Neurosis

Lodz – Something In Us Died Review

Lodz – Something In Us Died Review

By Grymm on October 15, 2013 in 2013, French Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Post-Metal, 2 comments

“Post-metal is a rough genre to navigate. It’s very difficult to make a name for yourself when you’re constantly compared to Neurosis, Isis, or Cult of Luna. The very second when a quiet song starts building steam and crushes the opposition, you are branded a copycat. Hence, France’s Lodz have an uphill battle on their debut album, Something In Us Died. However, if you must stand out in a severely overcrowded field of imitators, do so by being honest and compassionate about your craft, and Something In Us Died has both honesty and passion in spades.” New-ish scribe Grymm returns to educate you on the dos and don’ts of post-metal. Read this review of Lodz and we will award you a post-grad degree in post-metal (for a nominal fee TBD).

Cult of Luna – Vertikal II Review

Cult of Luna – Vertikal II Review

By Alex Franquelli on September 29, 2013 in 2.5, 2013, Avante Garde, Indie Recordings, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Shoegaze, Sludge, Swedish Metal, Drone, Progressive Metal, 2 comments

“Now, where were we? I seem to remember this this great album from an act simply incapable of disappointing. In was the middle of winter and North Korea appeared as a threat to the dumb half of the world’s population. Today, while that same fraction struggles to locate the hemisphere Syria is in, the summer light convulses in his death throes this side of the planet and we take shelter from the impending cold. OK, but what about the music?” The ever mercurial Alex is here to cover the equally mercurial Cult of Luna’s new release, Vertikal II. If you aren’t careful, you may get mercurial poisoning!

Obelyskkh – Hymn To Pan Review

Obelyskkh – Hymn To Pan Review

By Natalie Zed on September 27, 2013 in 2013, Doom Metal, Exile On Mainstream Records, German Metal, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Doom Metal, Post-Metal, 2 comments

“Bavarian doom barons Obelyskkh have turned to pagan imagery for the basis of their third full-length release, Hymn To Pan. A mix of doomy psychedelic and stoner sludge, the title of the record is drawn from a poem “Hymn of Pan” by romantic writer Percy Bysshe Shelley. Pan, a pagan god of wild places, music, and sexual freedom, is evoked with delicacy as a muse in Shelley’s poem, whereas Obelyskkh most definitely appeal to the goat-limbed gods darker and more lecherous side.” Anyone in the mood for A Midsummer’s Night Doom? Did I mention the “sexual freedom” part? This stuff sells itself!

Ulcerate – Vermis Review

Ulcerate – Vermis Review

By Jordan Campbell on September 4, 2013 in 2013, Death Metal, New Zealand Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Death Metal, 5 comments

“Ulcerate’s emergence was rather inauspicious. Their first work, The Coming of Genocide, didn’t hold much promise. It was pretty standard for mid-aughts uber-blast brutality, assaultive to the point of redundancy. But there were some gnarly guitar squalls nestled in their amateurish blastfuckery, and on their first true album, Of Fracture and Failure, things started to get wild. Then, Everything is Fire happened, and things got real.” First Carcass and now this? It’s all big releases, all the time and and Jordan Campbell is on the job with his always insightful musings.

Unkind – Pelon Juuret Review

Unkind – Pelon Juuret Review

By Alex Franquelli on July 7, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Finnish Metal, Hardcore, Relapse, Reviews, Sludge, Hardcore, Sludge, 2 comments

“It’s good. No, really, it’s very good. There is everything you are entitled to expect from a hardcore album. And possibly something more. Unkind’s Pelon Juuret is, according to their label, “as if Mogwai made a record of Tragedy covers or From Ashes Rise were influenced by Explosions In The Sky”. Too far from the truth? Not at all. If its predecessor, Harhakuvat, was a discordant symphony reminiscent of early Neurosis and Wolfbrigade, Unkind’s latest effort is proudly not too far from that somehow controversial album. Crust, kängapunk (ok: Swedish hardcore) and sludge all contribute to making Pelon Juuret (literally: ‘the roots of fear’) yet another small gem of beautifully crafted northern violence.” Alex discusses hardcore, jasmine tea and Finnish squats. Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on either.

Iron Tongue – The Dogs Have Barked, The Birds Have Flown Review

Iron Tongue – The Dogs Have Barked, The Birds Have Flown Review

By Happy Metal Guy on May 29, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Neurot Records, Reviews, Sludge, Sludge Metal, 2 comments

“It’s unusual to see a Southern metal band opting for comic-style album artwork, one typically expects to see John Baizley’s surreal, exotic and naked-women-filled art gracing the cover. However, the music on this record is anything but comical; this Arkansas sextet means (retro) business.” Happy Metal Guy talks on the merits of prescription drugs, dope, sludge and rehab and he manages to fit in a review of Iron Tongue’s The Dogs Have Barked, The Birds Have Flown!

Cult of Luna – Vertikal Review

Cult of Luna – Vertikal Review

By Alex Franquelli on January 19, 2013 in 2013, 4.5, Hardcore, Indie Recordings, Reviews, Sludge, Swedish Metal, 10 comments

I started listening to Cult of Luna with The Beyond. The year was 2003, the city was quiet and the light had been swallowed by the sound of an unspecified frequency – an electric wall of sound that made everything glow. And it burned so bright that I remained silent for the following, painful 67 minutes. I stopped listening to Cult Of Luna a year later. It was 2004, the album was Salvation and I couldn’t help but think that everything that had to be told had already been told. I resumed listening to Cult of Luna in 2013. Resistance became futile. And, yes, giving in was the right thing to do.