Crust

Dödsrit – Nocturnal Will Review

By Thus Spoke on March 22, 2024 in Reviews, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, 43 comments

“It’s not like I really need any convincing, but it’s great when an album comes along and reminds me that black metal is, in fact, fucking fantastic. 2023 was a comparatively dry year for the genre, especially as far as the more straightforward, unadorned variety was concerned. 2024 is already making up for it. Swedish/Dutch four-piece Dödsrit are one of the voices in the scene quietly but confidently proving how effective some no-frills (crust-adjacent) melodic black metal can be.” Black is the olde black.

Systemik Viølence – Negative Mangel Attitude Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on June 30, 2023 in Reviews, Crust Punk, Hardcore, Thrash Metal, 19 comments

“Punk and metal have a complicated relationship, or at least we treat them like they do. As fans, we like to be something—a metalhead, a punk, a dissobro. As music seekers, we like to have genre guides—punk-born tags like crust, mathcore, grindcore, metal-born tags like doom, death, black, kissing cousins like sludge, thrash, deathcore. And the bands we value tend to play to or play with these expectations. Others eschew the norms of where they’re placed or even fight the idea of being the guitar music we’ve all come to love—but not Systemik Viølence. These Portuguese knuckleheads just wanna play screeching chords, overdriven bass, and venomous vocal lashings loud, fast, and loud.” Feel the wiølence.

Johnny the Boy – You Review

By Carcharodon on June 16, 2023 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, Sludge, 27 comments

“If you didn’t know there was some link between Crippled Black Phoenix and Johnny the Boy, you would be hard-pressed to divine it by listening to You alone.” Johnny B. the Good Boy.

Industrial Puke – Born into the Twisting Rope Review

By Saunders on May 11, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Hardcore, 14 comments

“Hardcore sometimes gets a bad wrap in metal circles, however, there is no doubting the potential for hardcore and metal to join forces in ways that transcend the often-maligned metalcore tag. Industrial Puke is a newish act straight outta Sweden, but don’t let that fool you, dear listener, this is an experienced outfit featuring members of Burst, Obstruktion and Rentokiller.” Clean up in aisle all.

Dryad – The Abyssal Plain Review

By Cherd on January 23, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Crust Punk, Dungeon Synth, 12 comments

“When one considers the state of Iowa, one is unlikely to think of black metal. Be-masked hard rock radio metal? Yes. Black metal, no. Likewise, Iowa conjures images of corn fields, wind turbines, college football Saturdays and James Tiberius Kirk. But the ocean? Not unless you’re a paleontologist. You see, the verdant rolling hills of all those Grant Wood paintings were once covered by an enormous prehistoric inland sea. As a result, the place is absolutely lousy with fossils of trilobites and giant sea scorpions. I wonder if this was at least part of the inspiration for Iowa City, Iowa’s very own crusty black metal quartet Dryad as they were writing their debut full-length, the marine-themed The Abyssal Plain.” Flyover seas.

Encryptment – Dödens Födsel Review

By Ferox on November 17, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 24 comments

“Along comes Stockholm’s Encryptment with debut Dödens Födsel, a title that translates from their native Swedish as… wait, give me a second with Google Translate… my goodness! “Dead Fetus.” That’s grisly, but fair enough–the Kingdom of Metal is a tough place to be an angel or a fetus. Dödens Födsel was a random pluck from the Promo Sump, and I half-hoped to let it go neglected in the crush of list season and day-job deadlines. Then I pressed “play,” and the album assaulted me with a half-hour of crusty, blackened death vitriol.” Womb raider.

Feral Light – Psychic Contortions Review

By Cherd on April 22, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, Crust Punk, Post-Metal, 28 comments

“There are, of course, other styles of metal practiced here, but few Minnesota bands outside of black metal have enjoyed the critical acclaim that acts like False or Obsequiae or Minnesota-by-way-of-Kentucky transplant Panopticon have. Those who have been watching the local scene closely will tell you that Feral Light have turned some heads over the last few years around Minneapolis, not to mention abroad. Enough so, apparently, that their fourth full-length has secured the attentions of heavyweight Italian avant-black label I, Voidhanger.” Minnesota wild.

Charlene Beretah – Ram Review

By Cherd on November 15, 2019 in 2019, Crust Punk, Division Records, Doom Metal, Post-metal, Reviews, Sludge, Swiss Metal, Post-Metal, Sludge, 23 comments

“Imagine my surprise when, upon taking this gig, I discovered that some of my fellow writers, including our illustrious boss, were never-sludgers. As I’ve endured their hurtful, anti-sludge rhetoric, I’ve noticed a frequent correlation between sludge hating and symphonic power cheese-loving. As no lover of metallic brie myself, I’m left to wonder if we’re hardwired at the genetic level into these camps just as research suggests we may be similarly inclined toward progressive or conservative politics, or to see a blue and black dress versus the mouth breathing, evolutionary dead-ends who see a gold and white dress. I guess what I’m saying is, if you’re team sludge and wary of anti-sludge sentiment within the body metallic, you’ve got a man on the inside. So let’s wade together into the muck of Charlene Beretah’s new album Ram. Never-sludgers need not apply.” Sticky business.

Stomachal Corrosion – Stomachal Corrosion Review

By Mark Z. on October 27, 2019 in 2019, Brazilian Metal, Crust Punk, Greyhaze Records, Grind, Reviews, 3 comments

“As one begins to explore metal more and more deeply, one comes to the realization that there are certain ‘legendary’ albums that seem to be appreciated more for being innovative than actually being good. I would argue, for example, that Napalm Death’s Scum is a pretty mediocre album overall and was far surpassed by the material that followed it, even if it remains a critical piece of extreme metal’s history. This becomes a problem when bands create new releases similar in style to these ‘innovative but not very good’ albums, resulting in records that are neither innovative nor good. But maybe Stomachal Corrosion could escape this fate” Tummy trouble.

Swarn – Black Flame Order Review

By GardensTale on August 6, 2019 in 2019, Crust Punk, Death Metal, Estonian Metal, Raw Skull Records, Reviews, Death Metal, 13 comments

“Old school death metal holds few surprises. Much like Nightwishcore or stoner metal, its sound is so well established that any deviations from the tried and true standard swiftly take it out of the OSDM sphere into modern death, melodic death, or other variations on the theme. If you want to retain that old school buzzsaw to the cranium feel, yet add a different element, you need something that supports the dirty, grimy nastiness with something of a similar murk.” Young murks.