Aural Music

Tel – Lowlife Review

By Cherd on April 5, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Aural Music, Doom Metal, Progressive Rock, Reviews, Sludge, Doom Metal, Progressive Metal, Sludge, 64 comments

“I’ll be the first to admit that I know precious little about the technical process of recording an album. The musician side of things is easy enough to grasp, but the technicians who collect, mix, and master the sounds thrown out into the ether may as well be a sect of wizards engaged in super secret wiz biz. Although I don’t understand how they do their jobs—I imagine it involves summoning Akathla, demon of the Low End—I do know that the decisions they make are ultimately aesthetic ones. This means when it comes to production, it’s not so much about if it’s good or bad, but whether or not it works with the music to create an aesthetic you enjoy.” Noise to the grindstone.

King Goat – Debt of Aeons Review

By Angry Metal Guy on April 30, 2018 in 2018, Aural Music, Doom Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, Progressive Metal, 63 comments

“King Goat’s got a problem. Their debut made Record o’ the Year here at Angry Metal Guy dot Com, which means that they are gonna have a hell of a time besting their previous performance. In fact, for the most part, I’d argue that expectations are probably the bigger part of the so-called ‘sophomore slump’ than we give them credit for. And Conduit was a doozy of a full-length debut. So when King Goat got picked up by Aural Music, I was both excited for them and worried.” Heavy is the head that wears the goat.

Messa – Feast for Water Review

By Steel Druhm on April 2, 2018 in 2018, Aural Music, Doom Metal, Italian Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, 82 comments

“In my lengthy tenure as an AMG contributor, I can count on half a hand the number of albums that blindsided me as hard as Messa’s debut Belfry did. I plucked it from the promo sump knowing zero about the upstart Italian doomsters and was soon hopelessly in the thrall of their eerie doom drone hybrid style. Naturally, Belfry was going to be a tough act to follow regardless what direction the young act decided to travel, and after a fairly short wait, we get their second album, Feast for Water.” Into the deep end.

Slow – V – Oceans [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]

By Master of Muppets on January 10, 2018 in Aural Music, Belgian Metal, Doom Metal, Things You MIght Have Missed 2017, Doom Metal, Funeral Doom, 105 comments

“I’m no stranger to emptiness, I have used music as an outlet for my own struggles with depression for almost thirty years and my music library is positively littered with negativity. The sounds of being depressed have haunted my ears in varying shades of grey for as long as I can remember, but never before have I heard an album embody depression itself with the same level of unnerving perfection as Slow’s V – Oceans does.” I see a slow darkness.

The Thirteenth Sun – Stardust Review

By GardensTale on May 9, 2017 in 2017, Aural Music, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Reviews, Romanian Metal, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, 76 comments

“What do you get when you take equal parts O(ld)peth, Rush and Devin Townsend, chuck it all in a cosmic blender and turn it on? The correct reply is ‘a throbbing erection,’ but second place goes to upstarts The Thirteenth Sun, set to release their debut full-length 5 years in the making.” Take a cold shower, you perv.

Istvan – Istvan Review

By Zephyrus on October 23, 2016 in 2016, Aural Music, Doom Metal, Italian Metal, Reviews, Sludge, Stoner Rock, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, 16 comments

“Not once have I ever blasted the roach or taken a toke. I have never smoked the bowl, nor have I mowed the grass. I puffed a magic dragon once, but I’m pretty sure that was in kindergarten and isn’t relevant to the discussion at hand. Yet, for some reason, I’ve always been drawn to stoner rock and metal. Is being stoned a prerequisite to proper enjoyment of the genre?” No grass, no pass.

Messa Premieres Promo Video for “Babalon” and You Should Watch It

By Steel Druhm on May 10, 2016 in 2016, Aural Music, Doom Metal, Italian Metal, Doom Metal, 31 comments

“A few weeks back I ranted and raved like a madman over Messa’s debut album, Belfry. Sadly, the Italian doom mavens had little in the way of online music with which to showcase their wares.” And now they’ve corrected this grave injustice.

Messa – Belfry Review

By Steel Druhm on April 22, 2016 in 2016, Ambient Metal, Aural Music, Doom Metal, Italian Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, 66 comments

“Sometimes a band comes out of nowhere and takes a baseball bat to the established way of doing things. Whether that means adding banjos to black metal or incorporating 70s prog into doom/death, it can result in absolute triumph or a total grease fire. It’s those unexpected triumphs in particular that make music such a visceral and exciting medium and when a band pulls off something new and unusual, they deserve respect and admiration. Unknown Italian doomsters Messa want to be the next trend wrecker and to that end they’ve fused dark ambient weirdness and minimalist drone onto old school, traditional doom on their eye-opening debut, Belfry.” No one expected this Italian Inquisition!

Rise of Avernus – Dramatis Personæ EP Review

By El Cuervo on April 2, 2015 in 2015, Aural Music, Australian Metal, Code666 Records, Doom Metal, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Doom Metal, 27 comments

“Dramatis Personæ is the sound of a band trying to relocate the European orchestral metal canon into their snakey and spidery Southern-Hemispherical home. Australia’s Rise of Avernus would love to have Fleshgod Apocalypse’s authentic Italian heritage of classical music and opera informing their extremity – it’s this quality which made Oracles so ground-breaking.” They can’t all be Italian….

Ecnephias – Necrogod Review

By Madam X on June 20, 2013 in 2.5, 2013, Aural Music, Black Metal, Code666 Records, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Italian Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, 2 comments

“Yup, I’ve been picking promo’s based on album art again, some say it’s no way to pick an album, that the two don’t correlate, I disagree. Don’t knock the system till you’ve tried it! What it boils down to is that I have no history with Ecnephias, I’ve not come across their dark melodies before and as mentioned it was graphic artist Pierre-Alain D. (3mmi Design) and his attractive album art that prompted me towards this review.” Madam X reviews some blackened death which may or may not sound like Septicflesh. You people love when we do that!