“Bloodywood’s approach to metal is, on the surface, similar to Linkin Park’s in that they often combine rapped verses with sung choruses—utilizing both English and Hindi lyrics—backed by gym-ready riffs reminiscent of Hacktivist, We Butter the Bread with Butter, and even Dyscarnate. Look beneath those superficialities and you find a ton of cool Indian folk instrumentation playing along, particularly weighted towards woodwinds and festive drums.” The Rock Shack is now open.
“Meat n’ taters. It doesn’t get more basic, humble, and satisfying than that. The Manchester-based Brits in Absolva are the musical equivalent of that essential cuisine staple. Having the distinction of being the backing band for Blaze Bayley, the material they create on their own is very much in the Blaze school of classic British heavy metal – familiar, comforting, and satisfying. Fire in the Sky is their sixth album and finds Absolva playing to their strengths while sitting dead center in their comfort zone.” Back to basics.
“Don’t get your hopes up, ye of heavy metal’s golden years. Heavy Meta is nearly everything you hate about today’s extreme music. Mathcore, black metal, noise rock, and prog all have a hand in this monstrosity, and if there is an inkling of distaste for any of these styles, Mana Regmata might need to come with a side of aspirin. Featuring a tongue-in-cheek moniker that you could proudly proclaim at any party, it’s a group that only jokingly defines itself as “blackened progressive cowboy nintendocore.”” Meta health.
“I’ll admit right now that after almost nine years of listening to hundreds of promos for review, there’s a ton of music that may have left an impression during that time, but honestly doesn’t stay with me once the review is submitted. Call it lack of staying power or my own need to move on to the next promo for review, but with a few notable exceptions, many albums that I’ve fallen for on first listen end up drifting to the wayside, destined to be forgotten. An Isolated Mind’s 2019 debut full-length, I’m Losing Myself, was certainly not one of those albums. An unflinching look at mental illness, I’m Losing Myself tackled a difficult subject with care and grace, and landed my top spot of 2019 in doing so.” Isolated but not lost.
“Formed as a solo project back in 2015, Kluizenaer—a German outfit, despite choosing the Dutch for ‘hermit’ as its nom de guerre—dropped a debut album, Radbraak, that a few cursory searches of the usual sources has failed to uncover. Since I am assured by the promo blurb that the debut comprised “abstract sound collages of blackened ambient and noise,” I did not intensify my searches. Radbraak was followed by two more obscure EPs before 2018’s locate-able Das ungebrochene Schweigen (The unbroken Silence), by which point Kluizenaer had evolved into a trio.” Evolution/mutation.
“An anachoret—anchorite in English—is someone who has committed to live an ascetic life in solitary confinement in order to devote themselves to prayer. In this way, they reflect the notorious stereotype of the solo black metal musician. Anachoret is no exception, being the solo black metal project of the mysterious K.C. This debut LP has apparently been three years in the making, following a demo, two splits, and an EP over a span of ten years.” Life in a lonely grave.
“Hailing from Seattle, and featuring members of Aethereus—who themselves released a stellar album just a few weeks back—The Devils of Loudun specialize in death metal of the melodic and symphonic variety. The band’s debut full-length Escaping Eternity finds neoclassical guitar leads and keys soaring over a foundation of thick, grooving riffs, while the powerful vocals of Aethereus’ Vance Bratcher dial the heaviness quotient up to critical levels.” Devil be Loud(un).
“Between threats of violence and comparisons of bicep circumference, a blessed soul shared the album art to Tymo’s second full-length The Art of a Maniac in the AMG group chat. I knew then I had to have it. It evokes the very best of over-the-top 80s thrash album covers, complete with a comically sinister figure in the foreground (in this case evil Bob Ross with his very own shoulder-Kuato), a post-apocalyptic cityscape in the background, and more vibrant colors than a Lisa Frank trapper keeper. I’d made the right call though, when I learned that these Alberta-bound Canucks not only walk the walk but talk the talk, contributing another mighty slab of unrelenting party-thrash to the never-ending thrash revival.” Ross fight.
“If I have to attach a motto to Seremonia’s style, it would be ‘no school like old school.’ Old school here means raw psychedelic rock straight from the 70’s, its DNA profile demonstrating a direct descendancy from Hawkwind. There are two sides to this particular coin. One’s the rollicking hard rock with which the album bursts from its stable, where the deliberate lack of polish is particularly noticeable in the static-laden crunch and fuzz of the rambling riffs. The other is slow and experimental psych jam.” Jam the fuzz.
“In the three years since their sophomore release Samsara, Venom Prison has experienced a meteoric rise to fame. Samsara captured the hearts of both underground metal aficionados and non-sociopaths, by infusing high-energy brutal death metal with a healthy dose of slamming hardcore. Venom Prison’s unrelenting sound earned them a deal with Century Media, and Erebos brings the band to a crossroads as their major label debut.” Prisoner of expectations.
