Jun19

Knoest – Dag Review

By Dr. Wvrm on June 13, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Dutch Metal, Reviews, Van Records, Black Metal, 25 comments

“Almost everything worth doing has been done so often that metal itself is now officially a very, very bad idea. And yet, every time I think that, Beaten to Death or Abstract Void or Embrace of Disharmony nutchecks me. Knoest, three dudes from Gelderland, “decided to write a piece of music based on the inspiration [from] driving and hiking through our surroundings during the afternoon, the evening, the morning, and the night.” That premise doesn’t scream six (a.m.) to midnight, but the other card up their sleeve might make their debut Dag a bit more enticing.” A day in the life.

Tanzwut – Seemannsgarn Review

By Twelve on June 12, 2019 in 2019, AFM Records, Folk Metal, German Metal, Reviews, Folk Metal, 39 comments

“So there I am, minding my own business, taking a casual stroll through the Angry Metal Promo Pit when a certain Tanzwut catches my eye. There’s the name, of course, but more importantly, the tagline: “medieval rock,” they use to describe themselves. Now, the last time I heard “medieval” applied to a style of metal, the album was The End is Nigh, the band was Apocalypse Orchestra, and my Album o’ the Year was thus. So if you tell me you play “medieval rock” and you have two bagpipers in your band, well, what can I say? I’m in.” Bag men.

Panzerfaust – The Suns of Perdition I: War, Horrid War Review

By Carcharodon on June 12, 2019 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 40 comments

“Canadian black metallers Panzerfaust’s forthcoming album is the follow up to 2016’s The Lucifer Principle, which the band describe as a “full-length,” making The Suns of Perdition I: War, Horrid War Panzerfaust’s fifth album. With only four tracks and clocking in at 25 minutes, personally, I’d be inclined to describe The Lucifer Principle as an EP. At just slightly over 31 minutes and comprising five tracks, I will give the Toronto natives a pass on their 2019 release’s claim to album status. Just.” Nasty, brutal and short.

Pinkish Black – Concept Unification Review

By Huck N Roll on June 12, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Doom Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Relapse, Reviews, Doom Metal, Psychedelic Rock, 12 comments

“I have a soft spot for this band: they went through hell back in 2010 when, as The Great Tyrant, their bass player committed suicide. The remaining duo carried on as Pinkish Black, a morbid reminder of the color of the bathroom where Tommy Atkins killed himself. 2015’s Bottom of the Morning was their strongest release, a haunting, propulsive, cathartic album where all of the duo’s ideas meshed beautifully. How will they follow that?” Cinema metal.

Flub – Flub Review

By Cherd on June 11, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Death Metal, Progressive Death, Reviews, The Artisan Era, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 100 comments

“Flub is something of a supergroup, with current and ex-members of Rivers of Nihil, Alterbeast and Vale of Pnath, though their sound is markedly different than the sum of their parts. Lyrically this is standard fare for the genre—subcategory fantasy—with the tale of a hero who is possessed at the end of his life by an entity bent on destroying Mother Nature herself, but musically Flub is a bit more colorful and damn near uplifting when compared to the members’ other bands. Make no mistake, there is still brutal death metal baked into this evil fruit pie.” Little Jack Horner stays tech.

Burning Gloom – Amygdala Review

By GardensTale on June 11, 2019 in 2019, Argonauta Records, Doom Metal, Italian Metal, Reviews, Sludge, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, 50 comments

“I used to dislike female vocalists in general. As I’d mostly been exposed to them through either shitty pop music or shitty Nightwishcore, I simply never felt any emotional connection regardless of their technical skill. The turnaround came from outside of metal with Florence + The Machine, and since then I’ve found a new appreciation for womanly voices, particularly in male-dominated sub-genres, with bands like Madder Mortem and Messa featuring high on my Best Ever lists. Burning Gloom (formerly named My House On Trees) are a doom-sludge band from Milan, and they have female vocals as well, something that may be rarer in sludge than in any other sub-genre sans perhaps thrash.” Women to the front!

Winterwolf – Lycanthropic Metal of Death Review

By Holdeneye on June 11, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Svart Records, Death Metal, 17 comments

“Today we take a trip back to 1993 when, while I was in 2nd grade listening exclusively to oldies music and getting my video games taken away for uttering vile profanities like “butt” and “fart,” old school death metal was death ‘n’ rolling along in Scandinavia. It’s a year that saw important releases from Dismember and Entombed, as well as one of OSDM’s more unique offerings, Demilich’s Nesphite. The latter retains a legendary cvlt status among death metal fans as it was the band’s only full-length release and it featured a bizarre unique musical style and unbelievably low belching vocals.” The monster is now a wolf in winter.

Beheaded – Only Death Can Save You Review

By Kronos on June 10, 2019 in 2019, Agonia Records, Death Metal, Maltese Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, 70 comments

“Sometimes you just want a death metal record. No problem – I have hundreds of hours of the things stashed away for this very emergency. It gets tricky when you just want a death metal album you haven’t heard before. They’re not hard to find. The problem you now have is one of option paralysis; there are literally too many death metal albums to know where to start. Do you just pick one at random? Do you poll a bunch of snobbish pedants to figure out which ones are the best use of your time?” You axed for it.

The Lord Weird Slough Feg – New Organon Review

By Dr. Fisting on June 10, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Cruz Del Sur, Heavy Metal, Proto-Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 58 comments

“Led by frontman Mike Scalzi, Slough Feg have been delivering Celtic-tinged, surprisingly academic trad metal for longer than most of you have been alive. New Organon is the band’s first release since 2014’s Digital Resistance, and perhaps more significantly, marks the return of the Lord Weird prefix to their name after a 15-year absence. This strongly hints at (and the band’s bio confirms) a return to the style of the band’s Twilight of the Idols/Down Among the Deadmen era of the early ’00s—a bold claim, considering both the passage of time and the changes to their lineup since then.” Feg party.

All Hell – The Witch’s Grail Review

By Doom_et_Al on June 10, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Black Metal, Prosthetic Records, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, 13 comments

“Comfort food. Whether you’re a cuisine snob who frequents Michelin-star restaurants or an amateur cook trying new recipes for the family, odds are that there are times when you don’t want anything too fancy. Food you can fall back on that hits all the right spots without being too challenging or demanding. Mac and cheese, if you’re like me. The kind of blackened thrash that North Carolina’s All Hell produces is my musical equivalent of comfort food. It’s not mind-bending in its complexity (like, say, Dodecahedron) or emotionally demanding (lookin’ at you, Bell Witch and Ataraxie). But when you’ve had a bad day at the office, or life’s getting you down with its quotidian mundanity, All Hell and their ilk are there to get put a contented smile on your face while those neck muscles flex in appreciation.” Feel the Hell.