“It’s been a strange couple months for grumpy ole Grier. I’ve reviewed everything from cowpunk to Swedish black metal to non-metal/metal avant-garde to captivating power/melodeath. But, for all the ups-and-downs that come with this crazy rollercoaster ride, never am I more brain-fucked as when a new Igorrr record arrives in my inbox.” Putting the fist in fistula.
“A funny thing happened to metalcore in the last six years or so. After the Killswitch Engages and As I Lay Dyings of the world spent years churning out Gothenburg riffs and tough-guy breakdowns like cheap beers at a frat party, metalcore bands finally listened to Periphery and started latching on to this new thing called ‘djent.'” Metalcore through the ages.
“The French are well-known for pushing envelopes in the black metal genre. From Deathspell Omega’s angular tremolo attack to Blut Aus Nord’s atonal warped melodies and bizarre trip-hop rhythms, France has proven to be a fertile breeding ground for innovative black metal. So when Paris’ Merrimack stands out by sounding Scandinavian, well, it’s gonna stick out like a sore thumb.” French missing.
“Some dips in the vastness of the AMG promo bin are like an invigorating plunge into a mountain lake. Others are like jumping in a rancid dumpster behind a greasy chicken joint during an August heatwave. Germany’s Mirrored in Secrecy managed to give me the weirdest surprise I’ve had in a while with their sophomore album Solitution, approximating the sensation of cannon-balling into a vat of Jello, Vaseline and hobo wine. It’s messy and disorienting, but not entirely unpleasant once you get use to the slippery viscosity.” Mix and bash.
“Someone asked me recently what the difference was between rock and metal. It seems an easy question, but although most of us will be able to distinguish between rock and metal quite intuitively, drawing the line in the sand is a more complicated endeavor.” The line must be drawn…here!
“Taking inspiration from their native Catalonia and from the morbid, decadent, and sick reflections on a rapidly changing society, Foscor – Catalan for “Darkness” – play a dark progressive metal that shares features with the depressive European heavyweights of Katatonia, Solstafir, and Lantlos. Les Irreals Visions is the band’s fifth full-length and a considerable shift away from their early black-metal sound to a depressive progressive metal that tastefully merges elements of black metal and doom.” From black to dark.
“Like Liam Neeson’s grizzled ex-CIA agent from Taken, Sweden’s Antichrist are possessed of a very particular set of skills, except their skills are focused on creating an authentic facsimile of the speed/thrash zeitgeist of the early eighties.” More 80s than Radio Shack!
“In the opening moments of the original Conan the Barbarian film, Conan’s father holds up a newly forged sword and solemnly instructs his son that in their world, you can trust no man, woman or beast, only cold steel. This wisdom is as applicable today as it was in the Hyborian Age, but allow your own friendly neighborhood Steel to attach a modern-day proviso. When a new Iced Earth album arrives, you can trust it will include three things: bombast, bravado and triplets. Many, many triplets.” Orc-fried Ice.
“The thorough and rigorous research process which all bands with whom I’m unfamiliar undergo relented one key piece of information for Seattle’s A Flourishing Scourge: they shared a bill with Rhine who I reviewed last year and who I noted for their unusual and disparate range of influences.” Woe to the easily influenced.
“Australia’s Cemetery Urn describe themselves as ‘barbaric Australian death metal,’ and one gets the feeling listening to their self-titled third record that they’d welcome ceaseless barbaric bloodshed.” Commence the hacking.
