Mastodon

Wormwood – Mooncurse Review

By Grymm on October 26, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Sludge, Translation Loss, Doom Metal, Post-Metal, Sludge, 42 comments

“In the Bible (or at least the New Testament version), Wormwood is the angel or star that falls from the sky, crashing into the waters of the Earth, and killing all living things with its inherent bitterness. Outside of the bible, wormwood is most known for being the key ingredient for absinthe, at one time regarded as a highly psychoactive and hallucinogenic (but still tasty) alcoholic beverage. Whatever the inspiration, Boston’s Wormwood, comprised of members of The Red Chord, Doomriders, and Phantom Glue, pull a little bit of both influences in their sound.” Worm power.

Stump Tail Dolly – Soundtrack to the Second Civil War Review

By Mark Z. on September 6, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Black Metal, Folk Metal, Non-Metal Metal Things, Reviews, Black Metal, Non-metal Metal Things, 80 comments

“To paraphrase Jurassic Park’s Ian Malcolm, we were so preoccupied with whether or not we could, we never stopped to think if we should. Yet here it is: a Nashville quartet who bill themselves as a fusion of country and metal, complete with twangy guitars, honkytonk fiddle, rudimentary attempts at extreme metal, and shit-kicking rhythms pulled straight from the Bumfuck County square dance.” Wrong Turn: the Musical.

Canyon of the Skull – The Desert Winter Review

By GardensTale on August 20, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, Stoner Metal, 22 comments

“I might have a minor masochistic streak when it comes to reviews. Sure, much of my rapidly developing reputation for reviewing dreck (see: Akoma, Invidia, Insatia, Blind Seer) arose from sheer bad luck on blind promo selection. But why else would I stand up and say “I’ll take the ring to Mordor” when Steel mockingly requested volunteers to review a 37-minute, self-released(!), sophomore(!!), single-track(!!!), instrumental(!!!!) doom metal album?” Snakebit.

Nostoc – Ævum Review

By Master of Muppets on August 6, 2017 in 2017, Costa Rican Metal, Groove Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Groove Metal, Progressive Metal, 49 comments

“Firsts. Life’s full of ’em. Some are wonderful, such as the proverbial first kiss, or the first time you heard (or wrote about!) heavy metal. Some are horrible, such as the Drew Music-al first kiss, or the first time you heard Good Charlotte. A band’s first album can fall anywhere within this spectrum, and with their future depending on that first impression, the importance of debut albums cannot be overstated. This being said, let me prepare your future selves to remember the first time you ever heard Nostoc.” First shot at glory.

Bloodnut – St. Ranga Review

By GardensTale on August 1, 2017 in 2017, Doom Metal, New Zealand Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Sludge, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge, Stoner Metal, 17 comments

“As so many bands take themselves too seriously, it hurt a little more than usual to gingerly let B;ppdmit down and mark their score in the red. It must have put some fire in their gut, because the boys are back to bring peace and justice to Gingers, in less time than it takes Jari Mäenpää to make a sandwich.” Apes be escaping.

River Black – River Black Review

By Eldritch Elitist on July 14, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Hardcore, Season of Mist, Black Metal, Death Metal, Hardcore, Thrash Metal, 37 comments

“River Black, a new project featuring members of Revocation, Municipal Waste, and the long-defunct Burnt by the Sun, doesn’t feel like an attempt at outclassing those bands so much as spruced up recordings of jam session spitballing.” Supergroups in the river.

Seer – Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void Review

By El Cuervo on July 11, 2017 in 2017, Art of Propaganda, Canadian Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, 21 comments

“Vancouver’s Seer entered my life at the start of 2016 with their consolidated release of 2 EPs: Vol. 1 & 2. It was a charming, if heavily flawed, release which showed glimmers of talent. Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void represents the speedily recorded and released sequel, still dominated by stoner riffs and heavy atmosphere. I made some substantial criticisms of the former and as such began my time with the latter intrigued to hear if these had been addressed; I must confess that my expectations weren’t set too high.” Cult bait or cut bait?

Comity – A Long, Eternal Fall Review

By Akerblogger on June 1, 2017 in 2017, French Metal, Reviews, Sludge, Throatruiner Records, Sludge, 19 comments

“Comity have been concocting their complex mixture of chaotic metalcore (the Botch, Converge, and Coalesce sort), sludge, noise, and all things experimental and dissonant since 1996. Of course, a band so complex and difficult to comprehend can only come from one place: France.” Why does France want to hurt us so much?

Cursus – Cursus Review

By GardensTale on May 2, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Artificial Head Records, Doom Metal, Reviews, Sludge, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, 27 comments

“I consider last year’s 40 Watt Sun album a particularly effective example at creating space and even emptiness with its sparse arrangements and use of repetition, reflecting the social distance in the lyrics. Since every good example is most effective when juxta- I mean, when placed opposite a bad example, Cursus has volunteered to demonstrate.” Doom death, where is thy sting?

Mastodon – Emperor of Sand Review

By Saunders on March 31, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Reprise Records, Reviews, Sludge, Progressive Metal, Rock, Sludge, 121 comments

“From the moment I heard the pummeling “Crusher Destroyer” from their landmark debut Remission some 15 years ago, I knew Mastodon were something special. My infatuation with Remission began a love affair with the band that bordered on fanboy-ism from one excellent album to the next, each a stirring and adventurous behemoth of sludge metal force and progressive smarts. However, my relationship with Mastodon started to get rocky when they followed their sprawling prog masterwork Crack the Skye with 2011’s The Hunter.” Mastodon on the rocks? Ain’t no big surprise.