“Black Tusk is one of those bands that are eternally 3.0, and I’ve always been completely content with that. My first experience with the Savannah, Georgia veterans was 2011’s Set the Dial, a veritable riff-fest of sludge to counter the swampy slogs I had only been acquainted with. In ways, the trio stood shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Mastodon and Baroness without the lofty ambition: you come for the sludge, you stay for the riffs.” Tusk and run.
“No one does music quite like Austin’s Glassing. Nearly impossible to pigeonhole in its blend of jagged riffs and crystalline melodies, critics have conjured the likes of post-metal, post-black, post-rock, mathcore, shoegaze, sludge, noise rock, screamo, and post-hardcore to describe it – none ever quite sticking the landing.” Square pegs, round holes. FIGHT.
“The Montreal trio has always offered what they coin “massive minimalism,” and A Chaos of Flowers represents its most minimalist offering. Big|Brave does away with earthshaking, mountainous compositions of drone riffs in favor of an evocative, simmering, and otherworldly experience.” Stop and kill the flowers.
“As per usual with Darkthrone these days, a new record arrived without any notice and NO ONE got the promo until after its release. So, here I am trying to toss together a review at the last second for a band whose process is so annoying that I don’t even want to review them. But, I love Darkthrone.” When the smackins beckons…
“If you’ve been following the modern grindcore scene in any fashion over the past fifteen years, then you’ve at least heard of Maryland’s high-output, low-trend grindmongers Full of Hell. Collaborating or splitting space with everyone from tough punks Code Orange to Japanese static spinner Merzbow to pneumatic pulse demons The Body, Full of Hell scrapes ideas from every corner in the extreme music space to fuel the iterative process of the twenty to thirty-minute burners that are their “full-length” releases.” Hell is home.
“How I’ve never known about France’s ACOD is beyond me, and I heartily apologize to them because I’ve been having a hella good time with many of their releases. Beginning their career as a black/thrash outfit with metalcore tendencies, they began to explore Mephorash-meets-Septicflesh territories around the time of their 2018 release, The Divine Triumph. While there are thrashy moments, the songwriting is now predominantly massive string atmospheres, marching drumbeats, cranked-up bass work, and riff after motherfucking riff.” ACOD AOK.
“Couch Slut does not concern itself with the prettier things in life. While the noise rock tag may be a dead giveaway, the unconvinced need only to look at the cover of the Brooklyn five-piece’s 2014 debut My Life as a Woman (not at work) to understand. The monotone theme is a spirit likewise captured in fourth full-length You Could Do It Tonight, displaying a humanity succumbing to vice, filth, and weed.” Couched in debauchery.
“Little explanation is required for why I chose Beneath the Blazing Abyss for review. From artwork and title alone I was promised a fiery, hellish heavy metal experience, while Baron’s one sheet informed me this would be of the doom/death variety. I even initially thought that the art depicted an interpretation of the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. However, closer inspection reveals a decapitated head offered to demonic spirits; altogether too X-rated for the famously conservative Christian Tolkien. While these Finns have released a smattering of EPs and demos previously, this album offers their debut full-length. What type of evil resides within?” Nobility and brutality.
“In terms of quality, if not international recognition, Dvne has undergone what one could describe as a meteoric rise. Debut Asheran barged onto my list that year on the heels of my glowing TYMHM article. Sophomore Etemen Ænka went bigger, more expansive, and did so successfully, showcasing an astonishing array of performances and songwriting prowess. All this praise from yours truly hasn’t gone unnoticed, either, as Dvne has quickly become a fan favorite in this corner of the internet, and the band’s hanging with the big boys over at Metal Blade. The hype for Voidkind has been understandably unreal, but is the third time still the charm when both prior times were full-blown knock-outs?” Void unkind?
“”Upharsin” is part of an Aramaic phrase seen in the Hebrew Bible, in which the words “mene, mene, tekel, upharsin” appear mysteriously upon the wall of the palace of King Belshazzar, which are interpreted by the prophet Daniel as foretelling the fall of Babylon and its dispersion to the Persians and the Medes. The rich religious undertone pervades the Polish Blaze of Perdition, not as a point of blasphemy but of portent.” Scripture written in blood.
