’re foisting their low budget recording quality onto you and they’re serving you a platter of replica tracks. This was my first thought when I saw that Necro and Equimanthorn’s big selling point on Pest was that their brand of Swedish black metal is ‘played in the old vein, no females or keyboards involved’ naturally I prepared myself for the worst…” Old school Swedish black metal? Isn’t all black metal old school? Regardless, Madam x delves into the latest Pest and tells you if they annoy her.