Kylesa

Servers – The Vertical Plane Review

By Carcharodon on May 18, 2023 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 11 comments

“It’s been quite a while since I last reviewed anyone hailing from even close to my neck of the woods but, this week, I present for your perusal Servers. Hailing from Barnsley in South Yorkshire, UK, the band—the label blurb tells me they’re a quintet and then proceeds to name only three members—return with their fourth album, the follow-up to 2019’s Ad Nauseam. Servers take the title of The Vertical Plane from a book of the same name about the (apparently) infamous Dodleston mysteries in 1985.” To serve mankind prog.

These Beasts – Cares, Wills, Wants Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on May 8, 2023 in Reviews, Noise Rock, Sludge, Sludge Metal, Stoner Rock, 12 comments

“These Beasts plays sludge of the stoner rock and noise rock-influenced variety—still nothing to do with dogs—right along the spectrum somewhere between the hypnotic pummel of early Melvins and the screeching chaos of The Jesus Lizard.” Bad dog!

E-L-R – Vexier Review

By Ferox on March 11, 2022 in Reviews, Uncategorized, Post-Metal, 28 comments

“”Doom” plus “shoegaze” equals “doomshoe.” Wait, sorry–with Vexier, Switzerland’s E-L-R releases their second platter of so-called doomgaze. The sound, as you might guess from the tag, combines echoing, reverb-soaked vocals with riffs that repeat to the point of near-hypnosis. The heavier elements are closer to post-metal than they are to doom, with a psych-rock vibe that often recalls a late-era Kylesa.” Shoes of doom are dropping.

Saints of Death – Ascend to the Throne Review

By GardensTale on July 8, 2020 in Reviews, Groove Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 26 comments

“Come on, groove metal. I know you can do it. Elitists tend to treat you as the secondary antagonist of metal’s story, behind only to nu-metal, but between genre founders Pantera and the best bits of Machine Head’s discography, there’s still a lot of potential in this particular sound. Hell, I’ve even enjoyed the occasional DevilDriver when craving musical fast-food, which seems to be considered a heinous crime amongst some.” Groove you wrong.

Blessed Black – Beyond the Crimson Throne Review and Album Premiere

By Huck N Roll on January 16, 2020 in 2020, American Metal, Doom Metal, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, Epic Metal, Stoner Metal, 59 comments

“Album premieres are a gimmick. At least that’s what I thought until I had the chance to showcase this lovely example of epic/doom/stoner metal courtesy of up-and-coming Cincinnati rockers Blessed Black. Of course, to review an album is one thing, but to premiere that album, it better be worth clicking on more songs than just the single, and that’s certainly the case here.” Blessed luck.

Tempel – Tempel Review

By Mark Z. on March 20, 2019 in 2019, Hard Rock, Hardcore, Heavy Metal, Jansen Records, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Hard Rock, Hardcore, Heavy Metal, 29 comments

“Tempel originally caught my eye because I thought they were Tempel, the instrumental Arizona metal band whose sophomore album I reviewed back in 2015. But no, it turns out this Tempel is actually a new band formed by Kvelertak drummer Kjetil Gjermundrød, who recruited his brothers Epsen and Inge as well as longtime friend Andreas Johnson for the project. Tempel is the group’s debut album and it promises a melding of hard rock and metal in the vein of Mastodon, Kylesa, and Kvelertak themselves.” TempelARS.

Black Vulpine – Veil Nebula Review

By Huck N Roll on March 9, 2019 in 2019, Doom Metal, German Metal, Moment of Collapse Records, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, Progressive Metal, Stoner Metal, 59 comments

“In a fit of puzzling generosity, relative n00b TheKenWord foisted this album upon me for review purposes. I hadn’t heard of Black Vulpine, but the young whippersnapper made Veil Nebula sound so enticing that I couldn’t say no. Although it did make me wonder, if this German quartet (almost like a stoner/doom version of Abba, with two men and two women in the band) was so great, why was he bailing on the review? Well, far be it from me to disappoint my well-intentioned coworker, so here we are, a few weeks into it, compiling thoughts on a massive (in more than one way) helping of Teutonic stoner doom.” Paws and pawns.

Summoner – Beyond the Realm of Light Review

By Huck N Roll on May 13, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Magnetic Eye Records, Reviews, Sludge, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, Sludge, 11 comments

“When Boston’s Summoner came into being back in 2009, they were originally known as Riff Cannon. Made up of members of black metal bands Plagues and Deafheaven, Summoner is clearly a vehicle for these fellas to shed their black metal overcoats and give some love to the Baroness/Kylesa/Torche side of the bill.” Black does sludge.

Season of Arrows – Give It to the Mountain Review

By Lord Lucan on December 7, 2016 in 2016, American Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Sludge, Static Tension Recordings, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, 12 comments

“Despite the recent rise to prominence of numerous female-driven projects and bands, such as Myrkur, Darkher, and Mortals to name but a few, there’s no denying that metal is still largely the domain of men. Sure there have always been exceptions to the rule — the likes of Girlschool and Kittie have been knocking about for years — but considering there are approximately 3.7 billion of them on this planet, women are still massively underrepresented across the genre.” OCCUPY metal!

Anciients – Voice of the Void Review

By Saunders on October 11, 2016 in 2016, Canadian Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Sludge, Stoner Rock, Progressive Metal, Sludge, 28 comments

“Canada’s Anciients stormed the scene with their promising Heart of Oak debut in 2013, an intoxicating if at times derivative mix of stoner, sludge, and prog. It was an enjoyable album, though it didn’t quite blow me away like it did many others. Nevertheless, my interest was certainly piqued enough to be excited by the band’s long-awaited return with the all important album number two.” Goats for all!