Mar19

Katechon – Sanger fra Auschwitz Review

Katechon – Sanger fra Auschwitz Review

“Auschwitz. It’s a name that has come to represent a giant blemish on the great canvas of humanity, an almost incomprehensible chapter in the story of our species. It’s no wonder that while existentialism existed prior to World War II and its horrors, it wasn’t until humanity was forced to look into the mirror of that great conflict, coming face to face with its own darkness and capacity for evil that the philosophy that deals with facing meaninglessness and absurdity began to resonate with the masses. On this, their third full-length album, Norwegian band Katechon leaves the esotericism of their past behind and instead takes ‘a deep dive into the darkest places of the collective human psyche. Here Auschwitz is not just the physical, but also the meta-physical manifestation of evil on earth.'” Never forget.

Mystifier – Protogoni Mavri Magiki Dynasteia Review

Mystifier – Protogoni Mavri Magiki Dynasteia Review

“Mystifier are an ancient Brazilian black metal band and the latest to emerge from whatever dank place veteran bands who haven’t released a comeback album are hiding. Formed in 1989, their early releases were renowned for a style that combined the primitive extremity of Sarcófago with the ritualistic and otherworldly aura of Beherit. With this sound they produced such underground classics as 1992 debut Wicca and 1996’s The World Is So Good That Who Made It Doesn’t Live Here. Yet widespread popularity was not to be.” Wicked Mystic.

Rock Goddess – This Time Review

Rock Goddess – This Time Review

“As one of those obnoxious feminists, it’s always bugged me how much of a boys’ club the metal scene can be. It’s much less so among the fans, for sure, but be honest with yourself: excluding the legions of cut-rate symphonic metal acts and battalions of woman-fronted acts in other subgenres, how many prominent non-vocalist musicians can you name of the top of your head that are women? So any time I find a band with women, or better yet, one that’s all women, that’s a sure way to perk my ears for a listen or three. Even better is what we have here; Rock Goddess is a band from back in original NWOBHM era.” The time is late.

Sacred Monster – Worship the Weird Review

Sacred Monster – Worship the Weird Review

“As my favorite news anchor Morbo once said, “DOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!” That’s right Morbo, today we are indeed sampling some doom. Stoner doom to be exact. Most albums of this genre handle such topics ranging from drugs to spiritual enlightenment to nature. Contrary to the established norm, Chicagoan quartet Sacred Monster eschew the drug-addled tropes to scare audiences with a sci-fi horror/thriller themed debut named Worship the Weird. At the very least I expect the band hopes Worship the Weird will shake things up in this overcrowded field.” Stoner monster.

Black Vulpine – Veil Nebula Review

Black Vulpine – Veil Nebula Review

“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.

Iron Savior – Kill or Get Killed Review

Iron Savior – Kill or Get Killed Review

Iron Savior can’t be fought, Iron Savior can’t be sought. Brought to life in 1997 by original Helloween frontman Piet Sielck, the band’s made a respectable career for themselves by beefing up the base sound of Piet’s genre-defining former act with traditional and NWoBHM influences, resulting in a gritty, cantankerous hybrid. Kill or Get Killed is their tenth album in this meat n’ fancy taters style, and they sound none the worse for wear after 21 years in the iron trenches.” You can’t kill the olde.

Equipoise – Demiurgus Review

Equipoise – Demiurgus Review

“Enter Equipoise, based out of Pittsburgh and made up of a veritable who’s who of the death metal spectrum—Sanjay Kumar of Wormhole and Perihelion on guitars; Chason Westmoreland (ex-Hate Eternal, ex-The Faceless) manning the kit; Jimmy Pitts from Eternity’s End and The Fractured Dimension setting the ivories ablaze; Hugo Doyon-Karout (Beyond Creation) decapitating the fret from his bass; Virulent Depravity’s Nick Padovani on guitars both electric and nylon, along with Phil Tougas (Chthe’ilist, Serocs, Zealotry) playing the same; and finally Stevie Boiser (ex-Vale of Pnath, Inferi, Tethys) taking hold of both lyrical and vocal duties. And that’s not even scratching the surface, what with the ELEVEN guest spots included within. What in the actual heck is happening over there in Pittsburgh?” Friendtality.

Children of Bodom – Hexed Review

Children of Bodom – Hexed Review

“I’m a little more broken, a lot less trusting, and a touch more cynical than before. Such is life. So, it’s only fitting my return would be alongside Finland’s Children of Bodom; a band that’s been giving the finger for years. Comebacks are never perfect and never as hyped as we all want them to be but, in an imperfect way, CoB and Doc are back. Yup, fuck you, world.” Hexed and vexed.

Thormesis – The Sixth Review

Thormesis – The Sixth Review

“Thormesis is a band that should have been doomed to eternal mediocrity. As a long-time follower of this blog, I’ve seen similarly underwhelming bands succumb to a vicious cycle: album falls to an unwitting reviewer; reviewer, underwhelmed, doles out a middling score; band releases follow-up record two years later; reviewer, out of obligation, hands out a nearly identical score, irritated by the lack of improvement. When I eyed The Sixth in the promo pit, I was all but certain that I was about to cement Thormesis’ place in this cycle.” Rise above.

Iron Fire – Beyond the Void Review

Iron Fire – Beyond the Void Review

Iron Fire have been hitting the pavement for a long time with dogged persistence. Despite a three-year hiatus, they’ve knocked out their ninth album this year since their 2000 debut, which is a staggering pace of release to keep up for so long. Yet their most recent work, Among the Dead, was not up to snuff with their preceding release, according to our own Jean-Luc Ricard. With Ricard in absentia, it falls to me to judge whether Beyond the Void fares better than its immediate predecessor.” Dull and void.