Isis

Kronos Comments: On Sampling Bias and the Seedy Underbelly of the Australian Metal Scene

By Kronos on September 14, 2014 in Australian Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Djent, Groove Metal, Metalcore, Post-Rock, Unsigned Bands, Death Metal, Deathcore, Djent, Metalcore, Post-Metal, Technical Death Metal, 25 comments

“Just about every day, Angry Metal Guy pushes out a review of an upcoming or recently released album, producing press for the album whether we love it or hate it. It exposes readers to a lot of material, but disadvantages artists who aren’t putting out music at any given time. Given a small temporal window, this creates a very biased sample of the music scene. I love reviewing albums, but a lot of great and criminally overlooked bands are in between releases right now, and it kills me to see their hard work go unseen. So in order to rectify their invisibility, they’re being talked about here, where my shitty opinions have the outsized soapbox needed to fling themselves out onto the populace like fetid water from a fire sprinkler.”

Sorxe – Surrounded By Shadows Review

By Grymm on September 9, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Post-Rock, Reviews, Sludge, Post-Metal, Sludge, 0 comments

“The very idea of being a musical conduit is intriguing. A lot can be said about people who, instead of hopping on fading bandwagons or changing themselves to create some kind of spark that may or may not keep them relevant, decide to follow their dormant spirits and let them guide their fingers, feet, and voices to craft something that is truly their own. Forget about trends, man; it’s about the feeling of those spirits. That feeling is fucking celestial.” People who deny the existence of spirits may be spirits themselves.

Wolvhammer – Clawing into Black Sun Review

By Grymm on July 5, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Profound Lore Records, Sludge, Black Metal, Sludge Metal, 5 comments

“You have to love it when you work so damn hard on something for a while, and all of a sudden, without any reason or explanation, things start to gel together in a satisfying fashion. Not in that sort of “right place at the right time” bullshit, but rather the amalgamation of street-level honesty, soul-bearing sincerity, and watching ideas becoming fully realized right before your eyes and hands.” Is it coming together for Wolvhammmer or falling apart?

Pet Slimmers of the Year – Fragments of Uniforms Review

By Madam X on March 29, 2014 in 2014, Candlelight, English Metal, Non-Metal Metal Things, Not Metal, Post-Rock, Reviews, Post-Metal, 3 comments

“So the Process Church of the Final Judgement wasn’t really your thing? Don’t slit your wrists over it, cults aren’t for everybody. Candlelight Records recently took a walk on the wild side adding a band that doesn’t run with their usual black metal or even their melodic death metal circles. Their band name is absurd, meaningless and annoying to the point where Nothing actually may be the better option, and to say that it had me tearing my hair out in chunks is an understatement. Pet Slimmers of the Year… Have you tried to Google this? No dammit, I’m not putting my feline on a diet, round is a shape too!” Yep, that’s the worst band name of all time. But, is the music any good? Madam X has opinions.

Twilight – III: Beneath Trident’s Tomb

By JF Williams on March 14, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Century Media, Reviews, Black Metal, 4 comments

“It’s easy to be skeptical of the US black metal super-group Twilight. Perhaps the only one of its kind, this ever-changing collective has included key players from Leviathan, Draugar, Xasthur, Nachtmystium, Krieg, Isis, The Atlas Moth, Minsk, and, as of this year, Sonic Youth. As one might imagine, the results have been polarizing among listeners, and with their third (and final) release III: Beneath Trident’s Tomb, Twilight has elected to go all out with a fantastically idiosyncratic record.” J.F. Williams is throwing around terms like perversely groovy and bizarre and disjointed. Does this spark your interest? Read on!

Mamiffer & Circle – Enharmonic Intervals (for Paschen Organ) Review

By Alex Franquelli on October 25, 2013 in 2013, Finnish Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Shoegaze, Sige Records, 0 comments

“There is a tendency, among music critics, to emphasize anything even vaguely related to experimentalism. For them, any album that smacks of avant-garde is either ‘a step forward’ or simply ‘beyond’. The trajectory, the direction and what boundaries the sound has allegedly trespassed are details that are almost always left undisclosed. The end result is that there is no critique, but instead an endless succession of attributes, excerpts and frustration.” Alex indicts the entire music reviewing industry as he digs into the interesting release by Mamiffer & Circle. Give us Hell, Alex!!

Lodz – Something In Us Died Review

By Grymm on October 15, 2013 in 2013, French Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Post-Metal, 2 comments

“Post-metal is a rough genre to navigate. It’s very difficult to make a name for yourself when you’re constantly compared to Neurosis, Isis, or Cult of Luna. The very second when a quiet song starts building steam and crushes the opposition, you are branded a copycat. Hence, France’s Lodz have an uphill battle on their debut album, Something In Us Died. However, if you must stand out in a severely overcrowded field of imitators, do so by being honest and compassionate about your craft, and Something In Us Died has both honesty and passion in spades.” New-ish scribe Grymm returns to educate you on the dos and don’ts of post-metal. Read this review of Lodz and we will award you a post-grad degree in post-metal (for a nominal fee TBD).

Vattnet Viskar – Sky Swallower Review

By Grymm on September 18, 2013 in 2013, American Metal, Black Metal, Century Media, Doom Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Doom Metal, 7 comments

“Any band or artist worth their salt will marry their influences to create something new, whether said influences are musical, aesthetic, or simply a product of their environment. Vattnet Viskar (roughly translated from Swedish as “the water whispers”) are definitely a product of the state of New Hampshire. When one pictures New Hampshire, he or she thinks of rolling hills with lush greenery, picturesque winters, and rivers of clean, flowing water… all from the northern half of the state. Southern New Hampshire (especially VV’s hometown of Plaistow) is a panoply of industrial parks, gas stations every block or two, oppressively hot summers where you can see the heat rising from the asphalt while walking out of a heavily populated 7-11, and the occasional forest or lake being slowly (and sadly) converted into a housing project. Sky Swallower flawlessly combines the two images into one cohesive, impressive album.” Black metal from the “live free or die” state makes a certain amount of sense and new writer Grymm makes his AMG debut to discuss why.

CROWN – Psychurgy Review

By Alex Franquelli on April 12, 2013 in 2013, 3.0, Candlelight, Doom Metal, French Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, 1 comment

“Slow it a bit, tune it down, strip it of all its accents, hide the emphasis behind a wall of sonic venom and just let it go for an hour: Psychurgy will reveal its disturbing beauty in more than just one way. CROWN is a French duo and they don’t reinvent the wheel and likely never actually dared to think they could. If you’ve had the pleasure to get hold of their recent debut EP – The One, then you know these guys are serious when it comes to carefully handling their frequencies. Psychurgy is surely a step forward in terms of sound and composition: the repetitions are still there, the slowly violent love affair with drone continues to monopolise the dynamics and the sludgy aesthetics of a doom wandering away from metal is still a persisting presence.” Alex is on the job discussing French drone duo CROWN and their stubborn refusal to reinvent the musical wheel.

Hanging Garden – At Every Door Review

By Dr. Fisting on January 21, 2013 in 2.5, 2013, Doom Metal, Finnish Metal, Gothic Metal, Lifeforce Records, Rating, Reviews, 9 comments

As I write this, it’s 15 degrees Celsius outside. The sun rises, but does not provide any warmth. Everything in my world is covered in a thin layer of ice, and things seem to be moving very slowly. In other words: it’s cold as shit out here. This is the perfect weather for some gloomy, atmospheric, slow-ass metal. And it just so happens that I have At Every Door, the new album by Finnish sextet Hanging Garden.