“The Artisan Era has been on a decent roll lately, releasing good to great albums left and right for just over a year. Warforged seemed like a bit of an odd duck for the label though. The Chicagoan five-piece of progressive blackened death metal don’t really fit the tech-death-heavy mold The Artisan Era have curated for themselves. It was this fact that initially drew me to I, Voice.” War by another name.
“Pretense is a bitch. I’ve found myself being more and more cynical through the years about people who claim to be the best at what they do. From athletes and artists to people I interact with on a daily basis, I prefer action and art to speak for itself. Therefore, I found myself suspicious with Filipino blackened death metal three-piece Deiphago, who proclaim to be ‘arguably the most violent band on the planet, as well as one of the most envelope-pushing.'” Heavy is as heavy does.
“I’ve always considered myself very fortunate in my taste in metal. Mostly because I’m eclectic enough that I don’t easily bore. I can while away many an hour poring over platters of traditional and retro fare. On the other hand, conceptually opaque music has always fascinated me because it represents an opportunity to learn. Slovakia’s Ceremony of Silence know a little something about the esoteric and are more than willing to share their expertise on debut Oútis.” Learning through brutality.
“A spindly man enters the room and takes the chair in front of the casting agent. A gaudy yellow jumper is tied around his neck and he holds himself with an air of unearned confidence.” You won’t believe what happens next!
“Pure originality is overrated. I mean, yeah, it’s nice when something newfangled pops up and smacks you in the kisser. However, I would much rather see an already existent construct improved upon, re-imagined or perfected in some way. I don’t care if it takes three iterations or four trillion, five-hundred billion, three-hundred-forty-seven million, twenty-thousand-and-two iterations to get there.” If it ain’t broke, improve it!
“I’m trying to be stricter with my scores so far this year, and in the process I’ve done a lot of thinking about what makes a great record… well, great. I could boil it down to some nebulous combination of songwriting, riffs, and melodic personality, but solid fundamentals aren’t enough. Those qualities alone would only result in an AMG 3.5 without that all important je ne sais quoi; the kind of elusive talent which enables moments that explode with vibrancy, reminding us why we are alive. And Wormwitch? Man alive, they’ve got it.” The early Wormwitch gets the Elitist.
“Reign of the Odious is the debut album from Musmahhu, a one-man metal project helmed by a man known only as Swartadauþuz. Reign of the Odious integrated itself perfectly into my mood playlist, however, and made for a chaotic emotional outlet.” Feelz the pain.
“There are records—Unleash the Archers’ Apex, for example—that represent massive jumps in quality from their relative predecessors. Other records constitute evolutionary improvement rather than revolutionary ones. Ichor’s debut record, Benthic Horizon, was plagued by an awful production, tepid songwriting and pacing issues. 2014’s Depths was an incremental advancement, yet still bromidic. Fast forward four years and German death-metallers Ichor meet us face to face once more with Hadal Ascending.” Under the SEA!
“"Behemoth’s star has been on the rise for nearly 15 years. Following the release of 2004’s Demigod and 2007’s The Apostasy, these Poles toured frenetically in the USA and Europe, building a huge fanbase based on their dominant live presence and hooky blackened death sound. Their hard work paid dividends when they were picked up by Nuclear Blast, resulting in 2009’s Evangelion. But while neither The Apostasy nor Evangelion were a tour de force equal to Demigod, Behemoth delivered on 2014’s The Satanist, which showcased the darkest, most mature writing of Nergal’s career. But great records are tough to follow, and the rounds of snickering that ensued following the release of the title I Loved You at Your Darkest and the album’s first single—”God=Dog”—hinted at skepticism among fans." Maybe The Satanist was an exception, not the establishment of a new rule?” Loving the evil sinner.
“Take a look at that cover and imagine for a second what sort of music album artwork like that might be trying to sell you. Can you hear those buzzsaws and blastbeats? Can you hear the imprecations against God, the divine order and all the fools that stand by it?” Can you judge this album by its cover? Eh, probably…
