Cycles

Countless Goodbyes – Cycles Review

Countless Goodbyes – Cycles Review

“It’s been pretty interesting to watch metalcore’s evolution over the years. I’m talking specifically about the strain of metalcore that cropped up in the early 2000s, the good cop/bad cop style played by the Killswitch Engages and As I Lay Dyings of the world, the type that infused At the Gates riffs with choruses cribbed from the latest alt-rock band. I ate that shit up in high school and stayed for the party when the style started adopting faster and more technical playing (see: August Burns Red and Texas in July). When djent had its heyminute in the early 2010s, bands realized chugs weren’t too different from breakdowns and thus began to add some djentiness to the proceedings (see: This or the Apocalypse’s Dead Years and Hollow).” The core cycle.

Wicked Maraya – Lifetime in Hell Review

Wicked Maraya – Lifetime in Hell Review

“Destined to be one of the weirdest releases of the year, the obscure but fascinating New York act Wicked Maraya resurfaces after 18 years in the ground. Flash back to 1994: The upstart band drops their Cycles debut at a critical time for metal. The Seattle grunge revolution was well underway and metal had lost the limelight – forcing a slow, inexorable retreat back to the rancid underground. Cycles was very much the product of that tenuous era as the band tried to synthesize these opposing musical approaches into something new and exciting.” Metal history class is now in session!

Retro-spective Review: Wicked Maraya – Cycles

Retro-spective Review: Wicked Maraya – Cycles

“When I do these little retro-reviews, I try to find albums that really had a lot to offer, but somehow never caught the public’s attention. Be it bad marketing, poor timing or short band life, there’s always a reason why a high-quality album slips through the cracks into oblivion. Perhaps no better example exists than Wicked Maraya and their debut album Cycles. Steel Druhm’s clinical diagnosis here is one of terminally poor timing. While Cycles sported a winning and catchy-as-fuck traditional heavy metal sound that strikes me as a darker, edgier, more proggy Queensryche mixed with Crimson Glory and Nevermore, it arrived at the very height of the Seattle grudge explosion where everything metal was forced back underground after a decade of prominence and popularity.” More goodies from the vault? Steel Druhm is in a giving mode to be sure. Ignore the terrible band name and awful album cover and let’s all focus on what counts: the music!