“Saddle up, cowboy! The Black Moriah have come to town to raise hell, drink the saloon dry, and make off with your most buxom women. Formed in 2009 by drummer/vocalist “The Mad Arab” and former Absu guitarist “Zawicizuz,” this Texas band peddle blackened thrash with lyrics that paint them as marauding highwaymen of the Old West.” Cowboy up.
“As I’m typing this, I’m in the most comfortable of cargo shorts and death metal t-shirts. Birds harmonize from the tops of leafless trees as my eyes and nostrils water due to flowers, weeds, and various fauna having a mass self-orgy. Yep, it’s springtime here in the realm of the Grymm, and yours truly isn’t quite prepared for the eventual descent into summer[1. Which I’m predicting will be next week.]. So what’s a man-cat to do to try to cool off just a little bit more? As I’m currently out of ice cream, it only makes sense to crank some icy-chill black metal from the happiest of lands: Norway! Nordjevel’s second album, Necrogenesis.” Evil in the shade.
“One of my favorite things about melodic death metal is its versatility. Alone, death metal is a style that I can appreciate but don’t often enjoy. So when you fuse it with aspects of other genres that I love, it’s easy for me to enjoy the result. Subsequently, this has long been one of my favorite genres of metal music. So much so that I’ve been hunting for some to review basically since the moment I got here. At long last, here they are, Orpheus Omega, who hails from Victoria, Australia, and Wear Your Sins, their fourth full-length effort.” Wish upon a scar.
“I can’t recall another band in recent memory that has exploded as quickly as Frozen Crown. These Italian rising stars formed in 2017, and now, less than two years later, I’m stunned to have in my hands their second full length record. Not that I’m complaining; their self-titled effort from last year is one of the better power metal debuts I’ve heard, a varied, exciting blending of power metal and melodeath, both molded in the Finnish tradition. Yet my anticipation was weighed down by a hint of trepidation.” Fear is the Crown killer.
“Lance King, the former vocalist of Balance of Power and Pyramaze and pride of prog-metal lovers everywhere, has been too quiet for too long. Running Nightmare Records seems to keep him plenty busy, as his last solo outing was 2011s A Moment in Chiros, but 2019 finally sees the man flexing his golden pipes once again on ReProgram. Backed by a large supporting cast of musicians from acts like Pyramaze, Anubis Gate, and Darkwater, Lance’s second solo outing tracks the kind of highly melodic prog-power style he’s known for, while exploring concepts of self-identity, belief systems and the influences that shape our thinking.” Hail to the King.
“Join me, dear reader, as I travel back through the mists of time to that forgotten era known as the early 90s, when all you needed to form a death metal band was a healthy love of Satan and the letters A-T-I-O-N. Yes, back when Bart Simpson’s puckish irreverence first caused prudish parents to clutch their pearls. Back before some of the writers on this site were yet saddled with existence, but well after Steel Druhm had received his first pension check. While Tampa Bay and New York became hotbeds for the burgeoning death metal scene, Imprecation coalesced in the relative obscurity of Missouri City, TX.” Olde as death.
“I have been a fan of Devin Townsend for well over a decade now. I’ve been with him through half his career, including his entire Devin Townsend Project phase. But his most recent output started to feel a little stale. It was like he had painted himself in a corner and was finding it difficult breaking out of a rut formed from Epicloud’s echoes. Ziltoid 2 was overwrought, more of a comedic radio drama than a music album, and its companion piece Sky Blue had no staying power for me. Transcendence fared only marginally better. So when Devin announced he was laying the Project brand to rest, it made me hopeful. Could Empath, the first album since Ziltoid under his own name, be Devin’s new metamorphosis?” The Devin you know.
“In my lifelong quest to listen to every blackened thrash band on the planet I came across Usurper, a Chicago quartet who possessed a particularly heavy and ghoulish take on the style. Formed in 1993, the band sounded like if Celtic Frost had continued writing albums like To Mega Therion well into the 90s. Following several albums in this vein the band adopted a catchier approach with 2005’s Cryptobeast that made them even more fun to listen to. Sadly the group disbanded in 2007 before they could explore this direction further. But does any split really last forever these days?” No longer than a death in a comic book.
“With their debut, they rather awkwardly tried to shoe-horn the patient, meandering post-metal aesthetic with the fury and immediacy of black metal, to mixed results. Now they’re back with a new concoction: think of a base consisting of the atmosphere of Agalloch, topped with some post-metal Pelican, drizzled with the tortured vocals of Grift or Sivyj Yar, sprinkled with a dash of Deafheaven. The question is, have they created something palatable? Do we have a winner (like chocolate and salt) or an inedible monstrosity (like pineapple and pizza)?” Buffet of melancholy.
“Greek prog/alt quintet Mother of Millions have two albums under their belt, and now Artifacts is their third, and while (full disclosure) I haven’t heard the first two, I now have them queued up for future spins. Those of you who only like your metal fast and brvtal, carry on. But those of you who might’ve enjoyed last year’s Kontinuum release, keep reading: Mother of Millions are right up your alley. Think equal parts cinematic (Kontinuum), progressive (Katatonia), and alternative (Dead Letter Circus), and you have a rough idea of what’s to come.” This mom’s no joke.
