“Wyoming, famously, hosts some of the United States’ most beautiful nature preserves—also famously it lacks urban comforts and is one of the two rectangular states. This expansive, rural landscape shapes an existence and mindset that’s decidedly different from the metropolitan portrait of tap-to-pay cafes, melting pot crowds, and city-speed sprawl. For better or worse, Mike McClatchey has called Buffalo, Wyoming temporarily home—a home that has fueled his boiled-over frustrations into this more solo edition of Lament Cityscape, A Darker Discharge.” Rural rabies.
Industrial Metal
Author & Punisher – Krüller Review
“Author and Punisher albums seem to alternate between anthemic and ambitious. Women & Children saw Tristan Shone’s transhumanist industrial drone-doom project spinning out singles with the force of a hundred pound steel drum, an approach echoed by 2018’s belligerent Beastland. But between them, the disturbing, experimental Melk en Honing took a slower, nastier pace, savoring the acrid stench of electrocuted machine-oil that the music produces. So does Krüller, Shone’s densest work yet.” Punishment and dystopian donuts.
Misanthur – Ephemeris Review
“Misanthur was listed as “trance ambient noise” in the cold boundaries of the promo dump and just plain black metal on other sites. Truthfully, both are true. What this Polish duo offers is a hyper-atmospheric breed of black metal with heavy electronic and industrial flourishes, not unlike a blackened version of C R O W N’s latest, The End of All Things.” Kitchen sink-core.
Ministry – Moral Hygiene Review
“I had an acquaintance once that said industrial metal is ‘sex music.’ That’s one of the reasons I don’t talk to this person anymore. That and it’s difficult to communicate when you’re bricked up in a wall. But, seriously, I must be doing something wrong if I don’t get an erection to Rammstein’s ‘Bück Dich.’ Babe, it’s not you. It’s me. The same goes for Ministry. There’s nothing about imagining Al Jourgensen gut and crucify the entire Bush family that pricks my pecker.” Good hygiene and bad manners.
Sermon of Flames – I Have Seen the Light, and It Was Repulsive Review
“I was more than ready to write off Sermon of Flames as just another dissodeath album. It meets all the criteria: lurching riffs, wormy dissonance, bellowing insanity, and above all, violent disregard for its listeners. Its black/death breed recalls the mighty Mitochondrion or Abyssal with its hellish intensity and atmosphere – like many albums of its ilk. Just like every person, Sermon of Flames’ debut I Have Seen the Light, and It Was Repulsive is full of flaws and inconsistencies, highlights and strengths.” Things that cannot be unseen.
Fear Factory – Aggression Continuum Review
“I didn’t expect to see another Fear Factory album after Genexus. I was okay with that too, as the band went out on a decent note. Yet here we are with album number eleven Aggression Continuum seeing its release overshadowed by vocalist Burton C. Bell’s announcement that he’s leaving the band. Factory wages, man…” Anger management.
Nadja – Luminous Rot Review
“I was surprised how unknown Nadja is around AMG Headquarters. I was parading around the new promo like a goddamn peacock, like “WAOW NADJA’S GOT A NEW ONE GUISE” and was met by a chorus of “uh, who?” The Canucks’ offerings like debut Touched, Radiance of Shadows, and The Bungled & The Botched made regular appearances on my playlist before I lost touch with 2013’s dolphin-themed Flipper. Since, the duo has released five albums, culminating in 2021’s Luminous Rot, which attempts to bring “post-punk, cold-wave, shoegaze, and industrial” influences into the limelight alongside their trademark “dreamsludge” approach.” Dreamsludge on a sunny day.
Eggvn – La Era de la Bestia Review
“Let me introduce you to Eggvn, self-professed “Satanic Death Industrial Metal.” Sporting some obvious black metal influence, I was expecting an ominous ambient album among the ranks of Moëvöt or Velvet Cacoon, but the Mexicans’ sophomore full-length La Era de la Bestia is more akin to a bizarre combination of Psyclon Nine, Brokencyde, Angelspit, and Nine Inch Nails. Featuring pulsing beats, cold industrial flourishes, dark ambiance, and harsh barks, it has its moments of listenable plagiarism, but is comically marred by a club-footed collision of its influences.” Alert the Egg Council.
The Lion’s Daughter – Skin Show Review
“Do you all miss Mark Z? I do, too. The poor bastard is eyeball deep in educational files and folders and here I am, cosplaying him in a misguided attempt to bring forth some of his essence. Two previous The Lion’s Daughter albums our dear slutgöatwitchvomitfuckerlörd reviewed, each scraping together very respectable scores and candid praise, but the burden now befalls me to continue the Big Z’s legacy concerning the St. Louis weirdos, a burden I declared to shoulder enthusiastically. Yet the promo for Skin Show gave pause.” Skinned to win?
Thermohaline – Maelström Review
“Thanks to that one boozy pirate-themed power metal band whose name rhymes with “Sail Dorm,” it’s difficult to take oceanic themed albums seriously. There are plenty of bands that have torn it up, Ahab showcasing mammoth waves with their breed of crushing funeral doom, Isis displaying the uncaring expanse with shoegaze-y post-metal, and Firtan and Déluge offering some respective symphonic black and post-black to reflect he majesty of the oceans. Scrolling through my black metal collection and each album’s respective themes goes something like this: winter, winter, occult, winter, occult, occult, evil, winter, etc. Oceanic-themed black metal is few and far between, and you’d be hard-pressed to find the good stuff. Will Thermohaline kickstart a new trend or will it end up drowning in its own ambition?” The sea was angry that day, my fiends.