Jun23

Systemik Viølence – Negative Mangel Attitude Review

Systemik Viølence – Negative Mangel Attitude Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on June 30, 2023 in Reviews, Crust Punk, Hardcore, Thrash Metal, 18 comments

“Punk and metal have a complicated relationship, or at least we treat them like they do. As fans, we like to be something—a metalhead, a punk, a dissobro. As music seekers, we like to have genre guides—punk-born tags like crust, mathcore, grindcore, metal-born tags like doom, death, black, kissing cousins like sludge, thrash, deathcore. And the bands we value tend to play to or play with these expectations. Others eschew the norms of where they’re placed or even fight the idea of being the guitar music we’ve all come to love—but not Systemik Viølence. These Portuguese knuckleheads just wanna play screeching chords, overdriven bass, and venomous vocal lashings loud, fast, and loud.” Feel the wiølence.

The River – A Hollow Full of Hope Review

The River – A Hollow Full of Hope Review

By Cherd on June 30, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 35 comments

“The United Kingdom’s The River call their style of music “pastoral post-doom.” Pastoral; synonymous with idyllic. In landscape painting it means a pleasing mix of open vistas, farmland, rolling hills, maybe some lazily grazing livestock. There’s a point when “doom” becomes a misnomer. The River indeed inhabits this tenuous space.” Doom in quiet places.

Raven – All Hell’s Breaking Loose Review

Raven – All Hell’s Breaking Loose Review

By Steel Druhm on June 29, 2023 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, 48 comments

“Raven, like Saxon, Satan, and Iron Maiden, were part of the NWoBHM that conquered the world in the early 80s. Prime platters like Rock Until You Drop, Wiped Out, and All for One were fast, furious, and goddamn rowdy doses of attitude, balls, and poor behavior, and they were always the undisputed bad boys of their scene. Some 42 years on and they’re still functioning and releasing new albums on a regular basis, making them part of an increasingly exclusive NWoBHM Survivor Series.” Quoth the Raven “Taste the floor!”

Snorlax – The Necrotrophic Abyss Review

Snorlax – The Necrotrophic Abyss Review

By El Cuervo on June 29, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 29 comments

“As much as I like extreme metal and as much as I’m fascinated by necrotrophs – parasites that kill their hosts to feed on their dying matter – the only reason I picked out The Necrotrophic Abyss by Snorlax is my love for Pokémon. As best I can ascertain, Snorlax has no relevance to the fat, sleeping bastard that gamers know and love, especially given Necrotrophic’s apparent and bleak concept of planetary destruction and undead survival.” Gotta kill em all.

Serpent of Old – Ensemble Under the Dark Sun Review

Serpent of Old – Ensemble Under the Dark Sun Review

By Thus Spoke on June 28, 2023 in Reviews, 53 comments

“There’s something about atmospheric death metal that just gets me. Something about the deep urgency of the guitar tones, the echoing, sinister riffing, the cavernous vocals, the restless dance of the drums, and the metallic chime of the cymbals. It elevates an already hostile and confrontational musical style to a kind of arresting profundity, when done well. Seeing Ulcerate, Gorguts, and Devenial Verdict—among others—name-dropped in the promo material for Ensemble Under the Dark Sun had me yanking it out of the bin faster than you can say “disso-death.” This was no clickbait. Turkey’s Serpent of Old play the kind of dark, ferocious haunting blackened death emblematic of these bands, and their shared conceptual genre, at their most intense.” Snakes in the pain.

Adversvm – Vama Marga Review

Adversvm – Vama Marga Review

By Grymm on June 28, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 28 comments

“As Angry Metal Guy’s resident funeral doom metal kitty, it’s usually my responsibility to clench my grubby murder mittens on all things slow and murky. Lately, though, due to forces outside my control, all the good stuff is usually grabbed by the time I even get to our promo sump. This time around, Vama Marga, the third album by German funeral doom quintet Adversvm, was staring me in the face with no takers! Funeral doom… with the keyboardist of Evoken, no less!” Morose opportunities.

Sammath – Grebbeberg Review

Sammath – Grebbeberg Review

By Maddog on June 27, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 8 comments

“Sammath’s style isn’t my usual cup of tea, but Godless Arrogance still wowed me nearly a decade ago. Avoiding any pretense of variety, the Netherlands’ Sammath played war metal in the truest sense. Monotony can be hit-or-miss, but Sammath made it work through the emotive power of their music. Godless Arrogance both sounded and felt like being in the trenches during a losing battle. Its successor Across the Rhine Is Only Death shattered the underpaid Score Safety Counter in 2019, leaving me with high expectations for 2023’s follow-up Grebbeberg.” Back to the front!

Stray Gods – Olympus Review

Stray Gods – Olympus Review

By Steel Druhm on June 27, 2023 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 40 comments

“The line between a homage act and a band heavily influenced by a more established outfit is a fine one. Greek metal warriors Stray Gods are located about 500 miles to the former side of that line. Beginning with their 2022 debut Storm the Walls, they showed that they loved one band above all others and that band was… Iron Maiden. The album was like an obsessive love letter to those elder warriors of NWoBHM and it worked well despite being Maiden fanfic. Just over a year later we get the follow-up, Olympus, and little has changed with Stray Gods’s predilections.” Re-up the Irons.

Before the Dawn – Stormbringers Review

Before the Dawn – Stormbringers Review

By sentynel on June 26, 2023 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 20 comments

“There’s a group of Finnish melodeath bands that put out a run of absolutely fantastic albums in the early days of AMG: Amorphis, Barren Earth, InsOmnium Gatherum, and of course Before the Dawn. This was a hugely formative time for my music taste, and all those records stick with me over a decade later.” Return of the Dawn.