Aug19

Pa Vesh En – Pyrefication Review

By Roquentin on August 29, 2019 in 2019, Belarusian Metal, Black Metal, Iron Bonehead Productions, Reviews, Black Metal, 12 comments

“Pa Vesh En’s Pyrefication begins as many black metal records begin, with a foggy sequence of sustained riffs and electronic noises that draw an atmospheric veil. It takes a moment to adjust to this tenebrosity. The music appears monolithic at first, until silhouettes of individual ideas start revealing themselves. Like a symphonic orchestra attuning their instruments in preparation of a concert, the Belarusian one-man project uses the opening “…In the Ghostly Haze” to timidly set the stage of its second full-length release, exploring and expanding into sound spaces.” Purity through fire.

The Black Wizards – Reflections Review

By GardensTale on August 28, 2019 in 2019, Kozmik Artifactz, Portuguese Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Rock, 27 comments

“In the metal community, race is a somewhat awkward point. Metalheads are largely (though not exclusively) a socially-progressive sort, despite what the epidemic of NSBM would have you believe. Yet look around at any metal festival, and perhaps 1 in a 1000 visitors aren’t of a pallid complexion. The same goes for the musicians; you’ll be hard-pressed finding a whiter group of artists than, say, Nightwish. Of course, on some level this makes sense, considering where the majority of metal comes from.” Reflections on coexistence.

Hope Drone – Void Lustre Review

By Kronos on August 28, 2019 in 2019, Australian Metal, Black Metal, Moment of Collapse Records, Reviews, Black Metal, Drone, Post-Metal, 22 comments

“It was cold. We chased the sun downhill and West, out of the snowy peaks of the Sierras and across their weeping faces. It gleamed through the murmured rain on the windshield, beat the slick cliff sides and shattered on waterfalls loosed from the ice above. The only sound in the car, save the pelting rain, was Hope Drone’s Cloak of Ash. No other music could accompany the pounding, screaming beauty of the land. No other beat could choreograph the ferns below and firs above. It was art in conversation with the snowbanks and in time with the rushing streams.” Primal beauty.

The Road – Reverence Redacted Review

By Carcharodon on August 28, 2019 in 2019, British Metal, Doom Metal, Post-metal, Reviews, Self-released, Sludge Metal, Doom Metal, Post-Metal, Sludge Metal, 31 comments

“Never, however, have I wished that someone take your average British motorway as musical inspiration. In complete disregard of my wishes, Bristol, UK band The Road have done just that. On this, their self-released debut, Reverence Redacted, the Bristolian two-piece draw on the “crushing oppressiveness of the British motorway experience”⁠—personally, I would say “soul-crushing oppressiveness”⁠—to inspire their post-doom offering.” Trapped on the highway to Hell.

Entombed A.D. – Bowels of Earth Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on August 27, 2019 in 2019, Century Media, Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Death Metal, 56 comments

“Anyone who’s read metal reviews for a while knows the two major intro paragraph fallbacks for popular and/or established metal bands. The first is to call them “the AC/DC of [subgenre]” and conveniently using a tautology to describe the sound, i.e. Cannibal Corpse sounds like Cannibal Corpse. The second is invoking the shadow of the band’s crowning achievement and asking rhetorically if the new record will beat it. Entombed A.D. isn’t established enough to be an AC/DC band, and Entombed simpliciter changed their sound more than once.” Bowel movements.

Amanita Virosa – Original Plague Review

By Doom_et_Al on August 27, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Finnish Metal, Inverse Records, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 18 comments

“Today, our case involves a patient who came in contact with Amanita Virosa — a deadly, basiodiomycete fungus. No, Dr. X, it’s not the same thing we isolated from Dr. Druhm’s paw the other day. And it’s not contagious. No, Dr. Holdeneye, I would not feed it to your daughter, no matter how much it resembles those portobello mushrooms she so clearly likes. Its nickname is ‘The Destroying Angel’ and this baby is full of amatoxins and phallotoxins… Stop sniggering, Dr. Wvrm. We’re supposed to be professionals here.” Do mo harm.

Gorilla Wizard – Tales From the Cauldron Review

By Steel Druhm on August 26, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, 23 comments

“Long Island, New York is a strange place. Geographically speaking it’s the penis of the Empire State, and essentially a vast, sprawling suburb for New York City that runs from the rough n’ tumble boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens through the tony Hamptons and on to the picturesque Montauk lighthouse. Though city adjacent, it has a culture and vibe all its own. Think of a tense middle ground between The Jersey Shore and Goodfellas and you’re in the right zip code. It’s a place of rowdy attitude and stubborn pride, as depicted in the various lyrics by favorite son Billy Joel, and it’s not for everyone. But hey, if you don’t like it, you can fuck off back to whatever garbage town you crawled out of. From this raucous suburban jungle comes the silverback charmers in Gorilla Wizard as they peddle their unruly take on riffy stoner/sludge metal.” Professor Ape.

Dead Feathers – All Is Lost Review

By sentynel on August 26, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Ripple Music, Psychedelic Rock, 32 comments

“Sometimes a record takes a while to grow on you. Sometimes it takes a few listens to really get what a band is going for, or what makes them different from dozens of other bands. On the other hand, sometimes you press play and the band’s selling point imprints itself on your eardrums almost immediately. Dead Feathers sound like a better Dead Meadow fronted by Florence Welch (as in, the one with The Machine), and I don’t make that comparison lightly.” Dead Feathers and the Machine.

Domination Inc. – Memoir 414 Review

By Holdeneye on August 26, 2019 in 2019, Greek Metal, Groove Metal, Reviews, SPV GmbH, Steamhammer, Thrash Metal, Groove Metal, Thrash Metal, 29 comments

“Greek thrashers Domination Inc. (minus the “Inc.” back then) released their debut Infants of Thrash. Take one look at the band’s name, and it shouldn’t surprise you that Infants sounds a cowboys from hell of a lot like Pantera. Fast forward four years and sophomore effort Memoir 414 finds the band wanting to “slightly move away from our initial old-school sound” and hoping that it will sound “heavier and more modern.”” Vulgar display of diary entries.

Antichrist Siege Machine – Schism Perpetration Review

By Mark Z. on August 25, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Krucyator Productions, Reviews, Stygian Black Hand, Black Metal, Death Metal, 21 comments

“Do you smell it? A smell like sulfur, sweaty leather, and burning corpses? That’s the smell of blackened fukkin death metal, and boy is it ever in season right now. August alone has seen new releases from Diocletian, Abysmal Lord, and Concrete Winds, with many more no doubt lurking in the darkest corners of Bandcamp and Spotify. Virginia duo Antichrist Siege Machine are the latest to join this infernal party and I’ve been looking forward to their arrival quite a bit.” Hot winds of wengeance.