Gorguts

Without Waves – Lunar Review

Without Waves – Lunar Review

“Chicago has a busy music scene, and I can hardly be bothered to go to shows even when bands I already like are playing, so there are plenty of cool second city bands that I’ve always heard of but never checked out. One such familiar name is Without Waves, an experimental/prog metal/rock outfit set to release their third album, Lunar, into a crowded field of new music this March 17th.” In a crowded field, is this brutal enough?

Sunless – Urraca Review

Sunless – Urraca Review

“They say it’s important to remain challenged, to help stave off boredom and keep the motivation and creative fires burning. Life certainly throws up plenty of challenges without invitation in our fast-paced and volatile modern world. But with music, and extreme metal, in particular, we have a unique outlet and greater control to challenge ourselves. Unfortunately, it’s easy to rest on our laurels and stay firmly entrenched in our comfort zones.” Into the riff maelstrom.

Shaarimoth – Temple of the Adversarial Fire Review

Shaarimoth – Temple of the Adversarial Fire Review

“January isn’t known for being a break-out month for music. With Shaarimoth’s sole output being 2005’s Current 11, they return after a lengthy period of inactivity with Temple of the Adversarial Fire. Can their rituals hold up after a lengthy lay-off?” Everything has a return these days.

Blood Incantation – Starspawn Review

Blood Incantation – Starspawn Review

“The endless darkness, desolation, intriguing mystery and suffocating atmosphere of space pairs well with metal. Science fiction themes, dystopian futures and extra terrestrial shenanigans are all familiar sources of inspiration in the metal scene, however Colorado up and comers Blood Incantation do a particularly excellent job of nailing down the dense reality, claustrophobic atmosphere and otherworldly vibe of our mysterious universe on their hugely impressive full-length debut, Starspawn.” Space in your face.

Be’lakor – Vessels Review

Be’lakor – Vessels Review

“Hey kids. I’ve been away a while. Real life grabbed me by the collar and I couldn’t ignore it for fear of fucking up my future. But unlike your father who left for those cigarettes 10 years ago, I have returned. And what a way to return – the new Be’lakor, the critically-acclaimed melodeath darling child from Down Under.” What a way to make a re-entrance!

Skin Drone – Evocation Review

Skin Drone – Evocation Review

“Not to be confused with skindrone dot com (a website promoting “5 Proven Home Remedies for Seborrheic Dermatitis on the Scalp”), the Skin Drone of interest here turns out to be a tech-death group from Massachusetts/Arkansas. Formed by Bluntface Records founder Otto Kinzel, Skin Drone fuses traditional tech-death with blackish avante-garde—the latter flavorings being the most interesting.” Why isn’t there a band named Seborrheic?

Ghoulgotha – To Starve The Cross Review

Ghoulgotha – To Starve The Cross Review

Ghoulgotha make their death metal intentionally unsettling and uber-ugly to the point that even a seasoned crusty fucker like my brothers in arms, Grymm and Dr. Fisting, couldn’t wrap their iron-laden arms around their debut, The Deathmass Cloak. I started to listen to it out of morbid curiosity and found that it sank into my brain like a cancerous strain to the point that it wound up in my year end top ten list.” There really is no accounting for taste.

Gorguts – Pleiades’ Dust Review

Gorguts – Pleiades’ Dust Review

“With two and a half decades under their belt and a generation of bands aping their sound, one wouldn’t be surprised to see Gorguts rest on their laurels for a while. But Gorguts’ time of rest is over, and Luc Lemay has made it abundantly clear that his pioneering death metal vision didn’t stop with From Wisdom to Hate.” No rest for the gutted.