Hooded Menace

Ilsa – Corpse Fortress Review

Ilsa – Corpse Fortress Review

“If pressed, I would have a hard time describing what “heavy” means in terms of music. I can contrast it with what it is not, but that only gets us a partial answer; essence cannot be defined by privations. In this young year, Washington’s Ilsa have me wondering now about what that definition contains and excludes more than any other band. Their fifth full-length Corpse Fortress sports a great title and the laudable accolade of being released by Relapse Records. The cover and the title hint at Ilsa releasing some truly heavy stuff, as did the appealing death-doom tag attached to it. Yet still I wonder: is this heavy?” Heavy is as heavy does.

Hooded Menace – Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed Review

Hooded Menace – Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed Review

“Furthering what is sure to be the metallic trend of 2018, Lasse Pyykkö has seen fit to bestow upon us another nexus of death-doom via that sinister shroud, Hooded Menace. Fifth album, Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed, shrugs off the gossamer gathered between releases and prepares to enrapture a captive audience with riffs of yore and environs unsavory, but this time, with an added depth of disease.” Unhallowed Eve.

Temple of Void – Lords of Death Review

Temple of Void – Lords of Death Review

“Death/doom is a deceptively mercurial beast, possessed of a tangential tendency to meander in directions that range from the darkly romantic to the downright bludgeoning. Detroit’s Temple of Void are plainly with the latter and dole out the kind of stomach churning Asphyxiation that had me at hello.” Skull and void.

Heavydeath – In Circles We Die Review

Heavydeath – In Circles We Die Review

“Naming your doom metal band Heavydeath is like naming your cat “Whiskers McPussyface,” but somehow this Swedish trio manages to pull it off. In early 2015 these former Runemagick members quite impressed me with debut Eternal Sleepwalker, at least enough that I actually bothered to check out a few of the motherfucking 16 demos, EPs, and compilations the band released since forming just three years ago.” Slowprolific.

Minotaur Head – Minotaur Head Review

Minotaur Head – Minotaur Head Review

“It’s been a minute or so since I’ve reviewed a Rogga Johansson project (of which there are approximately 30), so when I saw a brand new entity creep into the promo sump, I was curious enough to check it out. This new beast is Mintotaur Head, a doom/death supergroup led by Rogga and Bob Bagchus (ex-Asphyx).” October brings The Great Dooming.

Decomposed – Wither Review

Decomposed – Wither Review

“Amidst all the inevitable aspects of life and death metal, as we know it, the tried and true sounds of old school Swedish death appears here to stay. Nostalgia is a powerful thing and the rotted riffs and buzzsaw tones of the Stockholm death metal scene that spawned endless imitators of varying quality remains a strong source of inspiration for up and coming death metal bands. And sucker’s like I keep coming back for more.” You can’t have just one bite of Swede-death.

Predatory Light – Predatory Light Review

Predatory Light – Predatory Light Review

“As much as I hate to admit it, my appreciation for doom has declined over the years. Back when I was first getting into metal, I remember scouring the doom metal Wikipedia page for info on the genre and purchasing all the My Dying Bride, Katatonia, and Swallow the Sun CDs my minimum-wage high school job could afford. But in recent years, I’ve become too impatient to sit and ponder dreary sadboy melodies or chords that reverberate for ten seconds at a time.” What’s the rush?!

Vainaja – Verenvalaja Review

Vainaja – Verenvalaja Review

“In 2014, Finnish three-headed beast Vainaja dropped a megaton bomb in the form of Kadotetut, leveling the ears of those who bore witness to their hymns, and placing themselves in a comfortable 3rd place spot on my year-end list with their mix of Celtic Frosty atmospherics and Asphyxiating tremolo doom. The story of a long-lost book of desecrations, sacrificial rites, and other blasphemous acts set to a bone-crushing doom/death backdrop, was both addictive and effective. Two years later, another tome has been unearthed.” Books cause nothing but trouble.