Aug18

Mylingar – Döda Själar Review

Mylingar – Döda Själar Review

“Simply saying these Swedes sound insane would be completely underselling the bands bestial brand of barbaric blackened brutality. Döda Själar is death metal of the blackest, filthiest variety, the kind you turn to when Incantation or Convulsing just can’t quite hit that horrid spot.” Overkilled.

Circles – The Last One Review

Circles – The Last One Review

Circles’ textured approach to prog metal recalls the moodiness and energy of Fates Warning within the context of a post-djent landscape where six-string guitars and straight rhythms are seen as passé. Yet success stirs in their artful and sensitive exploration of space, whether they’re marching through angular hardcore, tip-toeing across delicate electronics, or bobbing in subtle waves. Like many modern, progressive-leaning rock/metal bands, they bring elements of Periphery-worship on their journey but deploy them so intelligently that at times The Last One becomes greater than its individual components.” Always sphere for you.

Gnaw Their Tongues & Crowhurst: Burning Ad Infinitum: A Collaboration Review

Gnaw Their Tongues & Crowhurst: Burning Ad Infinitum: A Collaboration Review

“In many ways, this collaboration makes perfect sense. The lo-fi, chaotic-noise aesthetic of Gnaw Their Tongues is a very natural direction for the experimental drone of Crowhurst to wander off to, and vice versa. Given the prolific nature of Gnaw Their Tongues’s Maurice de Jong and Crowhurst mastermind Jay Gambit, it’s also pretty much par for the course that these two noise mongers eventually crossed paths and left some tracks in their wake.” Gnawed and miserable.

Helion Prime – Terror of the Cybernetic Space Monster Review

Helion Prime – Terror of the Cybernetic Space Monster Review

“In the past five or so years, the U.S. underground power metal scene has become explosively vibrant. Where a decade ago the only act that could hold a candle to its European contemporaries was Cellador, the past few years have seen American bands claiming my personal prize of Power Metal Album ov the Year. Arizona’s Ice Sword seems primed to secure the slot this year, and in previous years the honor was claimed by Cellador, Judicator, and, of course, Helion Prime.” Prime Cheddar or processed Velvetta?

Descent – Towers of Grandiosity Review

Descent – Towers of Grandiosity Review

“Though buried deep underground, the metal scene has been a constant fixture in Australia for decades. While no genre is shirked, death metal seems to be the one that spawns in numbers comparable to the infinite variety of Tim-Tams that clog our biscuit aisles. And it’s not the couth, be-speckled type of tech-death either. No, it’s the putrid, knuckle-dragging variety – foul, angry music that is violence committed in red and black. This hostile predilection is a curious thing, it seemingly runs counter to our laidback, “she’ll be right” attitude.” No Serenity now!

Great Leap Skyward – Map of Broken Dreams Review

Great Leap Skyward – Map of Broken Dreams Review

“‘Cinematic progressive metal.’ Now there’s a tag rife with possibilities. Theatrical djent? Dream Theater 2.0? Coheed Jr and Cambriette? Prior to this review, I’d never heard of Australia’s Great Leap Skyward. Subsequently, I had no idea what I was in for when I rescued Map of Broken Dreams from Angry Metal Guy‘s Home for Wayward Promo.” Prog, broken dreams and depressed Muppets.

U.D.O. – Steelfactory Review

U.D.O. – Steelfactory Review

“Udo Dirkschneider, the original singer of Accept, is the living embodiment of 80s Germanic metal. Along with Chris Boltendahl and ,b>Gravedigger[1. Who also have an album inbound soon.], he’s kept that dated sound alive long past its expiration date, releasing album after album of Accept-esque anthems with his eponymous band U.D.O., always light on sophistication but heavy on raspy screeching and classic metal tropes. Steelfactory is the 15th such platter of Teutonic splatter and shows nary an ounce of progression or innovation, sticking to that Accept B-side ethos that’s served the man so well since 1980.” Everflowing Germanic steel.

Infuriate – Infuriate Review

Infuriate – Infuriate Review

“2018 has certainly known no famine of death metal. Rather, a plague of quality extremity has swept the year, waging war on every twinkling symphonic injustice thus far. Although, undeniably, my bread and butter, the excess also poses something of a challenge. Namely, sorting the wheat from the chaff; flaying, mottled skin from iron bone. Rising from the sun-drenched soil of Austin, Texas, Infuriate’s self-titled debut represents yet another seismic breach of brutal proportions.” Angry and deadly.

Thou – Magus Review

Thou – Magus Review

Thou” are a band constantly mutating. Obscurity and convolution are key forces of their cryptic, esoteric approach to sludge and doom. Three vastly different sounding EPs have already been released this year, a trilogy that acts as a prelude to Magus, their fifth full-length that unifies and reconciles the disparate nature of EPs The House Primordial, Incosolable and Rhea Sylvia. 2014’s Heathen hit me hard – the band’s combination of monstrous sludge noise, ethereal melodies, solemn interludes, cryptic poetic lyrics, and painful snarling vocals mesmerized me, at first at least. Spells can be broken.