American Metal

Pelican – The Cliff Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on February 21, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Post-metal, Reviews, Southern Lord, Instrumental Metal, Post-Metal, 3 comments

“Pelican is no stranger to EP releases and I’m no stranger to Pelican EP releases (I own every one of them). Their choice to do an EP is based solely on (as far as I can tell), mood. Some of their EPs stand alone as original releases (Pelican and Ataraxia/Taraxia), while others carry a song that will appear on an upcoming full-length. However, The Cliff goes in a different direction by kidnapping a song off the preceding full-length and fucking with it three times over with vocal and/or industrial remixing before closing out with the only original track.” An EP of remixes and remashes. Joy.

Aktor – Paranoia Review

By Steel Druhm on February 19, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Finnish Metal, Heavy Metal, High Roller Records, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 8 comments

“I’m getting rather tired of raving about Chris Black and his many musical endeavors (Pharaoh, Dawnbringer, High Spirits, etc.). Not because they don’t deserve the praise, mind you. I’m just reaching the point where I feel and sound like a shameless fanboy, and Steel Druhm doesn’t like that. Not. One. Bit. Apparently, Mr. Black cares little for my critical dilemmas, as he’s now released another winning musical project where he’s joined by Jussi Lehtisalo and Tomi Leppanen of the strange Finnish act Circle.” Black + Circle = Spin this black circle!

Manilla Road – The Blessed Curse/After the Muse Review

By Steel Druhm on February 16, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Epic Metal, GoldenCore Records, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, 14 comments

“You can’t accuse Manilla Road of jumping on many bandwagons. Since forming in the late 70s, they’ve lingered in a perpetually kvlt phantom zone, honing their uniquely clunky proto-metal sound. While doing so, they’ve steadfastly remained oblivious to how the metal world evolved around them, and practiced willful ignorance toward modern production technology and recording advances. Because of this admirable history of stubborn stick-to-it-ness, I can’t accuse them of joining the double album trend we see developing of late, though a double album they doth deliver.” Another double album in 2015? This may become the Year of Too Much Metal!

Sumac – The Deal Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on February 16, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Post-metal, Profound Lore Records, Post-Metal, 10 comments

“One of my favorite things about metal is just how small of a world it can be. Like all metalheads out there, I have my favorite bands and musicians. Many of these musicians have a tendency to venture out into new projects and/or genres and I stalk them from band to band and genre to genre.” And this creepy stalking has led him to a bad case of…Sumac.

Primitive Man – Home Is Where the Hatred Is Review

By Jean-Luc Ricard on February 11, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Doom Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Sludge, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Noise, Sludge, 3 comments

“Loud, heavy, dense, raging, lacking any sort of subtlety or nuance – rarely has a band been so aptly named as Primitive Man. Self-releasing their debut to critical acclaim both here and across the metalogosphere, they followed it up with a series of splits before being snapped up by Relapse for their latest outburst of hatred. Their approach has remained pretty consistent across these releases: crank everything up until it feeds back, then hammer out the most repulsive blackened sludge they can conjure.” Better call your local Department of Sludge Control.

Torche – Restarter Review

By Dr. Fisting on February 3, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Sludge, Stoner Rock, Sludge Metal, Stoner Rock, 14 comments

“In recent years, very few bands have been able to prevail over my increasingly jaded and negative outlook on music and life itself. One of those bands is Miami natives Torche, who won me over with their unique combination of melodic sense and gut-pummeling heaviness.” Will Mr. Fisting still carry the Torche after this release?

Dead In The Manger – Cessation Review

By Saunders on February 2, 2015 in 20 Buck Spin, 2015, American Metal, Black Metal, Grind, Reviews, Black Metal, 5 comments

“Not much is known about the mysterious entity Dead in the Manger. And by not much, I mean virtually fucking nothing. The band choose to remain anonymous for whatever reason, perhaps due to the overwhelming fame and fortune that comes with life in an underground band playing extreme metal.” Another band trying to be mysterious and kvlt. They’re only here so they don’t get fined.

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Sentience – Beyond the Curse of Death Demo

By Saunders on January 29, 2015 in 2014, American Metal, Death Metal, Things You Might Have Missed 2014, Death Metal, 5 comments

“Long gone are the days of demo releases being the lifeblood of underground metal. With the tape trading days of circulating a raw and rough cut demo to create word of mouth buzz and build street cred a thing of the past, and the digital age having firmly taken over, the format has become a fading relic in the modern metal landscape.” But this putrid gem might just take you back to the rancid demo days of yore.

Visigoth – The Revenant King Review

By Steel Druhm on January 28, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, 47 comments

“I wasn’t aware how much I needed my ass kicked by some epic, trve metal of the olden style until said ass kicking was delivered by Utah’s Visigoth and their debut, The Revenant King. Their mega hefty, uber manly metal owes a lot to ancestors like Grand Magus, Argus, Sinister Realm and of course, Manila Road, and naturally, they specialize in long, bulky odes to swords, battle and honor (“Oathcore” for short).” The barbarians were at the gates and they left a giant wooden beer. Let’s go get it!

Periphery – Juggernaut Review

By Jean-Luc Ricard on January 25, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Djent, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Sumerian Records, Djent, Progressive Metal, 79 comments

“Believe it or not, we tend to research the bands we review here, even if it’s occasionally more tempting just to mash our palms against the keyboard for five hundred words, assign an arbitrary score, then knock off down to the pub. This week has, therefore, seen me listening to an unhealthy amount of the genre that discerning metalheads love to hate: djent (the ‘d’ is silent).” Djent is a challenging genre, but then again, a double album of material can make any genre challenging. We like challenges.