“Is there anything better than a horror-themed album? I think not. But, being the mentally unstable King Diamond fan that I am, I’m sure that’s no surprise to anyone. But you won’t find soaring falsettos and soloing as old as Steel on Black Cross Hotel’s debut record, Hex. Instead, you’ll discover Killing Joke-inspired industrial metal mingled with punky vocals and synths that you’d swear came from a John Carpenter movie.” The horror….
“Is it possible to make a political statement—or indeed any nuanced statement—through the medium of instrumental metal? Today’s subject, Spanish post-metallers Syberia, believe so. On its fourth full-length, Statement on Death, I am informed that the band tackles “a very worrying issue in the United States of America: police violence against people of color, and each song narrates a specific case.” This is a contentious and highly politicized subject, on which many people have wildly divergent views of varying validity. In all honesty, I am not sure how one sets out to tackle such a subject with no lyrics at all.” Silent protest.
“Post-metal, particularly the instrumental kind, tends to be its own beast when it comes to songwriting, and Toundra have clearly mastered the craft. The “El Odio” trilogy of songs, that forms the front half, beautifully blends echoing, trilling, Explosions in the Sky-like leads of beauty and wonder with crashing, thundering cavalcades of drums and riffs that remind a fair bit of Dvne, a compliment of the highest order,” Thunder on the Toundra.
“When I look at the cover art for the sophomore full-length, God Has No Name, by Spain’s Hex, I see a hyperbolic metal label distribution PR blurb made pictorial. ‘Riffs so heavy, so scorching, they splinter the Earth’s crust into black obsidian shard,’ it declares. Straight-faced, it adds ‘A sound so singularly malignant, it tears a hole in the very heavens above. As it rends the firmament, fire erupts from blah blah blah,’ you get the point.” Sounds of an apocalypse fading.
