Apr18

Ols – Mszarna Review

By Akerblogger on April 21, 2018 in 2018, Folk, Polish Metal, Reviews, Unsigned Bands, Folk, 37 comments

“Extreme metal purists skip this review now: we’re venturing into the realm of fancy-pants, hairy-fairy dark-ambient neo-folk. Picture this – you’re listening to an album that’s blowing you away. Riff after riff after riff pummels your puny brain and causes you to moan and grin and sway like a bath-salt sniffing metal whore. Then, as the riffs reach their apex, as the album continues to wither your bones into ash, an ambient interlude drags you upside down and twists your expectations inside-out. Now you’re either going to despise this forceful, useless intrusion or revel in its sweet unexpected nectar.” Taste the nectar, contract the nectar rabies.

Collapse of Light – Each Failing Step Review

By Steel Druhm on April 19, 2018 in 2018, Death Metal, Doom Metal, International Metal, Rain Without End records, Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 37 comments

“Personal loss and despair have always been prime fodder for doom metal. The style basically exists to simulate the experiences of grief, sorrow and deprivation, tearing open the worst emotions in human existence and daring us to confront them. When you stop and think about it, it’s hard to understand why anyone would seek such music out. We will all suffer genuine loss. We will all hurt deeply and profoundly, and sometimes we will never truly move beyond it. Why then would we seek out facsimiles of such heartache? I don’t have the answer, but I do know that Collapse of Light have come to expose all your deepest pain and sadness on their debut Each Failing Step.” Triumph in failure.

Skeletal Remains – Devouring Mortality Review

By Saunders on April 19, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Dark Descent Records, Death Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, 50 comments

“Californian upstarts Skeletal Remains is a solid exponent of old school death, worshiping early ’90s (mostly) American death like Christians cherish the Bible.” Remains of the death day.

Vorbid – Mind Review

By Ferrous Beuller on April 19, 2018 in 2018, Indie Recordings, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 51 comments

“Thanks to the increasingly virulent strain of spurious medical staff that infect AMG, I don’t often get a chance to review the sadly diminished number of thrash acts that grace the promo bin. As it happens, thrash was my musical first love, and having been fed hale and hearty on golden riffs, I will always hold a collection of bloody knuckle memories close to my heart. However, when I spotted Norway’s Vorbid alone and unmolested in the selection sewer, I knew now was my time to strike.” Are you Vorbid?

Our Place of Worship is Silence – With Inexorable Suffering Review

By Grymm on April 18, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Grind, Reviews, Translation Loss, Black Metal, Death Metal, 88 comments

“With the change of seasons, there comes the need to step outside of one’s comfort zones to explore what’s out there for new music. As the cat-guy who’s had more than his fair share of one-person black metal, weepy doom metal, and even metalcore, I’ve been craving something more… organic. Something a little more sludgy. More grimy. Thankfully, With Inexorable Suffering, the second full-length from California’s Our Place of Worship is Silence, fit the bill nicely.” Worship silence, worship noise.

Estate – Mirrorland Review

By Steel Druhm on April 17, 2018 in 2018, Mighty Music, Power Metal, Reviews, Russian Metal, Power Metal, 68 comments

“Okay I’ll be honest with you. The cover art alone demanded a review of this one. Just look at that beauty. It’s 100% van-worthy and nearly as good as the cover of their 2014 debut Fantasia, which was a visual gobstopper to be sure. Any-who, Estate hail from Mother Russia and they walk the path of rich, creamy Euro-power metal. Mirrorland is their second go at fame and fortune.” Pan’s lavatory.

Scientist – Barbelith Review

By Huck N Roll on April 17, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Black Metal, Post-metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Sludge, Black Metal, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, Sludge, 34 comments

“Way back in 2016, Kronos reviewed Chicago-area band Scientist’s second album, the frustratingly-titled 10100II00101. Believe it or not, we had differing opinions on it. While our resident Lord of Brvtality wrote that the band featured “an effects-swamped bouquet of sludgy riffing, hoarse roars, and buzzing electronics,” I equated the album to an hour of average music with people shouting at me. Fast-forward to present-day, and here I am taking a shot at reviewing their third album, Barbelith, and for a number of reasons I find this effort much more palatable than their last.” SCIENCE!

Graveshadow – Ambition’s Price Review

By Swordborn on April 17, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Heavy Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, 23 comments

“Very occasionally, lurking in the shadows of a genre I generally skip over, a band leaps out to capture my attention with a blend of elements exceptional enough in quality to turn my head despite my bias. California’s Graveshadow is generally declared to be symphonic and/or gothic metal – both of which I write off regularly due to an incompatibility in taste.” Grave ambition.

Crone – Godspeed Review

By GardensTale on April 16, 2018 in 2018, German Metal, Hard Rock, Post-metal, Prophecy Productions, Reviews, Hard Rock, Post-Metal, 40 comments

“As I’ve mentioned around these parts before, I am first and foremost an emotional listener. Technical prowess means little to me if it doesn’t serve to elevate a certain subset of sensations. This explains a lot about my listening habits. Progressive metal, which frequently employs storytelling techniques to build towards crescendos of sentiment, is commonly my favorite subgenre.” Into the prog bog.

Ross the Boss – By Blood Sworn Review

By Steel Druhm on April 16, 2018 in 2018, AFM Records, Ambient Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 56 comments

“Steely D loves him some Manowar. As ridiculous as their persona became over time, they were one of my favorite bands growing up and I still love that kind of epic, chest-thumping warrior metal. Ross the Boss was the guitarist during the band’s golden era and helped write many of their best songs. He left the fold following 1988s Kings of Metal, and since then he’s dabbled in a solo career only in fits and starts. By Blood Sworn is his third album under the regrettable Ross the Boss moniker, and the first since 2010s Hailstorm.” The crown and the gory.