American Metal

Wolves in the Throne Room – Celestite Review

By JF Williams on July 8, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 8 comments

“It may be somewhat reasonable to assume a skeptical stance in the face of Wolves in the Throne Room’s decision to embark into purely ambient territories. The Cascadian black metal sibling duo found its niche making hypnotically atmospheric black metal that sprinkled soundscape ambiance with its uniquely life-affirming take on the most unholy of metals, and with disgraced black metal pioneer Varg Vikernes continuing to do his very best to sever the few threads remaining of Burzum’s musical legacy with his excruciating “video game loading screen” music, I don’t think anyone was particularly thrilled at the prospect of the brothers Weaver ditching their black metal signature.” Video game loading music…HA!

Wolvhammer – Clawing into Black Sun Review

By Grymm on July 5, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Profound Lore Records, Sludge, Black Metal, Sludge Metal, 5 comments

“You have to love it when you work so damn hard on something for a while, and all of a sudden, without any reason or explanation, things start to gel together in a satisfying fashion. Not in that sort of “right place at the right time” bullshit, but rather the amalgamation of street-level honesty, soul-bearing sincerity, and watching ideas becoming fully realized right before your eyes and hands.” Is it coming together for Wolvhammmer or falling apart?

Steel Prophet – Omniscient Review

By Steel Druhm on July 3, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Cruz Del Sur, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, 1 comment

“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?

Mortals – Cursed To See The Future Review

By Grymm on June 29, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Sludge, Black Metal, Sludge Metal, 1 comment

“Now this is a pleasant surprise. With all the funeral doom, pagan folk metal, and post-black I’ve been subjecting myself to lately, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve had enough time to deeply reflect and wax philosophically with myself for quite a while. Sometimes, you just want to sit back, relax, and get steamrolled for almost a good hour without any form of forgiveness or breathing space. Enter Brooklyn, New York’s Mortals and their second full-length (and first for Relapse), Cursed To See The Future.” Tired of soulful introspection? Want to get beaten to a pulp instead?

Retro-spective Review: Dark Angel – Darkness Descends

By Steel Druhm on June 28, 2014 in American Metal, Retro Reviews, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 10 comments

“When historians look back at the original thrash wave of the 80s, it’s usually Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth that get the lion’s share of the attention. It’s admittedly hard to deny the timeless nature of the early works by such seminal acts and it’s obvious these were the bands that defined the sound and style. That doesn’t mean they were the only ones who released genre-defining works however. Case in point was the sophomore platter by California speed freaks, Dark Angel.” Steel Druhm is back to shower much deserved accolades on one of the best thrash albums of all time.

Mastodon – Once More ‘Round the Sun Review

By JF Williams on June 25, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Reviews, Sludge, Stoner Rock, Sludge, Stoner Metal, 58 comments

“Mastodon’s 2011 record The Hunter represented a significant, if predictable, turning point in their career. Having earned a respectable degree of mainstream popularity and critical acclaim through heady, yet accessible psychedelic sludge records, Mastodon very deliberately decided to meet their peaking success by transforming into essentially a heavy rock band. The prog had reached critical mass, but Mastodon clearly had one thing left to prove in their ever-shifting sonic palate, and that is their capacity for radio-rock stardom.” So… are they rock stars now? Bigger than GaGa?

Inanimate Existence – A Never-Ending Cycle of Atonement Review

By Kronos on June 22, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Unique Leader, Technical Death Metal, 26 comments

“Hey gang, it’s time to play a game. A fun game – but also a dangerous one, so make sure you’re qualified for it. In order to play you’ll need a few things: a bucket, a glass, a strong liver, and a large amount of (ideally) a slightly less strong drink. That’s right, we’re about to engage in every tech-death nerd’s plastering procedure: the Unique Leader Records drinking game! Here are the rules; I’m going to review an upcoming album from Unique Leader, and every time a Unique Leader trope appears, you take a shot.” Everybody grab a Zima and brace yourselves!

Incantation – Dirges of Elysium Review

By Steel Druhm on June 21, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Death Metal, Listenable Records, Reviews, Death Metal, 14 comments

“Wow, another accessible Incantation album. As you remove your jaw from your keyboard, let me make clear, the use of the word “accessible” in the same sentence as Incantation does not denote any sell out or radical style shift. Instead, these long running murk merchants continued what they started on 2012s Vanquish in Vengeance and eased back on the dismal sludge.” Folks, this is where the slime live.

Ronny Munroe – Electric Wake Review

By Steel Druhm on June 18, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Rat Pak Records, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 8 comments

“Although not exactly a household name, Ronny Munroe is the third generation of vocalists for quasi-legendary act Metal Church. The band itself may be past it’s creative peak and none of the Munroe-era albums are what I’d consider essential listening, but he’s always been a solid and dependable vocalist blessed with above average pipes seemingly made for metal. Electric Wake is his third solo outing, and though the prior platters sported a few interesting tunes, neither fully served Mr. Munroe and his quality vocals were often wasted on underwhelming and passé numbers.” Is the third time a charm for Mr. Munroe’s solo career?

Humut Tabal – The Dark Emperor ov the Shadow Realm Review

By Madam X on June 17, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Reviews, Unsigned Bands, Black Metal, 5 comments

“This week’s foray into the blackened underworld takes me via the humid subtropics of Houston Texas – perhaps their abundance of air-conditioning helps keep them kvlt? At any rate Humut Tabal are new to me, and what little I’ve heard of their Gods ov Darkness, Hate and Flame debut doesn’t get me all hot under the collar or fill me with expectation outside a few ‘wait, what?’ moments. A lengthy five years after the release of the debut, one would hope Humut Tabal pulled out their self-regenerating dark matter power core and used the time wisely to hone their craft. So does The Dark Emperor ov the Shadow Realm lambaste you with its Megatron-sized punch or is this just another example of blah meh-tal?” Can Texas produce cult black metal? Texans would say yes. Madam X is prepared to mess with Texas.