Kronos and Grymm prove their mettle as their Top Ten(ish) of 2020 hit the interwebz.
Imperial Triumphant
Huck N’ Roll’s and Eldritch Elitist’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020
Huck N’ Roll and Eldritch Elitist will now hold court with their well-thought-out Top Ten(ish) lists. Appear or be held in eternal contempt.
Holdeneye and Cherd of Doom’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020
Holdeneye and Cherd of Doom made these long-winded lists and now they’re your problem. No trade backsies!
Doom_et_Al’s and Dear Hollow’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020
Doom_et_Al and Dear Hollow have their big boy lists. Did they use that great power responsibly?
Tombs – Under Sullen Skies Review
“In the early 2010s, powered by bands such as Deafheaven and Liturgy, “hipster metal” became the favorite pejorative for acts that thumbed traditional metal conventions. Embraced by the mainstream, many of these groups, unfortunately, just weren’t very good, which led to metal purists rejecting them. This resulted in said mainstream accusing said purists of being snobby gatekeepers. Cue lots of sulking, posturing and finger wagging. In among the noise, however, were some real gems that were unfairly tainted by the “hipster metal” label. Although less overtly “subversive” (read: “pretentious”) than their Brooklyn counterparts, Liturgy, Tombs weirdly found themselves in this boat with their excellent debut, 2011’s Paths of Totality.” Trend Tombs.
MRTVI – Omniscient Hallucinatory Delusion Review
“For most promos, we have enough frames of reference to make sense of whatever comes on our paths and put it all into some sort of context. MRTVI, on the other hand, is the sort of promo where that frame of mine falls to pieces before my eyes and all that’s left to me is a heartfelt: what?” Delusion and confusion.
False Gods – No Symmetry… Only Disillusion Review
“I’m the biggest Eyehategod fan I know, and sludge gets a bad rap. I get it: much like drone, if you just amp up the distortion to an 11/10 and know how to abuse the blues scale, you’ve got it made. Of course, there’s more nuance, like the need for facial hair, flannel, intoxicating substances, a shotgun, and some dark woods in the Deep South, but that’s just pedantic. My point is, you wouldn’t expect Crowbar-esque sludge from some dudes in New York, New York.” Empire expanding.
Record(s) o’ the Month – July 2020
“Another month grinds by as we squirm in the grips of a global pandemic. Toilet paper made a big comeback recently, but most of life’s little pleasures are still off-limits or subject to restrictions and regulations. Music is still flowing though, and for that we should all be very grateful.” Music is still alive even if rumors have that AMG isn’t.
Titan to Tachyons – Cactides Review
“A Colin Marston produced release featuring Kenny Grohowski of Imperial Triumphant, and Matt Hollenberg of Cleric/John Zorn? What could go wrong? Well, a lot. But, also, there’s potential for some mind-bending magic to be cast through Cactides, the debut release by avant/instrumental trio Titan to Tachyons.” Spikey.
Imperial Triumphant – Alphaville Review
“No one screams “unique” quite like New York City’s Imperial Triumpant. Over the course of three fantastic albums and a handful of EPs, we’ve seen them morph from French-inspired black metal to the jazzy-yet-brutal, grimy-yet-regal golden-masked monster you see today. However, their signing to Century Media worried a few of us staffers here. With each subsequent single being dropped online, our fears were slowly dissipating as Alphaville approached release.” Big city frights.
