Feb17

Cultes Des Ghoules – Coven, or Evil Ways Instead of Love Review

By Grymm on February 13, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Polish Metal, Reviews, Under The Sign of Garazel Productions, Black Metal, 13 comments

“When I was a wee little Grymmling, I developed an addiction to peanut butter cups. I know, it’s hard to get addicted to the heavenly concoction of peanut butter wrapped in milk chocolate, but as a kid, the flavor combination blew my mind. So when I was a teenager and worked my first job, I did what any respectable teen would do; I bought a fuck-ton of peanut butter cups and gorged on them. Needless to say, the stomach issues weren’t pleasant. That memory sprung to mind when I snagged Coven, or Evil Ways Instead of Love, the third full-length by Polish black metal weirdos Cultes Des Ghoules.” Bring forth the Comfy Chair!

Raise the Black – Portrait Review

By Dr. Wvrm on February 13, 2017 in 2017, Doom Metal, English Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Doom Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 28 comments

“These days, the album bin’s like a box of chocolates: most morsels are halfway decent, except the random orange-flavored ones. Despite a name suggesting a jaunt on the Seven Seas and a promo sheet whispering sweet nothings of Insomnium, Agalloch, and Woods of Ypres, Raise the Black’s debut, Portrait, has the pinkish taste of despair to it.” Taste the pink despair!

Thera Roya – Stone and Skin Review

By GardensTale on February 12, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Post-metal, Reviews, Self-released, Sludge, Post-Metal, Sludge Metal, 35 comments

“Between post-rock and post-metal, the former is the only genre I prefer over its metal equivalent. In both cases, the genres are known for their atmospherics, long cyclical instrumental sections and overall floaty dreamy attitude. But where post-rock seems to have mastered the art of supplementing the reverberating guitars with great ebb and flow in the composition, post-metal often seems satisfied with turning up distortion and echo and calling it a day.” Post-it notes.

Mors Principium Est – Embers of a Dying World Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on February 11, 2017 in 2017, AFM Records, Finnish Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 69 comments

“Our readers seem to know our tastes better than we do. So, it’s probably not surprising to anyone that I’m reviewing (and loving) the new Mors Principium Est record. Especially when you compare it to my top picks of 2016. This is my bread ‘n’ butter and MPE’s crushing melodeath (from Inhumanity to their new record, Embers of a Dying World) is as much a part of me as my gray hair.” Thrash that olde gray head, he said.

Sunlight’s Bane – The Blackest Volume: Like All the Earth Was Buried Review

By Lord Lucan on February 10, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Black Metal, Grind, Hardcore, Innerstrength Records, Reviews, Black Metal, Hardcore, 14 comments

“Sunlight’s Bane describe their sound as ‘grinding death and audio terror,’ and they draw their influences from far and wide. Try your best to imagine what Anaal Nathrakh, Black Breath, and Nails would sound like if they were mashed up into one band and you ought to get a pretty good idea of what these guys are all about. The band’s stated aim, simply put, is to return the quality of aggression to heavy music, and listening to The Blackest Volume is like being hit square in the face with the flat side of a shovel; it is loud, unrelenting and violent.” Sunlight can be bad for you.

Mord’A’Stigmata – Hope Review

By Akerblogger on February 10, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Pagan Records, Polish Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 9 comments

“We’ve experienced the highs of weirdness with European stalwarts Dødheimsgard and Thy Catafalque but we’ve also experienced the very real lows with bands like Aborym twisting the weird nozzle just a bit too far. Mord’A’Stigmata, unwilling to release a plain-Jane of an album, have released Hope, a hopeless mixture of sullen atmospheres and ritualistic ominousness with the occasional bluesy lead. It sounds fantastically enticing on paper, but does the conceptual fantasy match up the aural reality?” Black metal hates paper!

Ember Falls – Welcome to Ember Falls Review

By Treble Yell on February 9, 2017 in 2017, Finnish Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Pop Metal, Reviews, Spinefarm, Melodic Death Metal, Pop Metal, 61 comments

“Treacly melodies, sub-dermal hooks and pop-infused synths, Ember Falls are gunning for stardom by way of your mental taste buds with their debut, Welcome to Ember Falls. Fame is an elusive, fickle beast and Ember Falls is but another band hoping to stand out amongst a deluge of delicacies jostling to whet our collective appetite. It remains to be seen whether Welcome to Ember Falls sluices down an eager gullet, hitting the bliss point like an Olympic sharpshooter or is instead a bitter pill to swallow.” Take your black medicine!

Vermilion Whiskey – Spirit of Tradition Review

By Huck N Roll on February 9, 2017 in 10 South Productions, 2017, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Southern Metal, Stoner Metal, 18 comments

“I’ll be honest, 2017 has been tough on Huck N Roll so far. It seems like every promo I open says “Black Metal,” or “Death Metal,” or “Brutal Blackened Death Metal,” all of which make my sphincter tighten and send me back to my knitting, losing hope by the minute that something softer on my olde ears will eventually arrive.” Wrath of the Knitting Circle!

Dool – Here Now, There Then Review

By El Cuervo on February 9, 2017 in 2017, Doom Metal, Dutch Metal, Hard Rock, Prophecy Productions, Reviews, Doom Metal, Hard Rock, 33 comments

“I’ve begun this year somewhat jaded. I’m not feeling the negativity in the same way as at 2016’s end but I’m disgruntled at many things. January failed to impress me musically and I selected a couple of promos for bands with which I’m unfamiliar, in the hope that I’d experience the joy of the unknown excellence. Dool’s debut album, Here Now, There Then, promised to at least be something with note-worthy subject matter: the enigmatic blurb on their website describes an exploration of the seediness of their hometown of Rotterdam through the medium of ‘dark rock.’ But my reactions to music in recent times requires quality to pique my interest.” One man’s struggle with mediocrity.

Crystal Viper – Queen of the Witches Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on February 8, 2017 in 2017, AFM Records, Heavy Metal, Polish Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 63 comments

“Before we begin, there is something that needs saying: Marta Gabriel kicks ass. And not because of Crystal Viper’s newest album, Queen of the Witches. No, she’s ruled since her first note on 2007’s The Curse of Crystal Viper. This may not be news to Viper fans, but someone needed to put it in writing.” And the Doctor is just the Medical Deviate to do it!