Jun20

AthanaTheos – Prophetic Era (Or How Yahveh Became the One) Review

AthanaTheos – Prophetic Era (Or How Yahveh Became the One) Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on July 9, 2020 in Reviews, Death Metal, 22 comments

““French philosophy” is, in some circles, a punchline. It evokes the image of an edgy atheist, fedora on head, sipping his black espresso (symbolic, of course, of the darkness of his existence – the horror of reflecting on Sartre in a café surely cripples the best of men) and smoking a strange, thin cigarette in perpetuity – pretension personified. AthanaTheos, a French black doom atmospheric dissonant epic death metal band has tried their hand not just at an album but an epos – an epic poem set to music.” Profits of doom.

Enshadowed – Stare into the Abyss Review

Enshadowed – Stare into the Abyss Review

By Saunders on July 8, 2020 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 4 comments

“At least in my part of the globe, winter is upon us, thus it is the season to get down and gloomy with the darker, atmospheric arts. My regular rotation has seen a spike in melancholy, ranging from melodic death, downtrodden doom, and black metal. So with my mood well adjusted, I nabbed the fourth LP from long standing Greek act Enshadowed from the promo bin, teeth gritted and fists clenched ready to grimace and headbang through a respectable slice of black metal, or so I envisioned.” Black winter day.

Shed the Skin – The Forbidden Arts Review

Shed the Skin – The Forbidden Arts Review

By Akerblogger on July 7, 2020 in Reviews, Death Metal, 12 comments

“We all know a veteran metalhead who shows up to every gig – that older fella who has been going to shows since 1974, standing in the same spot, never going to the toilet, just nodding his head and occasionally, slowly, raising horns to the sky. He usually has wispy grey-white hair that flows, wizard like, to his ankles. He usually wears a faded Morbid Angel t-shirt purchased at a ’87 gig when they passed through the town. He has a battle jacket packed with patches of obscure speed-metal bands from 1985 and crust-punk bands from Wales. He was born on the sticky floor of the venue. He is God. The members of Shed the Skin are the same. They’re the grizzled veterans of the death metal scene.” Olde skin.

Bell Witch/Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough Volume I Review

Bell Witch/Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough Volume I Review

By Dr. Wvrm on July 6, 2020 in Reviews, Folk, 21 comments

“Dylan Desmond and Jesse Shreibman’s decision to make official their partnership with Erik Moggridge, the man in Aerial Ruin’s one-man dark folk band, made sense. Moggridge’s guest vocals on Mirror Reaper conveyed grief and loss on a frequency that Bell Witch couldn’t have reached alone. Stygian Bough Volume I pries those mournful dimensions wide in a symbiotic give-and-take quite unlike anything either act has produced before.” Witch in flight.

Dismalimerence – Tome: I Review

Dismalimerence – Tome: I Review

By Doom_et_Al on July 4, 2020 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 9 comments

“Naming a debut Tome: I is a ballsy move. Not only does it hew awfully close to a famously divisive metal work (Wintersun’s Time I), but it’s a sign that a band considers this a “serious album,”TM requiring both patience and effort to understand and appreciate. Chicago’s Dismalimerence is nothing if not serious. Its name is an awkward portmanteau of “dismal” and “limerence,” indicating an ugly or depressing infatuation. It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, and repeating it in quick succession after a few drinks is challenging.” Wherever I may Tome.

Pessimist – Holdout Review

Pessimist – Holdout Review

By Holdeneye on July 3, 2020 in Reviews, Thrash Metal, 50 comments

“Pessimist. How about that for a band name in the year of our demise that is 2020? While originally slated to cover some German power metal this week in the form of Goblins Blade, I handed that apostropheless, potential 4.0 off to Huck so I could cover some German thrash with a grouchy name.” Holdenout.

Stygian Crown – Stygian Crown Review

Stygian Crown – Stygian Crown Review

By Steel Druhm on July 2, 2020 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 22 comments

“I love me some traditional doom and have since I was a wee metal laddie. I’m also a major fan of Bolt Thrower. Naturally then, when an unknown act described their style as “Candlethrower” and promised a union of Candlemass and Bolt Thrower, the brass knuckles and electro-whip came out and the Steel One made damn sure that promo ended up in his hairy clutches.” Back waxed.

Vspolokh – Помре Review

Vspolokh – Помре Review

By Doom_et_Al on July 1, 2020 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 13 comments

““In mainstream literature, the anti-hero dies. In Ural literature, everyone dies.” This cheery adage is not only the plot of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, but also the philosophical basis for the music of Russian black metal group, Vspolokh. The band makes no bones about its admiration for its Ural heritage, playing a form of music it describes as “Ural Chthonic Black Metal.” Color me intrigued.” Blackness and death in a Russian winter.

Voidceremony – Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensions Unravel Review

Voidceremony – Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensions Unravel Review

By Kronos on June 30, 2020 in Reviews, Death Metal, 60 comments

“With heavyweights like Tomb Mold and Blood Incantation drowning in the love of the underground, proggy OSDM has never been so widely celebrated or practiced. If you’re a player in the death metal underground, that makes it an ideal time to switch focus from your nasty death metal band to your proggy death metal band and release your inscrutably titled debut album.” Void where prohibited.