Anathema

Yer Metal Is Olde! Anathema – Eternity

By El Cuervo on July 29, 2016 in Doom Metal, English Metal, Peaceville, Progressive Rock, Yer Metal Is Olde, 60 comments

“Of thousands of metal bands, there are few that have changed as drastically as Anathema. First blazing trails as a death-doom band and party to the so-called ‘Peaceville Three,’ they underwent a softening into what can be described as doom or goth rock. Their deathy innards stripped away, this mid-era is what some regard as their strongest output given they retained their darkness and evocative atmosphere but with subtler music. Since the turn of the millennium they’ve mellowed yet further into an unusual but compelling amalgamation of alternative rock, airy prog and dreamy pop. I’m here today to discuss my favorite Anathema album, one from the mid-period: Eternity.” The evolution of sadness.

Airbag – Disconnected Review

By Huck N Roll on June 25, 2016 in 2016, Karisma Records, Norwegian Metal, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Reviews, Progressive Metal, 17 comments

“Airbag is a great name for a band. I’d never heard of them until a week ago. Comparisons to Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree are enough to get this prog geek’s ears up, and here we are, listening to their fourth album, Disconnected. Giving your album the same name as the classic Fates Warning record is cheeky indeed, but my hopes are high that this band can pull it off.” He’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes.

Dark Suns – Everchild Review

By Huck N Roll on June 16, 2016 in 2016, German Metal, Progressive Metal, Prophecy Productions, Reviews, 18 comments

“The evolution of a band can be a compelling tale, or it can be a train wreck. In the former category, we have Opeth (death metal kings to natty 70s prog worshippers) and Anathema (middling doom metal to dreamy, proggy house band at the Hallmark card factory). In the latter, Queensryche (well, Geoff Tate in particular, who went from legendary prog metal frontman to weirdo). Dark Suns has been evolving too, and they hope to fit in with the former acts.” Evolution is often overrated.

Vuolla – Blood. Stone. Sun. Down. Review

By Roquentin on June 2, 2016 in 2016, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Finnish Metal, Post-Rock, Reviews, Schwarzdorn Production, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Melodic Metal, 25 comments

“In the case of Finnish five-piece Vuolla, nomen really est omen. Their name, which translates as “carve” or “whittle,” is an apt symbol of the group’s reductive and appropriating approach. As they chisel away at a body of work developed from various genres, from post-rock to death metal, it’s difficult to ignore that the essence of their sound is still based in a rehashed version of melancholic doom metal.” Turn loose the sads.

Novembre – URSA Review

By Grymm on April 3, 2016 in 2016, Doom Metal, Italian Metal, Peaceville, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, Progressive Metal, 47 comments

“I have an admission to make, and it’s not an easy one. Until the past few weeks, I had never heard of Italy’s Novembre. Yes, as Angry Metal Guy’s resident doom meister who worships at the altar of the Peaceville Three, considers Funeral’s From These Wounds a desert-island album, and champions any band that possesses The Riff of Sorrow, I had neglected to check out one of Italy’s heralded progressive exports.” Please publicly shame this man.

Votum – :KTONIK: Review

By Steel Druhm on February 11, 2016 in 2016, Mystic Productions, Polish Metal, Post-Rock, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Progressive Metal, 44 comments

“AMG recently dropped this album by Poland’s Votum in my promo bin with a snarky remark about how I love “sadboy doom-prog.” Naturally, I denied it and retorted with a series of choice names, but when the time came to actually sit down and listen to :KTONIK:, Votum’s fourth full-length, I was forced to admit I did love the sadboy post-rock prog metal being laid down. Damn, him! Damn that AMG!

Wildernessking – Mystical Future [Vinyl Review]

By Angry Metal Guy on January 25, 2016 in 2016, Black Metal, Reviews, South African Metal, Vinyl Review, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 41 comments

South Africa’s Wildernessking is an atmospheric black metal band that has undergone a maturation before our very eyes. Starting as Heathens the band played an immediate (and still excellent) form of black n’ roll. The early material was reminiscent of Enslaved, but lacked the Norwegians’ progressive punch. The writing was concise and to the point, and the word “atmospheric” would never have crossed my keyboard in those days—until the release of the track “Morning” in 2011. In 2012, under the new moniker Wildernessking, these South African ex-heathens released The Writing of Gods in the Sand, which unfurled their sound into expansive, atmospheric territory. The record had a production that helped the band’s music to balance between a raw, heavy black metal feel and their growing interest for more airy writing. Mystical Future progresses Wildernessking’s journey, taking steps further away from the intensity and riff-driven black metal, toward a more expansive, atmospheric sound.

Mourning Beloveth – Rust and Bone Review

By Jean-Luc Ricard on January 16, 2016 in 2016, Doom Metal, Irish Metal, Reviews, Van Records, Doom Metal, 24 comments

“Given the early buzz around the band (maybe I just had clued-in metal buddies) and their obvious talent this seems pretty strange, especially as several of their less consistent peers enjoyed much greater industry support. But while their output has been of high quality, it has also lacked personality: their early records were a little too indebted to My Dying Bride, and it was only on 2005’s A Murderous Circus that they developed their sound into something less derivative by incorporating hints of the driving Celtic metal style pioneered by Primordial. So is 2016 going to be the year that Mourning Beloveth finally live up to their early potential and take their place among doom metal royalty?” Can Jean-Luc Ricard make it so?

Indesinence – III Review

By Grymm on July 19, 2015 in 2015, Doom Metal, English Metal, Profound Lore Records, Reviews, Doom Metal, 20 comments

“Whenever I say the words “endurance test,” what does that do to you, dear reader? Do you think of 26.2 mile marathons across metropolises like Boston, or even out in the barren sticks of Arizona? Do they bring back memories of reading books like War & Peace in the time span of a few days, in hopes that the book report will somehow miraculously score higher than the “C” you earned due to poor planning?” I think of sitting through any late period Metallica album.

My Sleeping Karma – Moksha Review

By El Cuervo on May 25, 2015 in 2015, German Metal, Groove Metal, Napalm Records, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Groove Metal, 12 comments

“It was difficult for me to turn down a promo so intertwined with one of the subjects of my recently-completed dissertation. Aldous Huxley’s migration to Eastern philosophy, influenced by both Taoism and Buddhism, is well documented in his final novel, Island. The inhabitants of the idyllic island practice such spiritual, philosophical models, culminating in the consumption of so-called “Moksha-medicine,” a hallucinogen which permits heightened awareness and understanding. The band which explores similarly Zen and reflective topics is one to catch my eye and I excitedly embarked on this quest for internal liberation. In other words, El Cuervo is ready to get spiritually blotto.