“There are some excellent metal records out there—Voyager’s Ghost Mile comes to mind, along with Wishfield’s self-titled release from earlier this month—that I find quite relaxing. These kinds of records sneak up on you. You might not think much of them at first, but as time passes you crave them more and more. Which brings us to the band of the day: Avandra. ” Prog for pondering.
“I wrote four years ago that “doom” metal is best when it is onomatopoeic. It should not just be a four-letter descriptor for a genre and should instead invoke feelings of cataclysm which match those four letters which can be as long as you want them to be. Doom. Doooom. Doooooom. Oceanwake arose from their Finnish lake with an understanding for this quality but have progressively widened the lens through which they viewed their craft, absorbing post-metal and progressive influences such that their sound is no longer so easily pigeon-holeable.” Pigeonhole we must.
“This is sure to come as a surprise, what with the kvlt as fvck album art and all, but Through the Noise are about as trve as Santa. With their accessible angst and envelope-friendly chuggatry, these Swedes crabwalk the thick, downtuned line between nü-metal and metalcore, and by all rights, Dualism should have been inflicted upon a n00b. However, there have been far too many 4.0’s awarded as ov late, and I would be remiss to turn down an opportunity to bring you bastards crashing back down to reality, so we are here.” Punishment is due.
“I saw Divination, the third full-length by New Brunswick trio Zaum, and noticed the album’s description as “atmospheric doom metal.” Seeing as how no one else grabbed it, I lunged towards it all cat-like. Problem was, Mr. Elitist reviewed their prior album, 2016’s Eidolon, and wasn’t all that impressed by it. Normally, we don’t grab promos by bands reviewed by other writers here, but he didn’t fight me for it whatsoever. That’s never a good sign.” It’s a trap, get an ax.
“Okay, I know that back in February I promised myself no more retro rock. But a shift in release dates created a gap in my calendar, and Madam X, in her infinite wisdom, bestowed upon me an album as retro as it gets: Bury the Hatchet, the sophomore album from Californian blues/metal trio Shotgun Sawyer. I groaned inwardly, hit the download button, and prepared for the worst.” C’mon Hucky, don’t fear the retro.
“Remember anything substantial about Gus van Sant’s shot-for-shot remake of the Hitchcock’s classic, Pyscho? Me neither. If you’re going to copy or reboot something, you need to bring something new to the table. In 20 years’ time, people will still be watching Predator, Point Break, and Total Recall. No one will be wasting time with the pointless and forgettable reboots. Before I get banished to yet another extra latrine shift by my slave-driving editor, while he mumbles something about this ‘Not being Angry Movie Guy,’ allow me to explain.” Reboots, man.
“The concept of the virtual band is hardly a novel one anymore. The first was arguably Alvin and the Chipmunks all the way back in 1958, though it was Gorillaz who popularized the concept. Metal has dipped their toes in the idea a few times as well, most notably with Dethklok from Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse cartoon. Yet something just feels different about Belzebubs, a new virtual band formed around the webcomic of the same name by Finnish author JP Ahonen. The comic is high quality in and of itself, mixing black metal tropes, an Adams Family theme of a dark and weird yet loving family, and a Calvin & Hobbes sense of adorable bubbly slapstick. But comics and music are extremely different media. How serious can we take an actual album by the bumbling ink-drawn band?” Anime to the Nightside Eclipse.
“With that technicolor cover and macho album title, First Strike makes its presence and intentions clear from the get go. Or so you’d think, but you’d be wrong—this is a melodic thrash metal band we’re talking about here. If you never liked and never will like, uh, “melodic thrash metal,” Ketos won’t change your mind on the subject and you can feel free to scroll right down to the comments and tell everybody to listen to some vomit-inducing folk-power-black album on bandcamp. It’s your loss, since First Strike is a great example of “melodic thrash metal” passing both the taste test and sniff test—it’s a good album from a band with some serious chops.” Keto friendly.
“‘You guys remember Istapp?’ asked the Head Honcho Himself, as he shared the news of an upcoming release. Not to mention “I väntan på den absoluta nollpunkten,” from debut record Blekinge. A song from a record as novel as any the black/folk/Viking metal world has ever known. So much so that you’d guess these Swedes have been around since the beginning of time. Perhaps as a black metal outfit that morphed into a melodic, folky one? Or a group that invented the subgenre, releasing their first album before the almighty Bathory and his Viking trilogy? But, it turns out, the untouchable Blekinge is shy of only nine years of age.” Star power.
“Some bands are all about dark moods, some traffic in furious rage, while others specialize in technical, progressive wankery. Over their 14 year career, Enforcer never sniffed any of those categories. Their chosen sound is all about old school, retro metal fun. From the speed metal styling of albums like Into the Night and Diamonds, to the hair metal on biker meth of From Beyond, the band always sought to rock your socks off without having to buy you dinner first. Zenith is the next stage of evolution for them.” Enforcing the olde.
