3.0

Steel Prophet – Omniscient Review

Steel Prophet – Omniscient Review

“If you were following the American metal scene from 1995 through 2001, you know there was a point in time where Steel Prophet seemed poised to conquer the metal world. With their prodigious productivity and an excellent run of releases including classics like The Goddess Principle, Messiah and Book of the Dead, they were often mentioned in the same breath as Iced Earth as the pinnacle of American power/traditional metal and everything was coming up black roses. Then came fractious internal struggles, revolving door line ups and a series of uninspired albums and just like that, they dropped out of the public consciousness, all their hard work seemingly undone. Now, ten years after their last album, they’re back to try to regain some of what they lost with Omniscient.” Steel Druhm wasn’t expecting this and didn’t expect much of it, but can it impress a bitter, jilted fanboy?

Illdisposed – With the Lost Souls on Our Side Review

Illdisposed – With the Lost Souls on Our Side Review

There’s Something Rotten… in the State of Denmark, I believe it’s the stench of death! Following on from Sense of Darkness, and still under the watchful eye of Germany’s dealers of hard and heavy (Massacre Records), Illdisposed are back with the 12th full-length installment in their mighty discography. And true to form it’s a mash-up of artfully used metalcore riffing and modern thrash with some head-bangs towards Legion of the Damned, bound together with a big Parasite Inc. melo-death colored ribbon that grasps furiously at melody while trying its utmost to give you a brutal Pantera-style wedgie.” If Pantera wants to give you a wedgie, you let them!

Anathema – Distant Satellites Review

Anathema – Distant Satellites Review

“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?

Cemetery Lust – Orgies of Abomination Review

Cemetery Lust – Orgies of Abomination Review

“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.

Septicflesh – Titan Review

Septicflesh – Titan Review

“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.

Body Hammer- II: The Mechanism of Night Review

Body Hammer- II: The Mechanism of Night Review

“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.

Voyager – V Review

Voyager – V Review

“Australia’s Voyager has stealthily grown into one of my favorite bands over the past five years. While I was suitably impressed by 2009s I Am the Revolution, I was utterly blown away by 2011s The Meaning of I, to which I gave an extremely rare perfect score. They have a very distinctive sound and approach to power-prog and their ear for melody and hooks is second only to Anubis Gate. Naturally, as the release of V grew near I became giddy like a school girl at a Justin Bieber kissing booth. Now I’ve spent some serious time with V and it actually comes close to my high expectations…at first.” But what happens next? Oh, the huge manatee!

Embrace of Disharmony – Humanake Review

Embrace of Disharmony – Humanake Review

“Unexpect’s Fables of the Sleepless Empire is hands down one of my favorite albums ever, and an excellent listen for anyone interested in avant-garde metal. It sets my personal standard for weird shit, which I guess is a bit unfortunate for any avant-garde metal bands I come across. By that admission, my recommendation for Italy’s Embrace of Dishamony means a lot.” Kronos is a harsh judge of weird music, so we always give him the weird shit.

California Breed – California Breed Review

California Breed – California Breed Review

“The entire concept of a “supergroup” requires that at least some of the parties involved were “super” individually, prior to forming a band together. An unfortunate side effect of this is that when they have bills to pay, or get tired of working with their bandmates, they can always go back to whatever they were doing before. This is what led to the demise of Black Country Communion, when guitar superstar Joe Bonamassa returned to his solo career, taking BCC keyboardist Derek Sherinian with him. Undaunted, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) and John Bonham stunt double Jason Bonham carried on, enlisting unknown guitarist Andrew Watt.” Another supergroup…sigh. Mr. Fisting tells you just how super they truly are.